Isle of intrigue

Canadian author Lyn Hamilton writes that Malta, a multicultural land invaded time and again, is a little overwhelming but ultimately endearing, even or--especially--if you go with mystery in mind. In my opinion, one of the best pieces of Malta related travel writing in years. This article was the featured cover story in last October's travel section of the Los Angeles Times. Ms Hamilton was, in part, an inspiration for this weblog:

The Maltese are more than accustomed to visitors, strange or otherwise, invading their homeland. Almost every nation with interests in the Mediterranean, from the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC to the British in the 20th century, has claimed Malta as its own, lured by one of the world's great natural harbors and a location smack dab in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia. Some of the towering figures of history—St. Paul, Napoleon, Count Roger the Norman—have set foot on Malta's rocky shores.

All have left their stamp on the island's landscape, and as a result, Malta is a living, breathing museum, a place where the sweep of Mediterranean history, thousands of years worth, can be seen and touched and smelled. For a writer, Malta's particular blend of history is irresistible. For an author like me who writes archeological mysteries, there are enough crypts, caves and catacombs to hide a hundred bodies. But even for a writer, it's difficult to capture the essence of the place.

I've been coming here for 25 years, and yet I confess that I spend much of my time in Malta hopelessly lost, an embarrassing admission considering the island is only about 17 miles at its longest point, nine at the widest. I know where everything is—I just can't necessarily find it. I blame this partly on an approach to road signage that, despite recent improvements, is essentially whimsical. To my mind, both the signs and Maltese, a language the rest of us can neither comprehend nor pronounce correctly, are designed to keep invaders on their toes. We modern-day invaders are fortunate, indeed, that almost everyone speaks English.I am not alone in my directional dyslexia.

When I made a nostalgic return for a week last spring, I was determined not to get lost again. The plan, therefore, was this: To keep myself in line, archeologically speaking, I would start at the beginning, or at least at the dawn of human habitation, and work my way forward through the major eras in the island's history. That is one of the wonders of Malta: You can cover several millenniums in just a few days. As to my geographic ineptitude, I would travel by public bus.

Isle of Intrigue - the full article

A conversation with Lyn Hamilton

The Maltese Goddess by Lyn Hamilton

Murder in the Mediterranean - visit Malta and Tunisia with Lyn Hamilton March-April 2005 (pdf file)