Hi folks,

All I knew about Malta before coming here came from The Maltese Falcon, the silly 1940s movie with Humphey Bogart and Peter Lorre. Actually, it's a great tourist destination -- cheap, pleasant climate, and with a wealth of historic sites. The world's oldest free standing structure (3800 BC -- older than the Pyramids of Egypt) is not much to look at (kind of a crumbling Stonehenge), but it is interesting to contemplate. Who were those people and why did they construct this thing in Malta?

The Maltese language has it's origin in both Phoenician and Semitic languages, but English is spoken by nearly everyone here, and Italian and German are widely known. The owners of the hotel at which I am staying are Russian.

As I said, Malta is a bargain compared to mainland European prices. My private hotel room with a balcony and including breakfast is a mere $11 per night, $9 per night if I were to stay for a week. Car rental is just $17 per day, and it's been useful to get out to the countryside for the many historic sites, although I don't feel at ease driving on the left side along roads too narrow to thread a needle with drivers too fatalistic or looney to be licenced. Finding one's way can also be extraordinarily trying. Experienced experimental rats couldn't design a better maze.

The internet bar from where I am sending you this message has the atmosphere of an Atlantic City casino, and the people at the computers remind me of the folks who sit all night dropping coins into the one-armed bandits. Perhaps it's a bit more demanding of gray matter, but it's equally as addicting, and maybe we all need to see a shrink.

Since my last email, I checked out the Republic of San Marino. It's the world's oldest republic, they claim, established around 300 AD by a stone mason escaping religious persecution. It's also the world's third smallest country, 6 by 6 miles square, with 25,000 people. These days it's an unabashed tourist trap, although it's not quite as tacky as, say for example, Niagara Falls. They have a neat fortress and the views are spectacular. They strike their own coins, issue their own stamps and have their own army. In addition to their defensible position on top of a strangely out-of-place (for its surroundings) 1000 foot high escarpment, perhaps they also feel safer from foreign attack with the wide availability of guns from their many gun shops.

After San Marino, I made my way to Rome and then to Syracuse in Sicily. Rome has more worthwhile things to see than probably any city on earth.

Chiao,
Deano