Way way back to the past today

Between the Tarxien temples and the Hypogeum, our day was spent learning about and seeing neolithic buildings, now UNESCO World Heritage sites. But let's back up a bit.

Before we left Canada on this trip, we'd booked tickets to visit the Hypogeum in Malta. Tours are limited to a few a day, only 10 people at a time and it's always booked.  It's in the city of Paolo just outside Valletta. It's hard to tell where one place ends and the next one starts. We went by bus and luckily got seats, possibly the last three. Next time we'll walk up the hill to the bus station where the route starts to be sure we don't have to stand. In Ottawa, it's nicer to sit but you don't have to cope with turns every few yards, making staying vertical a bit of a challenge.

On this trip, we found out in advance the name of the stop we needed, and the name of the one just before it, so we'd be sure to disembark at the right place. Everything went according to plan. We got off at Nazza something. The stop just before was Lourdes and we wondered if somehow we'd gone all the way to France. However, it is pronounced Lour-dez, and of course is in Malta.

We ventured first to the Tarxien temples, following google maps and then the signs we found posted on buildings. We even walked on brand-new asphalt as they were still paving on the same street. They don't have the same pothole problems we have, but I guess they had the money to re-surface that one. The actual temples are an outdoor exhibit and very well signed and explained, and nicely covered by a sort of tent. Here are a couple of pictures. 

Valletta is the topmost peninsula in the picture. We visited the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum
and the Hal Tarxien Prehistoric Complex, just blocks from each other in Paolo. 
As you can see it's very densely built up and you don't notice moving from one city to the next

One view of the temples - discovered on someone's farmland before the city was so built up

There's nothing like standing in front of 5000-year-old structures to make you feel young

I can't get enough of the interesting balconies on the homes here. Some are in much better condition than others. Some have open balconies alongside the enclosed ones, mostly on what seem like larger more palatial residences. 

I love these buildings, which I think are unique to Malta. Note the hydro wires fastened to the buildings. They don't have poles on the streets. Of course, there'd be no place to put them.

After visiting the temples we stopped for lunch near the main square of Paola. There was the huge church of Christ the King - the parish church. It doesn't seem to be noted as a cathedral or basilica. But it was locked up tight so we could not see what it was like inside.

Church of Christ the King - a massive structure but sadly, locked up tight

Look closely. This is a calendar clock. You can see we were here on March 12th.
There is a regular clock on the second tower but this one interested me more.

So, where are the pictures of the Hypogeum? Well, on their website. You are not allowed to take any pictures inside. In fact, everything but your clothes has to be put into a locker before the tour. No phones allowed. I provided a link in a previous blog. For those educationally-minded, you can go back and find it.

We were lucky on the bus trip back to our place, as we all managed to find seats. If we had gotten on one stop later we would have been out of luck. Eventually, it was just as packed as the ride I took on Tuesday.

This evening was a quiet one "at home." Tomorrow we'll rise with the birds to be at the bus for 8:15. It will take us to the ferry at a place I would spell if I could. It starts with C and ends with A and is something like Checkra with a few more letters. Can't wait. Another sunny day awaits.