Photo: Mario & Lillian, sv Maltese Falcon, who we met last year in Turkey.

Two weeks to prepare and provision for departure from Sicily have turned into a month ... partly due to an ever-increasing to-do list (i.e., equipment needing to be fixed); one gale after the other that brings welcome cool temps but hefty seas; and then the decision to do some land travel now before marina rates increase to summer highs. When Burger's hands started aching from two much manipulation of tools in tight quarters, it was time to take a break.

Instead of sailing the 50 miles to Malta per the original plan, we took a fast, two-hour catamaran ferry across, where Maltese-Canadian friends Mario and Lillian were busy preparing their sailboat, Maltese Falcon, for summer cruising in Italy. What a treat to have them meet us at the ferry and take us sightseeing around the island! We spent three nights in a hotel right across from the marina where their boat was berthed.

We took the ferry shuttle across the harbor to Valetta, the massively walled city where the Knights of St. John's were once headquartered and fought bloody battles, defending Malta from Muslims in the 16th century. The collection of armor in the museum of the Grand Masters was amazing! (See photos, link below.)

One evening Mario and Lillian took us to a village festival, one of many held on summer weekends around the island. See photos of the bizaare, funny statues of saints and disciples (link below)! The fireworks were beautiful but deafening. Our ears were ringing on the ride back to our hotel.

They also took us to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mnajdra, one of the many neolithic ruins on the island, where the oldest standing walls in the world predate those of Easter Island and Stonehenge.

CLICK TO SEE CAPTIONED PHOTOS OF US IN MALTA