Holiday in Malta!

Hello again, and happy February! One of the great things about the school schedule in Scotland is that although the school year is longer (Aug. 17 to July 1), we have several much-appreciated week long breaks after each half-term. Of course, we already had our October week off, and our Christmas two week break; this time we got a chance to have a week off in February!

For us, experiencing lots of snow and cold this winter in Scotland, we definitely wanted a change of climate for the week. This became Kim's mission - try to book us a week's holiday in a warmer place for a relatively cheap price! She succeeded! She booked us bargain plane tickets on Ryanair, and a cheap, but comfortable flat in MALTA!

Briefly, Malta is the most southern country in Europe, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It is a tiny country, made up of 2 main islands, Malta and Gozo. The archipelago is only just over 40 kms long and 10 kms wide, with an area of about 320 square kms. Historically, it is huge though. The earliest settlements are estimated to have been as early as 7000 B.C., and there are several neolithic temples that are considered some of the oldest in the world. One of temple structures is actually considered THE oldest human built structure in existence. Much later this tiny country became key in the trade routes of the ancient empires. Malta was ruled by no less than the Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, and Byzantine Empires. A notable event in history, recorded in the Bible, that is still a source of pride in the country was in 60 A.D. when the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked off the coast of Malta. Paul spent about 3 months in Malta, winning many to Christ, including the governor of the islands. This was the beginning to the Christian culture on the islands, and the reason for many present-day buildings, streets and cathedrals named after St. Paul. Despite this start, in 870 A.D. the rise and spread of Islam resulted in the Arab occupation of Malta, which lasted until the 1091 when Norman Crusaders conquered the islands in the name of Christianity. Malta became a key location during the Crusades as it was one of the final gathering places for European knights as they sailed to the Holy Land. Malta became a front line battle ground for the next 500 years in the conflict between Christianity and Islam. This culminated in 1530 with the Templar knights from the Order of St. John being given the island by Charles V of Spain. Their strength and resolve was most dramatically tested in 1535 when a force of 35 000 Turks in a massive fleet laid seige to the Knights fortresses. With only 9000 knights, the Order of St. John withstood the seige and over the next year or so gradually defeated the massive force in a series of stunning victories, battling from the shelter of their massive fortifications. The Order was never defeated and ruled the islands for the next 268 years until the early 1800s, when the Order finally left the islands. The tiny nation has continued as a devoted Catholic nation until this day.

Our trip was amazing. It was such a change being able to once again wear t-shirts, shorts and sunglasses. We tried to balance relaxation time with seeing the many sights, and I think that we were pretty successful overall. Below are a small sample of the 400+ photos that we took!

Here Emma is fully taking advantage of the relaxation part. She is actually sitting in one of the crumbled stone passageways on the outer wall of one of the forts, right on the waters edge.

Sophie and I sharing a beautiful day together.

On our second day in Malta we spent much of it at this beautiful beach. It was fun playing in the sand and clear waters. I think the locals thought we were crazy, as this is the cold season for them. Our warmest day 24 degrees C. didn't seem too bad to me!

Sand castles are always high on Isaiah's list.

I love it when the girls are best friends.

The buses were VERY cool. There were many from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Too bad that the old ones are all going out of service next year when the MOT inspections (that the UK presently has - sort of like aircare with a mechanical inspection on top) start.

Here are Kim and the kids enjoying their time in front of a common local plant, the prickly pear cactus.

We went to Malta's southeast coast on our third day. Beautiful day with a pounding surf. Far below us was this local fisherman throwing out a simple fishing line wrapped around a small stick. In these same waters, just offshore, the largest great white shark ever to be caught was brought in several years ago.

Another photo of the beautiful coastline.

Emma and I standing looking over the crashing waves. Kim took this photo, just as we got a faceful of spray.

A few minutes later, Emma and I were surprised by this large wave that actually swept over ledge, soaking us up to our knees. I clicked this photo just before it hit us. We retreated to higher ground pretty quickly after this.

This is the entrance to one of the ancient temples that I earlier mentioned. These were large and pretty impressive. Too bad that our guidebook said that entrance was free, but when we got there it actually cost us 27 euros to get in. This actually happened at a number of sights, and apparently only began within the last 2 years, since Malta has been using the Euro.

One of the traditional fishboats moored in the shallows of Anchor Bay. The small boats are all painted in really bright blues, with red, green and yellow trim.

The sun beginning to set in Malta. You can still see a fisherman out in his boat.

One of the neat places on the trip was our visit to Sweet Haven, the movie set for the 1980 movie Popeye. We knew that this was in Malta, so we watched the video a few times before our trip. We really enjoyed this touristy little place.

The view from the upper balcony of one of the buildings.

The washroom facilities needed a little upgrading though.

Popeye and his gang. Is it just me or does Sophie head look really large?

A sunny day in St. Paul's Bay. The faint islands in the background are thought to be the place where St. Paul and his shipwrecked pals washed to shore.

Sophia sitting on a stool that just happened to be at the end of the jetty. Reminds me of a studio photo, only the background is real and not a phony screen.

A beautiful view as we took a ferry ride over to Gozo.

Isaiah on the ramparts of the Citadel in Victoria, the main city of Gozo. In the early 15oos a large group of pirates attacked the city, sold all 3000 inhabitants into slavery, and destroyed almost all of the city records and archives, leaving very little information of this city previous to this attack.

We discovered the hard way that posing on the ramparts was not allowed...

There was so much to see that I started feeling a little bug-eyed.

