five cities in a day?

only in Malta can one see five full cities in one day.. Practically saw the important urban centers of the country in less than 10 hours.
but what a place! first of all its very charming, aged, a little messy but in a nice way, HOT! I was actually melting today, limestone-colored (the whole country), vintage, cosmopolitan (it reminds me of egypt circa 1930-1945, based on old black/white egyptian films).
so there are these odd little things like: 2 Maltese Lira bills, old big yellow vintage public busses, the language is a thing of its own (a semetic language, follows the grammer and structure of Arabic with over 80 percent of the words actually arabic or derived from arabic, however written in latin letters with some special letters to make up for the arabic sounds that are not represented in the latin alphabet, add a sprinkle of italian/french and some english words, add salt water and mix and you've got yourself an odd language that only exists in this tiny island country in the middle of the sea) conterary to popular belief very few people know italian, they only learn Malti and English in school.

its a very urban place, everyone lives in cities, mind you these cities are all very walkable in their entirety. they all kinda look similar, the more historic parts are more charming obviously but over all it just looks like a palestinian village with a sprinkle of baroque churches (only the interiors are baroque, the exteriors look very ostere and fort-like). everything is pretty much out of big blocks of limestone, there is no brick and not much concrete. almost everything is 3-5 storeys.

I cant help it but think other places when trying to understand malta, its like Port Said (there is this architectural element in all homes all over the island, its a sort of bay window but very much resembles a edited version of a mashrabiyya which can also be found in port said, it might be an english invention to deal with the sun and allow air [malta was british for about 150 years about the same time Egypt was british and many egyptians were exiled here]), Alexandria (especially Sliema where I'm staying, which really looks like alexandria complete with the corniche but on a smaller scale of course, meaning no 8 lane highway along the waterfront only one lane for each direction), Havana (there is a frozen-in-time element here with old buses and store fronts that have been out of business since Malta was no longer a british colony, you can actually walk down streets and forget that its 2007), Tunis (with its windows again, doors, and the character of the streets) and probably some other places, maybe Palermo or something but thats probably a stretch. Malta definetly resembles a north african city more than it does a European city. I think this is the obvious and natural answer to the search for a place that is a bridge between east and west (or north and south), its a very catholic place where everyone speaks a derevative of arabic and the lifestyle, culture and cityscapes are truly a blend of arab and european.

much of the history of malta revolves around defending themselves against the turks, and so in St. John Cathedral (the main church of capital Valetta and the country) there are many symbols such as an angel crushing a turban under his foot or and alegory of St. James driving the arabs out of Spain in addition to a few others. its a very baroque church on the inside, but very nice, worth the 2.50MTL ($7.50) entry fee.

Valetta is Europe's first planned city! meaning it was planned and built (1566) in one shot with a regular grid and fortifications.. I loved it, its gorgeous and antique and tiny. thats where I started the day then I took one of the big old yellow buses to Mosta where there is Europe's third largest unsupported dome after the Pantheon and St. Peters. the dome was hit and punctured by a bomb in 1942 when fell throgh into the church but never exploded.. of course catholics love that and concider it a miracle. then i waited an hour waiting for a bus to Mdina. during that time i people watched and it was pretty interesting, boys here are very... juicy? and develope early. anyway, finally got to Mdina and oh my god this place is fucking gorgeous!!! very well restored and taken care off, it is, like the name suggests, a walled city on top of a hill, its also referred to as the silent city, all you can hear are birds and trees in the wind, the streets and buildings are perfect, I cant believe people live there. from Mdina I took a bus to an area near Valletta called the three cities, and only visited two of the three.. Senglea and Vittoriosa. both off the tourist radar so people were a little confused seeing me wander the streets with my guide book. at the tip of Senglea there is a fort (there are so many forts here its funny, what are they protecting? and from who? was it that bad?) I stopped to roll a cigarett as I was alone with a handsome maltese.. I used his lighter and in a quick look I made an assessment, he is angry, frustrated, horney... fucking hot! he was making a joint, the first i've seen in malta (alright ive only been here 24 hours) but I wasnt sure if I should talk to him, he seemed to be one of the few who didnt pay attention in english class or maybe he rebelled against school all together, I like that type. then i took a long walk around the dockyard creek to vittoriosa, also a nice city with a fort at the tip and lots of wealthy english families.. the fort had a sign reading (closed for restoration) but the door at the top of the ramp was open. did they think a sign was gonna stop me, I went a head, and it was awesome. me alone at this massive fort with the sun setting over four different cities in the grand harbour.. i got a boner. I dont know what it is about fortifications and solidarity that makes me horney, so I dropped one. it was magnificant.

anyway, boys here are hot, I should take a shower and try to make some maltese friends or possibly go back to this waterside cafe and have a shisha as I did last night.. I am too excited to just go to sleep even after 10 hours of walking.