Italy and Malta

Yesterday we both woke up tired after a hot night with lots of mosquitoes fighting over our blood. Decided to spend the day blobbing in the camping ground – after all it was Sunday and definitely a day of rest. I think we managed a swim in the pool and Gus did go for a quick run first thing but that was it...

Today we caught the bus into Bologna and took 2-3 hours to explore the city. We started with the Fountain of Neptune – both men and women displayed proudly. Once again, many beautiful churches - we weren’t allowed to take photos in these ones though. Also, luckily I remembered my scarf this time so I could cover my bare shoulders – we didn’t go into the cathedral in Florence because of this.

Something a bit different is the Piazza Santo Stefano; it’s actually 7 churches in 1. You go into one church and then on through doors into more little chapels and courtyards and more chapels, quite a labyrinth. The only way out seems to be back through the original church, not sure what the story behind this arrangement is.

We also visited the University of Bologna, founded in 1088! The Teatro Antomico, where anatomy lessons were once held, by dissecting bodies, is quite amazing. Many carved wooden figures on the walls and even hanging from the ceiling.

There are two towers in the middle of the city from which the streets radiate out. One of them is on a distinct lean – they had a major earthquake in this city when we were in England, so I hope this tower isn’t about to topple into the street, it certainly looks like it is!

Bologna is another mediaeval city, so lots of very narrow streets once again. Apparently the houses were built to overhang like this to avoid land taxes. Then back to camp and the pool before the real heat of the day set in...

Spent two days around the area of Bologna – on the first we went for a drive, ended up having a bike ride in a nice cool forest.

Also saw these fishing nets set up, apparently for eeling. Was a bit of an anticlimax though because had been looking forward to seeing the Delta Po, is supposed to be amazing for its birdlife. We did catch a glimpse of some flamingos from a bridge but after the Camargue it just couldn’t compare.

The second day we visited the Ferrari factory museum out of Melano (about 30 mins from Bologna). There were lots of pretty cars – lots and lots. You could test drive a late-model Ferrari too, like a Spider or similar. We thought it sounded fun until we found out it cost about 100 Euro for 10 minutes, maybe not!

I found the roundabouts on the way there interesting too – each one had a different piece of sculpture in the middle – all completely different from each other. One was a bunch of grapes, one a horse and carriage, one a drop of olive oil, and this one: the man holding a truck on his back - go figure...

Then late that night we caught the plane to Malta. At Bologne Airport we had to catch a ‘yellow bus’ to a different terminal to check in; then back to the original terminal to catch the plane. All very odd but we were entertained by the resemblance the bus had to the Fantasyland train! My nephew met us at the airport, eventually... He was a little late but totally understandable because he had to catch the end of the Europa Football Semi-final between Spain and Portugal. This is so huge in Europe, makes our Rugby World Cup look small. Was very good of him to collect us though, as we arrived at 11.30pm! Then of course we had lots of catching up to do with Billy & Charlene; finally went to bed about 2am, and they’ve even sacrificed their bed for us.

When we woke up and looked out from the deck I was amazed at the view – quite different to mainland Europe, more like I imagine Turkey looks like. Sandy coloured buildings with flat roofs, and all stacked up behind each other. We had a slow morning, Billy was working, and we slept in anyway.

After lunch they took us around the oldest parts of the island, absolutely beautiful. There is so much history here it’s hard to take it all in, especially all in such a confined area. We went to a walled city that was the original city of the island, and was designed so that the entire population at the time could fit inside and close the gates on whichever invader was coming in this week. It’s filled with palaces that are still lived in and apparently rarely sold; they are handed down through families. It was really lovely to have Billy to drive us, and Charlene, who has lived here all her life, as our personal guide. Makes travel so much easier! It is hot here, not as hot as Italy but much more humid, although with an air-conditioned car and air-conditioning in the house, it’s a LOT more bearable.