It's Christmas Eve! I wish all my friends and family a happy and peaceful time. The picture is of farm dogs on the walk between Golden Sands and Xemxija.
This morning I walked over to the post office at Birzebbugia to collect a small package that the postman couldn't fit into my letterbox. It was a present from my brother, Dave, and I opened it before Christmas day. It was two excellent guides to Dubai which I need for my journey back to Australia in May. I have a week's stopover in Dubai and plan to take a trip to Oman. Last Christmas, Dave sent me the Lonely Planet guide to Malta. I can't believe that I've learnt so much about Malta since then!
When I was in Birzebbugia last week, I called in to the local council and picked up their booklet on countryside walks around Birzebbugia. It has lots of information about places I have noticed around the town but not really known what they were. One example is the small bathing pools cut into the rock on the foreshore which were made in the time of the knights. Another is the Ferretti battery also built by the knights and unique because it has an internal moat.
In one of my earlier posts, I tell the story of my bike ride to discover Ghar Dalem and the bronze age temple of Borg-in-Nadur. There was a puzzling garden at the foot of the rocky path leading up to what I thought was the temple. I now learn from the book that the walled garden is Il-Madonna ta' Lourdes and it is regarded as a hidden jewel of Birzebbugia. I love the process whereby I am learning about Malta organically with time to allow new information and ideas to emerge and fill out the surprising outlines I discover as I wander around. Maybe this is the secret of true learning but we don't have time for it in our educational systems.
The book also describes a countryside walk behind Birzebbugia and I have promised myself that this will be my Boxing Day excursion.
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