Here on Malta I have now seen several ambulances with the words “Mater Dei” on them. Malta’s ambulances display “Mater Dei” because that’s the name of Malta’s main public hospital – Mater Dei Hospital. The ambulances are operated by the national ambulance service and primarily transport patients to this hospital, so they’re branded with its name. “Mater Dei” is Latin for “Mother of God,” reflecting Malta’s strong Catholic heritage. The hospital, which opened in 2007,…
The world is always moving ahead as it seems. No matter what country you go to you will invariably find that there was a city that was very important, perhaps it was a Capital or perhaps it was just a big prosperous city. And then something changed. something is always changing in this world. Everything wants that city that used to be a very important place, which had built up accordingly, to suddenly, and within…
When I arrived in Malta I realized that I had made a strategic error in not bringing my trekking poles. When I started to think about our days of touring and the nature of the sites here in Malta, I started to think that they would be quite a bit of walking through ruins and monuments, not to mention time spent walking through the somewhat hilly town of Valletta. If I had been home, I…
We have arranged to see literally all of Malta over the five days of our stay. Kim hss booked four of the five days we are here with tours that run 9am to 4pm. That’s more dedicating touring than we are used to doing, but that is a testament to the amazing and interesting history of this island nation. Malta is basically a rather dry rock of an island that might have gone uninhabited were…
When we travel, the kind of hotels we are looking for varies with the nature of the travel. If we are doing a quick overnight at the Rome airport as we did two nights ago, we want a standard Hilton or Marriott hotel with all the basic amenities and no frills in particular. It should be standard, easy and quick to get in and out of with minimal hassle. We always want a soft bed…
Today we arrived in Malta. The first thing we did after lunch was go the The Malta Experience to learn about the history of these interesting islands. Malta has a remarkably rich history spanning over 7,000 years, shaped by its strategic position in the central Mediterranean. In the prehistoric period (5900-700 ), the earliest inhabitants arrived around 5900 BC, likely from Sicily. These early Maltese people created some of the world’s oldest free-standing stone structures,…
When I am traveling like this, I find that I usually write more than normal because there is lots of down-time in getting from here to there. I’ve also become more comfortable using my iPhone to compose stories. That and waiting around while Kim shops all give me rime for reflection and composition. Yesterday was such a day. We had very little to do other than cover the distance from Orvieto to the Hilton Fiumicino…
Way back in the last Millennium, I had the good fortune to get introduced to an opportunity to invest in a young start-up company that was raising money. The introducer was my long-time banking partner, Bruce, who may be one of the smartest finance professionals I ever met. The 1990s for me were the years of banking wine and roses. I was a partner and member of the management committee of one of the most…
It’s Memorial Day and we are waking up in Cortona after a wonderful stay at the Monastero di Cortona, high up the top of this hill town that looks out over the Tiberian plains of central Italy in Umbria. I have to say for the record that his boutique hotel and its level of amenities, fine dining, room quality and overall service is unmatched by any place I have stayed recently. It’s half the price…
Yes, I lived in Italy for three years from 1968 – 1971, but I lived in Rome, which is only one of the many atmospheres that Italy offers. It’s a wonderful ambiance in Rome, with ruins at every turn and antiquity spilling over into modern Roman life with the hustle and bustle of Vespas and Cinquecentos roaring around the sights across cobblestone streets that never seem to show wear. My life in Rome was the…