Malta
“Choose your country, use guidebooks to identify the areas most frequented by foreigners
– and then go in the opposite direction” – Dervla Murphy
We’ve come across the writing of Dervla Murphy many times over the years. We’ve liked her thinking. And we respected how she dared to be different, travelling the world independently.
Her writings on travel echo our own thoughts…
“The majority of human beings are helpful and kindly…and honest” – ‘Tales and travels on two wheels’ * (below)
It’s the lesson you learn, the more that you integrate with others and see our many shared similarities.
Dervla Murphy was an easy person to admire; fiercely independent, intrepid and fearless.
For us, we’ve always tried to travel independently too. Itineraries, time schedules and being herded on and off transport does not appeal.
And for us real travelling has always been about seeking out less obvious places to go to.
Dervla Murphy often spoke of the importance of disconnecting when travelling. She expressed concern at more and more travellers using technology to stay constantly connected while away. It’s something that we subscribe to as well. How can you be fully involved in the experience and the place, if you are having to stay connected to elsewhere?
Just because the technology is there, do we have to use it? We’re not anti-tech. But we chose when and how to use it.
On a recent trip to Malta, we rented a Rabat apartment, with a terrace that overlooked The Mdina. We got to enjoy all it’s splendour without paying the tourist rates to stay inside those ancient walls. And it was wonderfully quiet. Dervla Murphy might have approved of ‘The Silent City’, no cars allowed, authentic and perfectly preserved. At times it felt like being on a film set.
We spent many hours roaming the streets of Rabat. For us it was a good place to stay, far from the resorts, affording us an insight to ordinary Maltese life; old men at the cafes, smoking and chatting, bells and church goers, a crowded local market. As luck would have it, our apartment was right by a popular cafe, Is Serkin, always full of local people. We sampled their local pastizz, filled with ricotta…
as well as delicious Qaghaq Tal Hmira, sweet soft rolls, flavoured with aniseed, sesame seeds and orange peel.
We took the local bus to Valetta (Il-Belt). This impressive walled city was established in the 1500s. We meandered past palaces, grand churches and beautiful Baroque buildings. We found an oasis of calm in the rooftop garden, at the Valletta Design Cluster.
We saw gigantic cruise ships docked in the distance in Valetta. It’s not how we want to experience a place, en masse, grabbing a few hours in different ports. We were much happier doing our own thing, with time to wander in some quiet residential streets and get a sense of the place. It was a good day, in Europe’s southernmost capital city.
As always, we quickly walked in the opposite direction of the crowds, away from Republic Street, far from the buzz. I thought of Dervla Murphy’s words, fleetingly.
“Choose your country, use guidebooks to identify the areas most frequented by foreigners, and then go in the opposite direction”
Unknown to us, she had died that day. She was 90 years old.
Dervla Murphy wrote 26 books, many about places we have loved travelling around in; Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. She always made a conscious effort to go against the crowd. She never shied away from ‘tough travel’. And she advocated slow travel.
She was an inspirational woman and a true traveller.
Who has been an inspirational person for you?
Maggie M / Mother City Time
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