After a quick breakfast of Maltese sausages, some full bodied Sopressata, mel-in-your-mouth Parma ham, sharp aged ouda, soft and fresh local cheese and croissants - we took a taxi to the Ggantija Temples - keep the taxi there and have it drop us off ay the Comino ferry. I had resigned myself to the idea of just seeing the Blue Lagoon covered in heavy jackets and marveling at the beauty from the decks of the boat.

The Ggantija Temples were even older than Hagar Qim and Mnajdra - from the early Bronze age.

There were several small figurines found at the site and the shell and stone jewelry was somerhing that I probably had in my jewelry box.

The replica of the shattered large woman's fogure was reminiscent of the one seen at Hagar Qim. The cooking vessels on display can still be found in Indian villages - connecting old cultures across time and space.

Folklore has it that an ancient giantess had carried the giant stone monolith to build this temple while carrying her baby in one hand. Way to go foremother of mine! While we maynot literally carry monoliths up mountains amd carry babies all at once - you would be proud of us for carrying several figurative monoliths on our shoulders while carrying our babies, laptops and and societal expectations up the patriarchal mountain.

After the ancient Megalithic temples we walked to the St. John the Baptist Cathedral to see some of the Easter parade statues - all freshly colored and decorated.

Thats when the shoe dropped! Our driver inforned us that the Comino ferry was cancelled due to high winds. Without a second thought we decided to go back to the main Island of Malta. But easier said than done!

The Easter weekend was approached and most hotels in Valletta were full. We found something in Sleima - a part city 20 minutes from Valletta, booked it and took the ferry back to Cirkewwa. And thank God we did! The nextvday when we were supposed to return, the ferry git cancelled again - missing our flight would have been a slight problem

Back in Malta, we decided to rent a taxi for 4 hours - dump our luggage in the trunk and visit the medieval cities of Rabat and Mdina - to the northwest of Valletta. And again lucked out - the next day was Good Friday and most things would be closed. Something I hadn't planned for.

The first stop were the St. Paul's Catacombs at Rabat.

Walking through the sepulchral underground labyrinth of ancient graves - with eerie shadows dancing on the walls one list all sense of time and space.

I have to say that the exits could have been marked better. The red panic buttons in dark corners didn't help psychologically and after passing the same narrow passage three times - the sudden site of daylight at the end on a proverbial tunnel was quite welcome!

Mdina - the silent city - was next on tap, where the narrow winding streets invited you to get lost in their midst - to forget your cares and succumb to their indolent medieval charm.

Both Rabat and Mdina are a seamkess mixture of Islamic and Christian architecture and walking down the walled pathways transports ypu to the age of the knights and the beautiful princesses looking down from the high verandahs.

While I would loved to wander aimlessly around the cobbled streets and guarded windows - our Taxi driver reminded us that time was running out. We much to the delight of the girls, we toured the city in a horse carriage, feeling quite like royalty!

By the time we arrived at our hotel in Silema it was raining hard and the angry waves were pounding the pavement near our seaside hotel.

Silent is known for those vibrant nightlife and fun cafes - bit alas it was not to be. We watched the frothing sea from the safety of our verandah. As the rain broke, the two older girls and I decided to venture out to get coffee and wine and peek through the doors to see local art.

It was fun going to the local super market amd shopping amongst locals, buying a 3 euro wine, fresh bread, walking down the street and trying clothes at a boutique where I almost bought an impossible canary yellow jacket and then back to our hotel. Dinner that might was in the Chinese restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel - the best pepper lamb this side of Kolkata's Jimmy's Kitchen.