Cooling temperatures are yet another indication that Fall is around the corner, and with it the end of high season for tourism in Malta. Clearly, its once crowded beaches are emptied of boisterous children having fun at family outings. They have somewhat reluctantly returned to school for yet another arduous year of homework and study. It is time for reflection for those contemplating return visits to this most charming of Mediterranean islands. Ask any person who has been there and many will tell you in clear conscious, that the most attractive aspect of Malta's attributes are its gregarious people and their love of visitors. It is a remarkable character trait not found to the same degree elsewhere, including other neighboring destinations.Maltese life is sharply focused on the extended family where parents are revered, children are passionately loved, and kin and friends made welcomed around the clock. These hallmarks of a strong Latin culture were in large part influenced by nearby Sicily and Italy to the north with whom the Maltese also share religious, cultural and other identifiable fabrics of society. There is no denying that contemporary Malta suffers from the same communal ills which bedevil other countries. Yet serious crimes and illegal use of drugs are relatively less common in proportion to the island's dense population. By all measures Malta is a safe place to visit for visitors with families, though as elsewhere one must always be on guard against unscrupulous individuals. Be particularly aware of bus drivers who never seem to have change for fare!!
You want cordiality....then consider Malta's enviable worldwide reputation as one of Europe's friendliest vacation spot. The affinity for visitors from abroad by locals becomes quickly evident upon arrival. The warm welcome is not orchestrated by the local Chamber Of Commerce, but is the historic outcome of accommodation between the Maltese and a long unending succession of occupation by regional powers seeking dominance of the Mediterranean sea routes through control of the Maltese archipelago. What the wily Maltese could not prevent by use of brute force they vanquished through accommodation. Indeed they had stumbled on a formula for success which serves them well to this very day. Many foreign invasions left behind a smorgasbord of beneficial legacies, each of which cumulatively gave Malta its national character. The greatest contributions came from Arabs, Italians, French, and the British. It was however the all absorbing power of imperial Rome that first brought the Maltese into the European fold, where it has remained firmly rooted demographically and culturally speaking. Even as the Maltese talk a native Semitic tongue (written in Roman script), they are for the most part equally conversant in Italian and English. Such fluent multi-linguilism is a huge advantage for visitors from the United States and for other English speaking tourists. It can be said that Italy gave Malta its heart of gold and love of music, while England laid the foundation of a modern administration and spurred the growth of systematic education. Indeed what a dynamic combination of the best in western culture!! By blood the Maltese are a hardy people, descendants of Trojans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and more recently British. They are unmistakably a Mediterranean species, less volatile than their neighbors, more accommodating and warm hearted, gentle and self- assured.
There is in Malta a growing foreign community centered around Sliema and its modern suburbs. It consists largely of retired British nationals and their dependents. Many acquired their first taste of Maltese traditional life and legendary hospitality while stationed on the island during the Axis siege in WW11. After cessation of hostilities they blended well with the easy-going Maltese way of life and decided to make the island their permanent home. It is hoped that senior people from America (take note AARP members), will in time discover the many charms Malta has to offer as a viable option for retirement and vacation.
What makes people revisit Malta year in and year out is not so much its temperate sub-tropical climate, nor its many temples of antiquity predating Stonehedge. Simply said it comes down to the extroverted disposition of its simple but dignified inhabitants. MERHBA (welcome) to Malta the island of enchantment.
E-mail to Joseph Vella: joevella@prodigy.net
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