Maltese Moores

It is Sunday, October 22 and the Gym-Clan has settled into the Westin Dragonara in St. Julian's. Yesterday, we also  made one loop around the island. We have discovered some interesting things about Malta. Some of our early observations are as follows

1. There is a preponderance of well-fed stray cats on the island and unlike in many poorer countries where you see feral cats, these ones are approachable. This is very much to the delight of Nicole. Almost every place you go there is a healthy looking tabby or a nice calico feline friend and they look like they have just come off the couch. The relative tameness of these felines is due to the fact that there is a group or groups of cat lovers on the island that care for them and feed them. On Friday, we were sitting down at lunch when a small car pulled up and a 30-something woman got out and popped open the hatchback. Inside was a bucket of cat food. The lady grabbed a bowl out of the back and went across the street where earlier in the day we had seen a feral cat enter a construction site. She left the bowl at the entrance to the site and brought back an empty bowl. When she closed the hatchback we noticed the licence plate read "CAT 909". The Maltese care about these animals. We hope to go to a place called Cat Park later on in the trip. It is here that dozens of these cats congregate at night, for food and shelter.

wild cats, don't look so wild

Nicole making friends with a native

2. The sea is 25C still in the Mediterranean. During mid-August Shuswap Lake may get up to 25ish but only for a couple of days. This is late October and the sea around here is warmer than the hotel pool. In August the sea temperature here is 27C.

the three musketeers before a dip in the Med

3. Malta is one big movie set. We went on a tour yesterday called the Game of Thrones Tour. The tour guide, a fellow by the name of Malcolm Ellul, took us around the island to show us the locations of many of the scenes from the first season of GoT and much, much more about Malta.  In the process of seeing GoT locations, Macolm revealed how many of the scenes were shot, how the shadow and lighting were controlled and what they did to cancel out unwanted sounds from a bustling city. He also showed us where numerous other movie scenes were shot, gave us a private walking tour of the ancient walled capital of Mdina, led us through St. Dominic's Church in Rabat which is the site of two Catholic miracles and took us to a restaurant for lunch that had an outstanding view of most of the island. As far as GoT locations go, here is a few pics:

Malcolm is standing close to where Khal Drogo fell off his horse,
where poor Mr. Drogo was burned in the pyre, where the dragons were born and where we saw a naked Daenarys Targaryen.

Malcolm is standing in the courtyard in front of Petyr Baelish's brothel. This was also
the location for the scene in which there was a battle between Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister
which ended in a soldier thrusting a spear into Ned's leg from behind. In the scene, Malcolm's character,
also a soldier, was killed in the corner of the courtyard.

In this courtyard which Chris is checking out, Cersei Lannister uttered the words,
"when you play the game of thrones you either win or you die." 

This is part of the gardens in King's Landings where several scenes were shot

This is the Castle in King's Landing and inside the gate was the courtyard
of the castle. The stairs are also featured in the movie "Helen of Troy". 

This is the main gate to King's Landing and the actual gate to Mdina.
Many scenes have been shot here. 

Here are some of the other sites of Malta that we were able to take in on the tour.

View of most of Malta from the deck of the restaurant where we ate lunch.

The cathedral in Mdina. The streets in front of this church were the settings for numerous movie scenes.

Our Lady of the Grotto in St. Dominic's Church,  Rabat.
If you look closely you can see where the Madonna wept  tears of blood.

Malcolm Ellul was a great guide, he was very knowledgeable about season one of GoT because he played a number of bit parts in it and helped setting background for many other scenes. He also knew the locations of many other movie scenes that were shot in Malta over the years (Malcolm played a bit part in The Gladiator, he was one of the soldiers that surrounded Russell Crowe in a scene in the Colosseum that was also shot in Malta). And because Malcolm is a local he was able to enthusiastically sell the island to his guests.

It was calm, 25C and sunny today, the day after the tour. Nicole who has been working on a tan, has a pinkish hue developing. Linda is getting some relaxation time in between the tennis games. The three boys have all purchased new masks and snorkels. We have tried local Italian, Thai, Russian and Japanese cuisine. We are all getting in around 10,000 steps per day. But most importantly, the Maltese aren't tired of us yet. So we will stay a few more days.

 :)

Stay tuned!