Flew into Boston the first day. We have adopted the "no connections in the same day" approach so it also provides some nice, quiet touring time since we got in late and our plane doesn't leave until late.

We decided to go visit the USS Constitution. I remember doing this when I was in 4th grade and always thought it was pretty cool.

To my joy, it's still pretty cool.

We landed in Heathrow early on the morning of the 5th. Got a lovely British cab to take us to our hotel.

We are staying at The MacDonald Complete Angler in Marlow Bridge,UK. Not to be confused with the town of Marlow, or Upper Marlow or Little Marlow - I'm in a Harry Potter book I think.

It's a very lovely hotel that sits on a large piece of land next to the Thames. You can see the town across the water from our hotel, as well as the church.

Landed in Malta and took a taxi to our hotel. We're staying at The Marriott St. Julian's along the coast.

Since it's late afternoon we are just relaxaing and getting to know the area. From our hotel balcony we have beautiful views of Balluta Bay, Exiles Bay and St. Julian's Bay.

A word about Maltese Taxi drivers - get one. They're fun, almost debonair, polite and efficient. Yes there is an app for that.

Today was the official start of touring Malta. We have a rather extensive list of places we want to see. Remember 10,000 years of people stopping by Malta so an abundance of things to visit.

First stop was Halsaflieni Hypogeum at 9:00am (one of our first early morning appointments). Unfortunately no photography is allowed in the chambers, so on to Tarxien Temples.

This site dates back to around 3150 BC - older than the first pyramid in Egypt.

A farmer happened on some of the stones in 1913 and saw their signifigance. Excavation work began almost immediately.

An extensive reconstruction of the main entrance was done in 1956

We ate lunch at a restaurant in Marsaxlokk, a tradidtional active fishing village that's been in existence for thousands of years. Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Otttoman, Spanish, Arabs, French, English - all have moored here. Now US!

A couple of the sites on our list are rather small, so I am including them on this page. Small, but no less significant in history.

Onward to more temples!

The Hagar Quim and Mnajdra Temples are about 500 yards apart and both date from around 3600BC. Yes, older than the pyramids that get all the press.

Both sites are original with only some minor reconstructions and reinforcements where necessary.

Both sites have huge stones - which prompted one 17th century historian to say "indubitable evidence of the fact that the first inhabitants of Malta were of the race of Giants"

The city of Mdina is an ancient walled city that sits atop a hill - obviously a great place for a fort. Phoenicians built the first city here around the 8th century BC.

It is quite impressive both outside and inside the walls. About 300 people still dwell inside the walled city, and it did give me a sense of how folks lived behind walls for protection.

The city around the old walled city is known as Rabat - Arabic for suburb basically.

Oh, and I must warn you there are a lot of pictures of quaint streets and buildings - so no surprise to those who know us.

After we finished wandering around Mdina we headed out of the walled city. Right next door is Domus Romano, an ancient Roman house - or what is left of it.

The site was bigger but the British bulldozed some of it to put in a road. Most of the pottery and relics have been moved to the museum for safe keeping.

The St. Paul Catacombs are a worthwhile stop. While not as large as those in Paris, and lacking the stacks of skulls and bones (see London & Paris WIth Casey 2019) it is still an amazing part of history.

The full name is Sanctuary Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady but it is commonly known as the Rotunda of Mosta.

Neo-classic design based on the Panthenon, construction started in 1830. The population of Mosta helped in it's constructions working Sunday afternoons and holidays.

It was completed in 1860 and has the third largest unsupported dome in the world.

in April of 1942 a German bomb fell through the roof during Mass but did not explode.

Today we went over to Valetta, the capital of Malta.

We planned on doing some sightseeing around town as well as do the Valetta Underground.

The main square area is pedestrian only and has some great old buildings, shops and one Velociraptor statue.

Yup, part of the last Jurassic Park movie was filmed here and in true Maltese fashion it has been memorialized.

The tour of the underground only opened in 2021, and we were anxious to see it.

The tunnels are extensive and many date back to the 1560s. After the Knights of St. John held out against the Ottomans in a 4 month seige - The Great Siege of Malta - it was decided Valetta needed a good underground system.

Besides storing grain it was necessary to store water and waste, so excavation was begun. Every home in Valetta had to have a cistern for fresh water and one for waste. Also huge public resevoirs were dug for retaining vast quantities of water.

The tunnels were expanded and used during the extensive bombing by the Italians and Germans in WWII.

We took a motorized gondola across The Grand Harbor to Birgu, a lovely and well fortified old city.

OK, Ya, I know. All the cities on Malta are fortified, especially along the water. However this is where the Knights of St. John held out against the Ottomans.

When the Knights of St. John came here in 1530 the town and what was left of old fortifications were in disrepair. So they beefed it all up and by 1550 it was strong enough to hold out against the Ottomans during The Great Seige of Malta.

In 1798 the French took Malta but 2 years later the British took it from Napoleon and shortly after that the Maltese asked the British to stay. Seems they figured better the British than be constantly coquered by other countries who needed the island.

Fort St. Angelo was garrisoned by the British until 1979

Today we head to the island of Gozo, just north of Malta.

We have a full list of places we want to see but first there's the ferry ride across the bay.

This is the earliest megalithic temple in Malta. At over 5500 years old they are the 2nd oldest man-made religious structure.

There are 2 temples, and from numerous figurines and statues found at the site archeologists have connected them to a fertility rite.

I was amazed at the huge stones fitted so closely, and again with no metal tools.

The original windmill was built in 1725. When the wind was right the miller would blow a horn to let the people know to bring their grain in for milling.

Great care has been taken to recreate the furniture that would have been used by the miller and his family back then.

