St. Paul's Catacombs, Rabat Malta

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the St. Paul's Catacombs in Rabat.


These underground roman cemeteries are dated to be used up until the 4th century AD. Since the roman law at the time, prohibited burials within the city, these are found on the outskirt of the capital of Malta at the time; Mdina.

The name of the these catacombs derives from the widely known story which relates to St Paul's Grotto. As such, these catacombs are a great example of Maltese underground architecture as well as it represents the earliest evidence of Christianity in Malta.

The site itself consists of two large areas, with a good number of burial chambers. During a talk with one of the curators, I was told that there were more than 30 underground burial chambers.

Find below some additional images taken by me of the catacombs:

St Paul's Catacombs, Rabat Malta

Should you be interested to visit, the opening hours are 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday.
Tickets cost €5.00 for adults, and €3.50 for youths

How to get there
- By Public Transport: From Valletta Routes 51, 52. From Bugibba Route X3 (Airport Route). The catacombs are situated in St. Agatha Street which is a narrow street running through much of the town’s core. Follow the signs to St. Paul’s Catacombs.
- By self-drive car: Drive towards Rabat and park close to the Domus Romana. The St. Paul’s Catacombs are around 5 minutes away by walk.

Medieval Mdina Festival

Every year in Malta, on a weekend in April, the town called Mdina, transforms itself into a Medieval town.

Built on the highest spot on Malta, Mdina has great views over the island. It is a well preserved medieval town with narrow winding streets, lined with tall limestone houses. It takes you back in time... when people's lives were so much different from today...

...And with this in mind, Malta re-lives the past for one weekend every year...

This year, for the first time, I have participated as a re-enactor. I dressed up as a peasant, with the Anakron Living History group. We had our own spot in the Mdina square, and we were cooking Medieval food as well as selling wine.
 

*No make-up was allowed during re-enactment.

 Might I say, that I loved this experience, and I urge you all to attend next year. It is an event for all the family, where battles are conjured again, and medieval music is echoed throughout the city.

During this festival, all museums in Mdina also have special prices.

For more information visit: www.medievalmdina.eu
All photos in this blog entry are mine, except the portrait which was taken by Jimmy Borg.
Should you like to share any of your photography work or videos, kindly leave them in the comments below.

Back in Malta

For those of you who did not know, I am now back in Malta. Whether if it is for good, or for a long while, I do not know yet.

As such, I have decided to try and keep this blog alive. Instead of writing about my adventure in England, I will now write about things in Malta, about Malta, events, my photography and writing; whatever I can think of...

Do feel free to drop by and give me topics or areas you'd like me to explore.

I will leave you with a panorama of the lovely Sliema... Almost on a daily basis I get to walk the promenade on my way to work... Lovely view, isn't it?

Steffi
xxx

Must try food in Malta

If you really want to get a proper taste of Malta, I'd suggest not only visiting touristic areas, but also trying out Maltese food. Mediterranean food is considered to be one of the best in terms of taste and variation.

Today, I'm going to tell you what is essential to try out when in Malta -

Food

1. Twistees: If you have relatives in Malta, I am pretty sure you have heard of this snack before. If not... Twistees is by far the favourite savoury snack of Maltese people. You can find this snack from just about anywhere: supermarkets, bars, confectioneries, petrol stations... Just look for a red and yellow packet, and it's probably Twistees.

The snack itself is made from rice and maize grits, and the taste is VERY cheesy. Only try this at your own risk, because if you enjoy it - it is most probably going to be very addictive!

You can find these snacks for sale in the UK under the name Tastees from www.tastees.info  (I just discovered this jewel myself!)

2. Galletti: These are most of the time found in a round shape. Essentially they are water crackers. Nowadays you can find these plain (original format), or even with flavours and herbs. My favourite is galletti with salt and black pepper.

3. Gbejniet: These are small round cheeslets which are made from goat's milk (also sheep's milk). These cheeslets are used in several Maltese dishes, ranging from starters to main dishes - salads, pasta, pizza, soup... You name it! Gbejniet are incredibly delicious with galletti and in summer, it goes well with Maltese bread.

Maltese bread with kunserva and other toppings

4: Mmmmmaltese Bread: Whether you love bread or you don't - you must try Maltese bread! Especially bread bought directly from a bakery - fresh and warm! Also ask for a 'ftira' - this is simply divine with the following toppings: Kunserva with gbejniet, canned tuna, olives, capers, gbejniet and olive oil; especially at the beach!


5. Kunserva: This is the best sauce to go with Maltese bread. The taste is rather sweet, but go on... try it! Just spread it on the bread, and add olive oil to taste! The kunserva is also used with red pasta sauce to increase texture and taste. Ideal with that pasta Bolognese we all love so much!

Bigilla (the brown paste)

6. Bigilla: Bigilla is eaten all year round, but it is perfect for summer. This goes well as a dip with galletti, and also as an ingredient to a cold salad. The main ingredient in Bigilla is Djerba beans. I know, it doesn't sound apetising - but a lot of people grow fond of it.

7. Pastizzi: Pastizzi - fattening, but delicious! Also know as Cheesecakes / Peacakes by tourists. It is a savoury snack which have a filling of either ricotta or mushy peas. Eating these, while drinking a cup of tea is a must! Great for breakfast or as a snack.
They are available in two shapes: diamond or round. They are folded differently depending to the filling. These are usually baked on metal drays and are available from cafes and pastizzerias all around the island.

