A Malta Christmas and a Jerusalem New Year!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you all will have a safe New Year's Eve!

Let me just say that our pre-Christmas privately escorted tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London by the “Lay Canon” (the highest non-ordained official in the church) – from Nevada City, CA. Peter was gracious and incredibly knowledgeable and took us places that ordinary “tourists” never get to see. Then we got to sit in the choir loft for Evensong, with the boy’s choir singing right next to us. It was one of the most sublime experiences of Wally’s life, and Maria thought it was pretty cool, too.

My classes are done, except for a make-up class next week, and our papers –which are 100% of the grade in both courses – due in mid to late January.  I am excited to be doing so much exciting academic work, and it’s possible our project on an actor/director’s edition of Shakespeare’s works will find a publisher soon, too. Keep your fingers crossed!

In the meantime, I am examining a document at the British Library from the English Ambassador to Denmark with a list of Christmas dinner guests for December of 1585. The list includes the names Rosenkrantz and Guildensterne, and the name of Belonious is on it. This is significant because of the date (the Stratford man did not come to London before 1589 at the earliest), the fact that it was a private letter to the Queen and her ministers (and so never published), and the fact that these names with only slight variations pop up in Hamlet, a play which has no reliable composition date attached to it and was referred to as early as 1589, making the Stratford man an extremely unlikely author of the play. Still working out the details, but it may make an interesting article down the road.

Since mid-December, we have been busy! We found a deal on a time share from our company (Diamond Resorts International) in Malta and decided to spend Christmas there! We then found a (relatively) cheap airfare from London and took off on December 20, returning on December 27th.

Since we had always wanted to visit this Mediterranean island nation off the coast of Italy, we were excited. The weather is warm and semi-tropical, the languages are English and Maltese, and the Euro is the currency. It is a mixture of English, Italian, Arab and Spanish influences, both in its traditions and it architecture, and is striking in so many ways. The people are warm, friendly, and have a great sense of humor, too. We met many talented and helpful folks while we were there, and we made many new friends. We visited several theatres, including the magnificent Manoel National Theatre in Valletta and the Ta' Qali Amphitheatre in the national park, and are looking to arrange a cultural exchange or visit from our folks to do productions there.  

The churches were amazing. Maria is downloading the pictures on to our Facebook page now, and we’ll give you some websites at the end of this blog, too. The country is 90% Catholic, and there is still a very strong connection with the historic Knights of Malta, so you would expect the churches to be grand. They are. There’s no space to put another piece of art or gilding or a monument anywhere else in these places. In Valletta, St. John’s Co-Cathedral (no, that’s not a typo) is incredible, and so is St. Paul’s in Mdina.

Driving in Malta was an adventure, too. We do not have a car here in London, so it was our first real experience with driving on the left hand side.  No, no accidents...just an adventure. You know you're in trouble when the official guidebook says 1) "Cars are supposed to drive on the left hand side of the road, but many drivers do not follow this rule", and 2) "The many potholes are sometimes quite jarring". Both of these statements are true!

The best thing about Malta? The climate, the beaches, the history, the food – they’re all contenders, certainly, but our favorite thing in Malta was probably the people. They are so warm, so welcoming, so friendly. They come from a multitude of backgrounds, but they all were very charming and sincere. It’s truly a magical place, even with such oddities as “disco bowling” and the traffic “rules” and a street in Paceville (near our hotel, actually) that is basically all nightclubs and bars on s long set of stairs (I don’t know how many drunks fall down these wide, block-long stairs, but it must be dozens every summer). A memorable visit, and I hope we can return one day.

On New Year's Eve, we are going to see the amazing, talented and really nice Mark Rylance in "Jerusalem" at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue in the West End. Besides being a smart, honest, down-to-earth all-round good guy, he is "the best actor of his generation" (the critics agree with me) and won the Olivier and Tony Awards for this play in London and on Broadway. We have great seats and will hopefully be able to talk to Mark after the show, if he's not too tired. Then it's off to the Thames to watch  the fireworks and ring in 2012 in a way we have never done before! Should be fun! Happy New Year, everyone!

Here are some websites for you. Thanks for reading!!!!

Short history of St. John’s: 

http://www.maltawiki.com/wiki/St._John's_Co-Cathedral_in_Malta


Inside Photo, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Malta/South/Malta/Valletta/photo1018560.htm

St. Paul’s Cathedral, Mdina: 

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=st.paul's+cathedral+malta&hl=en&rlz=1R2ADRA_enGB458&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CzX7Tq_lGI6n8gOI97GlAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=556