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With a two-year delay resulting from the pandemic, it had proven to be a long wait to gather with those who share our immense desire to travel and see the world. As you read this, you will immediately recognize it if you already possess this “trait.” It is an innate sort of thing, a scratch that can only be itched by getting on the web, reading about foreign lands, and then putting plans in place to visit. We can almost see you nodding your head…. you are our people.
Travelers Century Club Amid an almost eight-week voyage for us, the Traveler’s Century Club International Conference was to be the centerpiece of our trip. A chance to connect with people from all over the world and various walks of life and bask in their company. We certainly don’t mean to disparage anyone, but there are times when we talk about our travels among friends, and you can almost see their eyes start to glaze over about ten minutes into the conversation. With this group, that never happens as everyone has an immense yearning to hear not only about your travel experiences, past and future, but to share theirs as well……..it’s
travel nirvana we tell you!
For those not familiar with this club, it was founded in 1954 in Los Angeles. This is before the age of jet travel and a time when travel was much slower and of course, more challenging. A time when trans-oceanic travel was accomplished mostly by ship and took days and sometimes weeks. In 1960, the club established their motto, ““World Travel … the passport to peace through understanding.” The motto is still in place more than sixty years later. We can tell you this motto is incredibly true. Membership is currently around 1500.
A few years ago, possibly in 2018, we became provisional members of this travel community because we had been to more than 75 of the territories they identify. The U.N. has 193 member countries, but the Travelers Century Club identifies 330 territories and countries. Some push back on the way this group identifies territories and countries, but they have stuck by the same rules for decades. For example, Hawaii and Alaska are counted separately from the U.S. because of their distance off the mainland. If you study the rules, it makes a lot more sense, so look before you judge.
You may be interested in joining.
Travelers Century Club Rabat, Malta Our recent time in Athens ended and as we flew into Malta we could see the expanse of sprawl below on this tiny island nation. (9 miles by 16 miles) From the airplane we didn’t see as much open countryside as we were expecting. Many of the towns and villages have grown together through the years. All the whitewashed buildings caught our attention. We were absolutely giddy….we’d arrived. Only a few more days until the conference.
Our first stop would be an Airbnb in Rabat, Malta. The home we had selected possessed perhaps the most beautiful front entrances of any place we’ve stayed. It was situated right in town and was a four-level affair with the kitchen on the top floor along with a rooftop dining area. Scenic views were endless. We arrived in Malta a few days before the conference began purposefully, to do some laundry, cook a little and rest up before the excitement commences.
The day before our arrival, Rabat had their annual St. Joseph’s celebration, and we were able to enjoy the decorations which were still up. We understand they had many fireworks
Maltese Dancing
Nice performanceand the residents lined the streets for the festivities. Normally, this takes place in March, but was pushed to May this year as COVID restrictions prevented it from taking place in March, it’s normally scheduled time. This made for a very pleasant scene on the streets.
While in Rabat we went to all the local churches, catacombs and historic sites which filled our heads with local history. In the basement of these churches near the catacombs were the WWII shelters. We didn’t realize how many people took sanctuary under these churches during the war. Malta took quite a pounding during the war. It was impressive to see this piece of history and imagine what their experiences were.
Malta’s position in the Mediterranean saw it invaded, plundered and occupied many times in its history. The tiny island has seen the Arabs, Fatimids, Byzantines, Normans, Greeks, Romans and British among others in control. This adds up to an incredibly diverse and rich history. It became independent from the U.K. in 1964.
It was surprising to learn that St. Paul, one of the twelve Apostles was in Malta in his lifetime. Seems that Paul was in trouble with the Romans
due to his preaching but was able to seek an audience in Rome as he was technically a Roman citizen. He was shipwrecked off the coast of Malta around 60 A.D. and he was held there for three months or so. He apparently still spread the good word even while in captivity in Malta. Needless to say, he is revered in Malta.
From our apartment we could hear music in the evenings. We realized it was coming from the place next door to our apartment. We went wandering to find out what was going on and found it coming from a restaurant with a garden, it was also a place for music. Band culture is very large in Malta and we are told they bands in nearly 80 towns. Groups gather to practice in this restaurant. These are not only social clubs, but we are talking about marching bands. Here it seemed as if a different skill group practiced each night because some evenings, they were very talented.
Although small, Rabat was quite lively and festive, due to the outdoor feast of St. Joseph and the fact that a film crew was in Malta working on a movie
about Napoleon. The streets were adorned with strands of lights, banners and flags, which gleamed at night. A short distance away in the neighboring town of Mdina, they were also filming and each morning at 8:00, ten or fifteen large “booms” could be heard as they were mimicking canon fire—the same thing would happen in the evenings.
We made it over to Mdina to meander this darling medieval walled city and to check out the filming of the movie. Several streets were blocked off for shooting, but they had small barriers on side streets which allowed easy viewing. The film crew answered a few questions and told us the title of the movie had not been decided yet. This scenic town had several viewpoints where you could take nice photos of the countryside and the medieval town. All this wandering made us hungry, so we decided to stop for a chocolate strawberry crepe and beverages. It tasted as good as it looks.