Some of the tools displayed were actually made by the miller.

Next stop was the Salt Pans of Xwejni. Some of the pans are owned by the Cini family - going back to the 1860s. Manuel & Rosa sell some of the salt from their little shop on the hill above the pans.

Of course we went to the shack and had a lovely time with Rosa and Manuel - so much good humor.

This was an amazing limestone arch, set in an equally amazing setting.

Just so happened some local climbers were there when we were. Apparently this is a favorite area for them.

Now, it's no Ellisons or Golondrinas but you make due with what you have, and they were enjoying themselves, as were we.

We have left Malta and are now in Italy.

We decided to stay in Sorrento instead of Naples and enjoy the beauty of the Bay of Naples, amazing cliffs, and Lemoncello.

Yes, here is the birthplace of Lemoncello.

This is a lovely town with many small side streets to explore and great views of the surrounding mountains.

Now some intense touristing. Pompei - that amzing city that was buried in 79AD when Vesuvius erupted.

We were here for a brief tour in the winter of 2003 but so much more has been excavated since then.

To better understand what archeologists and historians have learned in the past 20 years, we hired a private guide. Fabio is actually an archeologist so naturally he knows quite a bit. And on top of that he was just so much fun.

Yes, we took a few hundred shots so I'm splitting it up in 2 galleries; the ruins, and then the amazing tile floors and the equally amazing frescos.

I was a bit overwhelmed by the abundance, style and variety of tiled floors in many of the buildings in Pompeii.

Having friends who do mosaics I appreciate the work it entails. And they did it with very tiny pieces of ceramics. I'd go blind.

Then there are the frescos.

The colors have faded on many, and some pieces of wall have broken off.

But if you'd been shaken to the core in an earthquake and then 17 years later hit with pyrclastic flow, thermal energy equal to 100,000 times that of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and finally buried under 20 to 30 feet of ash, you might not look so good either.

Herculaneum - really great. If you only have time for one excavated city, go here.

I know Pompeii gets all the press - it is bigger and then there are those casts of bodies - but Herculaneum is smaller, was better preserved in the blast, and is easy to do in an afternoon.

It was home to the Roman elite, and they liked their villsa well decorated and spacious.

We had a personal guide here as well; Sylvia. She's an historian with a trove of knowledge, and she takes her UNESCO site preservation seriously. Several times she stopped in the middle of an explanation to scold a stupid tourist who was touching walls, frescos, or doing some other destructive activity.

Yes, we really really liked her, and she made the tour something exceptional.

The Colosseum. Yes, that huge thing that sits in the middle of Rome, started by Emperor Vespasian in 72AD, finished by his sons TItus and later Domitian.

It was Domitian who had the great idea of animals and people suddenly appearing on the floor of the Colosseum, and his engineers devised an incredible system of pullies, elevators and trap doors.

We have always wanted to see this labyrinth but tours did not start until 2021

It was really impressive and I now watch Gladiator with an entirely different view.

The Forum was the center of Roman life. Processions, speeches, trials, pretty much anything important went on here.

Palentine HIll - where all the wealthy Romans built homes, and then where Emperor Augustus and all the subsequent Emperors built palaces.

Pretty crowded in it's heyday, and now figuring out which ruin was actually the Temple of Cybele, or Palace of Titus, gets a little daunting.

Today it is a mix of old and relatively new, relative because anything younger then 500 years is pretty new in Roman building terms.

Must have been pretty crowded at it's height.

Today was full of more great places - yes historical places.

We started with Roman House (photography not allowed) but it was incredible. But it is next to Trajan's Forum, which is open for viewing.

Again I am amazed at just how many emperors managed to build huge complexes in such a rather small area. You start with Trajan's which is newest, then pass Julius's on the other side, and Augustus and on.

About all that remains of most are pillars.

One very cool thing about Roman House was the immersion video that explained what all the glyphs on Trajan's Forum mean - the story of his conquest of the Dracians. And it did it withougt gratuitus violence.

Then on to tour the Pantheon - site of the largest unsupported dome and a rather magnificant structure.

It is a former Roman temple that survived because - YUP YOU GUESSED IT - it became a christian church in 609.

The interior is actually quite inviting and not overly burdened with religious paintings and the ones on display are very nice .

Like any good tourist we did go to Vatican Square on the off chance we might actually get into something, but unless we wanted to stand in line for 4 hours.... well guess it's still on our list.

We moved right along to Castel St Angelo. It was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family about 135 AD.

It went through a few changes over the centuries and in the 14th century the popes turned it into a castle for defense. If you remember your history you know this was not just paranoia.

Pope Nicholas III connected the castle to St Peter's Basilica by a covered fortified corridor called the Passetto di Borgo.

Yes it is still there.

We really enjoy strolling down side streets, alleys, over bridges, down more alleys - never know what you'll find.

Case in point - Cafe Greco. Oldest British Tea Room in Rome - 1760.

Also the expected, like Spanish Steps and Victor Emanuel National Monument.

To us the smaller things are just as fun and important - and I promise to not bore you with too many shots of bridges, little cafes, lanes, tiny cars and all the wonderful things that are Rome

Arrivederci Roma!

Hello London!

In keeping with our philosophy of not trusting connecting flights, we checked into our favorite London house, The Sanctuary.

Went downstairs to the pub for a lovely dinner, great beer and some very entertaining company from another couple

Then we took a nice night stroll across the Thames

Next day we rode a river taxi down to Greenwich Yes, that Greenwich famed for Greenwich Mean Time. Also long associated with navigation and sea fare.

We had a nice little visit to the area, which is a lovely village, and enjoyed the National Maritime Museum.

Tomorrow it's back to the states.