Sophie standing overlooking the heavily fortified harbour in Valletta. This was the main focal point for the Turkish fleet that laid siege to Malta. I can't even imagine what it would be like to watch hundreds of Turkish ships sail into the harbour.

A view of Fungi rock, a large jutting island off Gozo, where a unique type of mushroom grew that the locals long thought to have mystical and medicinal powers. They thought that these mushrooms only grew on this small island - at least until the 60s...

The Inland Sea - a completely protected natural harbour, with this narrow natural tunnel as the only exit to the sea. All of the shacks in the photo are the boathouses for the local fishermen.

Possibly the most amazing natural rock formation that I've ever seen. The Azure Window is considered one of the natural Wonders of the World. It is huge, and I found that I just wanted to sit down and stare at it for a long time. Amazing!

Well, I hope that you enjoyed this lengthy blog entry. We loved our trip and highly recommend Malta to anyone who ever gets a chance to visit. See you next entry!

Jimy MacJohnson

Aye.... the haggis...

Hello everyone! Happy belated Robbie Burns day! A couple of evenings ago Kim and I enjoyed a Craigmount P.E. dept. Burns dinner. Great fun! The P.E. dept. staff and significant others met and had a great evening of recitations, food and fun. Here are a few of the photos from the evening.

Yes, this may be the one and only time that I ever wear a kilt. It was a little breezy, but it was strangely liberating... "FREEDOM!"

Here was the main course. Mmm. Haggis, neeps, and tatties with a wee photo honouring Burns.

Here's a photo of my department head, Mike. No one dared refuse his wine (except Kim).

Two of my fellow P.E. teachers, Andy and Steven. Great guys!


The joke-cracking Poet Lauriat of our dept, Bob - reciting "Ode to a Fart". Really.

Me and my beautiful lassie, Kim

Here is one of the highlights of the dinner. My colleague, Steven gave a very impressive Address to the Haggis. My camera could only record 1 minute at a time, so I had to record this in 2 parts. Although the lighting was poor, hopefully you'll get a taste of the accent that we have to deal with on a regular basis...

It was a fun night. The Scots really know how to have a good time! I felt bad that I didn't get a photo of the two wonderful female teachers in our department, Sheena and Anne. Oh well, maybe next event. Half-term break in 1 week! See you then!

Jimy MacJohnson

A tale of two retreats

This January James and I both had the privilege of going on weekend retreats with people from our church as well as other churches. James went at the beginning of January and I at the end. We thought we would share a little of what we each gleaned from our weekends. We both spent our weekends at the same hotel in the lake district in England. The area we were in is called Grange over Sands. The amazing thing, which you will see, is that the surroundings we experienced were completely different. James was surrounded by beautiful snow covered land while I enjoyed brilliant sunshine and springlike surroundings.

I'll share a little about my weekend first. I went with three lovely ladies from our church. We travelled the distance of about 3 hours to arrive at a beautiful hotel overlooking the sea. The cool thing about the "beach" is it actually an estuary with grass, salt marsh, channels and apparently, from the warning signs, quicksand!! About 83 women attending this weekend. We spend the weekend fellowshipping, worshipping and learning some amazing lessons from some amazing women. It was so awesome for me to see so many women who love the Lord coming together in unity. I have wondered at times if there are many Christians at all in this country so it was a total blessing to see God is working in this country and our neighbour England.

For me the weekend begun with kicking a lovely lady with a cane--by accident of course--while walking into the dining hall. Her exclamation of "she's trying to kill me!!" somehow made me feel a bit better? I somehow got through that first amazing meal without maiming anyone else.

On Saturday we had some free time in the afternoon and walked along the promenade to the little village of Grange Over Sands. It was great to enjoy a sunny walk with a hint of spring just around the corner (I hope). I later went for a wee swim in the pool. This is always fun without glasses!

The weekend seemed to fly by and before we knew it it was Sunday and we were ending the weekend with a final meal together! It was an awesome weekend full of laughter and tears and for me, lots of chatting!! I loved every minute of my time away and took home some valuable lessons--besides "do not kick ladies with canes", that is!!

To sum it up, we serve an awesome God!!

My men's retreat weekend (James here now) was also a refreshing weekend of relaxation and reflection. Like Kim, I was encouraged by the friendly and genuineness of the fellow Christians that I met, most who hailed from Manchester, England. We had a number of Scottish guys leading the worship (I genuinely enjoy hearing a Scottish accent lifted in song) and an amazing speaker who also hails from Edinburgh. It was also interesting listening to the Scottish v. English jokes and stereotypes that flew back and forth throughout the weekend. Anyways, my weekend, as cold and snowy as it was, definitely reaffirmed the Father's love for me, and for all of us, despite our faults and stubborn weaknesses. A great time!

Here is the hotel with snow surrounding it. Blue sky but cold air!

... and here it is three weeks later with no snow, but still a blue sky.

One of my favourite little hikes that I went on. At the top of the hill above the town was this "folly". A mini castle. Originally built in the early 1800's, it had an upstairs room and a lower one. Floors, roof and doors long gone - but pretty cool!

A local church that seemed picturesque.

A view from the folly, overlooking the town.

A long disused gate close to the folly.

A photo of my friend Ian and a tree.

The local train station right outside of the hotel.

Here are Kim's pictures....

Here is the sign pointing the way to the trains.

This sign looked promising......

One of the channels in the estuary.

A sign about the estuary.

A view from the promenade towards the sea. It is so hard to capture how beautiful it was.

Where we had a latte after our "hard" walk into town.

I like the all in one type establishments.

The ladies that went on the retreat from our church. Linda is not a shady lady...the tree was though!!