Lady Omega

I haven’t been writing in my blog for quite a while, because we went on a trip to Europe. So, whoever was desperately waiting for my next post - sorry about that.

Malta is a 7000 year old island, which is situated 93 km south of Sicily. Though it’s a small country, it has a very rich historical past. It has been invaded by several cultures - Sicilian, Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine, Turkish, Arabic, French, Spanish and British, hence the variety of styles in Maltese architecture and their peculiar language. Maltese language is considered a Semitic language, however it’s the only Semitic language which uses Roman alphabet.

The climate in Malta is great - when we arrived to Malta from Germany, we were wearing winter clothes, but we had to take them off immediately, since it was very warm and some people were even sunbathing on the roofs of the hotels. I was very happy about that, since i dislike cold weather very, very much. We stayed in Sliema, one of the cities on the coast. The day we arrived, we decided to go for a walk and check out Sliema, but by walking around for about 3 hours we ended up going through 3 cities - Sliema, St.Julians and Gzira. Malta is small but very beautiful.

Sunset in Sliema

Kinnie - a maltese drink

I like trying new food and drinks. So, one of the first drinks i tried in Malta was Kinnie. Some people may like it, but i thought it was pretty nasty. Kinnie is a non-alcoholic drink, made from bitter oranges and aromatic herbs, and it was too bitter for me. It was invented by Mr.Cisk, who produces Maltese beer.

Gzira - Immortal cat

They sure do have cats in Malta, and plenty. This particular one is obviously a fan of Immortal. And i think, it looks more evil than Abbath.

The next beautiful city we saw was Valletta - the capital of Malta. Valetta has amazing Baroque architecture and is also full of history. The city was found by the French Jean Parisot de la Valette in 1566, who fortified the city to maintain the hold of the Knights of Malta. The city was planned to be a refuge to care for injured soldiers and pilgrims during the Crusades in the 16th century. Most inhabitants of Malta preferred to reside in Valetta, since it was strongly fortified.
Nowadays Valletta is one of the main tourist attractions, with its amazing view of the Grand Harbour, the Barrakka Gardens, cathedrals and various places of entertainment. You can take a ride on a horse carriage around Valletta and feel like you are in the middle ages.

Valletta walls

Lower Barrakka Gardens

Lower Barrakka Gardens offer an amazing view of the Grand Harbour of Valletta.

The Grand Harbour

The Grand Harbour of Malta has been used since the Roman times.

Valletta street

Valetta is the “new” capital of Malta. The old one was Mdina. Mdina is truly a medieval town, with narrow streets and amazing architecture. Mdina has been there since 4000 BC, and was fortified by Phoenicians in 700 BC. Mdina is called “The Silent City”, therefore you are not allowed to make noise, especially after the sunset. It is an unforgettable experience to walk in Mdina at night.

Mdina walls and orange trees

Medieval horse ride

The horse may not see what’s around it, but it can still make faces at you.

A fountain

Mdina alley

Mdina walls

You can view almost the entire Malta from Mdina walls, since Mdina is in the centre of the island. Many brave young people go on top of the walls, lay there and relax, enjoying the great view.

Mdina, of course, is full of things to see - there’s chapels, cathedrals, a natural history museum, a benedictine monastery, and Mdina dungeons - the museum of medieval torture. We surely visited it, but that will be a whole new post

Here, in Arad, one cannot walk the streets without constantly being surrounded by cats. We’re staying in the town center, and that’s also one of the hottest spots for them. Throughout our stay in Israel we’ve met numerous cats, by now we probably know and recognize each one. We often buy them yummy kittycat food and let them have a grand feast

In Israel they usually don’t put cats into a pound. Instead, the Cat Welfare Society of Israel comes, takes the cats away, neuters them, gives them the necessary shots, and returns them back to where they were. The Cat Welfare Society also arranges adoptions of cats. Though some people might disagree about neutering the cats, but i think it’s way better than mass killing the cats, as it’s practiced in some countries.

Here are some photos i took of the kitties:

The little green box

These 2 kittycats were very cold and kept following me at night, so we got them a box to keep them warm, they were happy and stayed there every night since then.

I summon the demons

Another cute kittycat, i took care of him when he was sick and coughing.

Wilma Ferrell

Wilma Ferrell is her name She often has a look on her face like she has no clue about what’s going on. Now it’s the mating season for cats, so she’s the last one who got lucky ( i was the witness ), after that she was hiding for 3 days. Now there’s gonna be more Wilmas!

The reincarnation of the pet cemetery cat

This kittycat has a bad attitude, but he loves to eat!

Travelling in style

Many old people live in Arad, and when they’re gone, this is what happens to their transport.

The bush kitties

2 cute kitties in the bush, right in front of our house.

Whatcha lookin’ at, huh??

No comment.

I hath the wisdom

This is the Shaolin cat, living next to the pool we go to.

This!!! Is!!! Catland!!!

Another living-by-the-pool cat, it makes the longest meows i have ever heard in my life.

Feed me, the giant one!

I bet he was feeling pretty warm and happy

The process of cat-feeding

And that’s not all of them!

You can see more photos of the kittycats in my Flickr stray cat set