8: Mqaret: Commonly found in feasts and Valletta. These are delicious daimond shaped pastries stuffed with dates and deep fried. Again, these are not for people who are on diet, however you can buy healthier version of these from the supermarket. Most of the time available frozen - and then you can always bake them instead. Taste wise, the deep fried ones are much better. Mqaret is the plural of maqrut. The word maqrut derives from an Arabic word meaning a 'diamond'.

Drinks

9. Cisk Lager: This is the best beer you can find locally. Also you can find a 'light' version of it called Cisk Excel. Other variations are Cisk Chill which contains a lemon flavour, and Cisk XS which is extra strong (and very sweet!)

10. Kinnie: This is the soft drink Malta is known for. It has been created in the early 1950s, and it's taste is of bitter oranges and aromatic herbs. It sure quenches your taste!

If you are visiting the islands in Summer, make sure you always carry with you a bottle of water, otherwise you're risking dehydration due to the heat!

Have fun.

Maltese Recipes: Qaghaq tal-Gunglien

When I miss Malta, one way of feeling closer to Malta and its people for me, is not through a telephone call or a chat conversation, but through cooking a maltese dish. As such, I thought I'd share a recipe with you all.

One of my favourite tea-time biscuits coming from Malta are 'Qaghaq tal-Gunglien', which translates to Sesame Seeds Ring Biscuits.

Please find below the ingredients you require, the recipe itself and also photos I have taken whilst cooking these biscuits:

- 500g Plain flour
- 200g Castor sugar
- 200g margarine (ideally, no trans-fat)
- 1 x 11g packet dried yeast
- ½ tsp aniseed
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla (ideally, poweder)
- Grated zest of 1 lemon lemon
- 180ml luke warm water
- Lots of Sesame Seeds

Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and sift.
Mix into it the lemon zest.
Using your fingertips, rub into the mixture the margarine, until the mixture looks sandy.
Add the water a little at a time, until the mixture is turned into a dough.

~~~

Leave the dough to rest for more than 2 hours. Ovenight rest is ideal.

Close view to the pastry.

~~~

Flour the table top you will be using, and take the dough out of the bowl.
Cut a small piece of the pastry and roll it onto the flour, to form a long pipe.
Cut and twist the pipe around to create a ring and place it on a baking tray.

~~~

Once you have used all the pastry, leave them to rest for yet another hour.
The rings might puff up and end up touching each other. Nothing to worry about here.

~~~

Brush up the top of each ring with water and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
Preheat the over at 160C and then bake the rings for not more than 15minuted.
You will know they're down once the rings are brown on top, yet still rather soft  when you touch them.

~~~

The finishing should look like this:

If you skip the 1 hour waiting time before putting them in the oven, the biscuits look like this:

Either way... they are very tasty.

Store in an air-tight containter and consume within 2-5 days.

Sun or Rain - Only God knows when.

So, 

One of the main reasons I left Malta, and decided to live in the U.K. is due to the fact that in Malta we get approximately 5 months of Summer -  starting end of April and lasts until around mid September. 

Though summer is nice, it's very humid and sweaty in Malta; with a temperature averaging 35 Degrees Celsius and during heatwaves, over 40. Though in the offices or at home, it's nice and cool thanks to airconditioning and fans, as soon as you go outside it feels like you just walked into an oven. 

In contrast to this, summer in the UK has been horrible this year. In the past month, I can hardly remember any days rain-free. Even though it is a nice change to summer as I know it, I’d rather have last year’s English summer. I think summer here will have the highest rainfall since record.

Hoping August will bring more sun to this summer-less island...

A day in lovely Gozo

During my last visit to Malta, less than a month ago, I took Mark for the first time to Gozo. For those who never heard of Gozo, this is the sister island of Malta. It was mid-June, and the temperature on the islands is around 25 Degrees Celcius; Sunny, with the occassional breeze. Gozo is smaller than Malta, and is less populated and it tends to be more quiet, and greener.

I think that the perfect time to visit Malta is either in June or in September, when the weather is good and yet not too hot and humid.

My dad offered to drive us to Cirkewwa, and so it didn't take long until we were waiting for the Gozo ferry. Mark and I managed to find a seat outside, and so we could appreciate the views better.

When in Gozo, we visited Rabat (also known as Victoria), the capital city. I took Mark to my favourite cafe in Gozo (and Malta too!), called Cafe Jubilee. Although Cafe Jubilee is also available in Malta, the first shop was open in Gozo, and as such the owner is Gozitan. If you ever have the opportunity to go to this cafe, I suggest you try their Rikotta pastizzi, which are home-made. Their bread is also a must-try - especially the 'ftira'.

After a nice snack and chilling at the cafe, we took a bus and made our way to Marsalforn, which is one of my favourite spots in Gozo. The beach was so inviting and it was a shame we didn't have our bathing suit on! There were barely any people around...

However in the bay close to Marsalforn we encountered my biggest enemy... the Jellyfish...

It was a shame that we could only stay for a day.

I would love to live in Gozo one day. It's just so beautiful and quiet.