On to the Travelers Century Club International Conference It was restful to be in Rabat as our next stop was in Balluta Bay, St. Julian's for the TCC conference, which was packed with activities and
dining. We ate well and often! The itinerary offered 4 cocktail parties, 4 dinners, 2 days of touring with lunch and 1 day to attend the conference. Each person signed up for the individual days that interested them. With this group they were a party waiting to happen. We needed more time at the cocktail parties to hear about someone’s next trip.
On the day of the conference, we had a couple of fun participant activities, and the rest were presentations from members on their travels. For us these presentations were the gems that lured us to Malta for this conference. We heard firsthand from travelers like us on their adventures. The presentations included the Balkans, Iguazu Falls, how to move abroad, Azer-Karabakh, Antarctica, Pitcairn, the Bolivian Amazon, Somaliland and an Interview with a Diamond! This was an interview with the first woman to do solo travel to all 330 territories… priceless!! Audrey is 88 years old and still travels to parts unknown! What an amazing and interesting woman. Talking with Audrey was reason enough to attend this conference.
Jerry gave the presentation on Iguazu Falls which was excellent and got us even more excited to make it
We found it!!
In search of the Maltese Falcon to this destination. He is from our home traveler’s century club in Florida, so it was wonderful to have him represent our group. Jerry is a member of two of the groups in Florida.
The presentation on how to move abroad was given by Gina who has moved to Georgia for the next few months or year. Georgia has an easy visa and allows you to stay for a year and allows renewing. She detailed all the practical and personal things one needs to consider when making a move overseas.
David was the Antarctica expert as he has been to all seven Antarctic territories and his presentation, passion for travel and wicked sense of humor had the crowd laughing along. We particularly enjoyed his talk as we were in Antarctica in 2020 and during his talk our ears perked up as he described how to hit all seven territories. Good news!.... Dan reviewed our itinerary and looked at the map from our trip and has confirmed that we have made it to the Argentine, British and Chilian territories of Antarctica. Many of you know I worked at McMurdo Station for five months in 1989-90 so (MJ) been to
four!
We really enjoyed each presentation as they were all unique. There were many locations we have not been to yet. We got excited listening to the Balkans and at break…. said we must go there soon. Then there was Pitcarin… and the Bolivian Amazon…. and so on… so many interesting places to travel and so little time. If you have questions about any of the other locations mentioned, please send us a private message and we will share our notes and what we learned. Event planning is tough and the small team who pulled this off deserves a hand.
We had the wonderful opportunity to interact and get to know some incredibly nice and interesting people from around the world. In attendance were people from the following countries: Taiwan, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Malta, Cyprus, Malaysia, Germany, Canada, and Belgium. Many travelers were from the U.S. to include the following states: D.C., Texas, Florida, California, Virginia, Kansas, Washington, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Alabama, New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, Arizona, New York, Louisiana, Missouri, and Colorado. There were about 120 of us who gathered to share experiences. It was a fun weekend
and friendships were made. We are eager to attend the next meeting.
Valleta and Gozo The first day we toured Valleta, the capitol of Malta. While on our tour we continued to see the movie crew filming water scenes for the Napoleon movie. Sometimes we'd see a British flag on the ship they were filming and other times we would see a French flag.
We had a marvelous tour of St. Angelo with two Knights of Malta. We had a private visit with Father John Critien and we our tour was given by Professor Dane Munro. These very distinguished men provided us with an overview of Malta history as well as the Knights of Malta.
One of our favorite things from the tours was a trip to a convent where we met a pipe organ master. He played for us in the church and then took us up to the choir loft to see him play directly on the pipes. He took us through each step so we could hear the progression of tones. It was simply amazing. What a master at his craft. We also took in the Palace of the Inquisitors, which is likened
to the Spanish Inquisition in Malta. They don’t shy away in speaking of this period and went into great detail regarding the process.
It was then lunch time and the bus deposited us on what appeared to be a normal Maltese street. We walked a few blocks and then to our amazement, noticed a small marching band starting to play as we approached. We then joined the band in parading several blocks as the locals came to their windows to wave at us and the band. We were part of a parade and they marched us to lunch! Fantastic! The TCC had arranged this and it was quite an experience. We believe that the band enjoyed it as well as the pandemic had sidelined their marching for a couple of years.
Another outing saw us up early to visit the island of Gozo, which is a short 20 minute ferry ride off the main island. Instead of ferries they organized small 25 passenger boats to take us to and fro. We had a blast! They warned us we might get sprayed with water depending on winds and waves so we took cover the best we could. Indeed ,the
water sprayed a number of people. Our boat began singing the theme song from Gillian’s Island…. “a three-hour tour.” A few people were grumbling about the water spray, but most took it is stride. Remember these are world travelers who’ve been to over 100 countries and will not let a spray of water deter their adventure. Often times the journey is the adventure and gives us more stories to tell.
Final dinner evening out was at a very nice restaurant with Maltese foods and dancing. It was a marvelous way to end our visit to Malta. We can personally say that friendships have been made.
Where we stayed:
Airbnb Rabat
Marriott Balluta Bay, St. John’s
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AndrewHL
Andrew Lisowski
Malta and World War II
I read the World War II novel "Everyone Brave is Forgiven" not long ago. One of the characters is stationed in Malta with the British forces who occupy the old fortress. The author certainly did great research on the subject and you feel you are there on the island. We were to have visited Malted in 2020, but then along came the pandemic.