We took a train from Rome to Ancona, Italy, where we had a one-day stop. Ancona is about ¾ of the way up the east coast, on the Adriatic Sea. The next evening we planned to take an overnight ferry to Split, Croatia, so this seemed like a simple transfer place, but Ancona is a really neat city itself! At night I wandered around and ended up hiking to a functioning lighthouse. The stone sign is at 104 meters above sea level, about 341 feet. Our neighborhood had some nice murals / graffiti: Here is a view out over a pentagonal building formerly used as a quarantine colony, a little island right by the city, open to the public: There are quite a few drinking fountains scattered all over, and all the ones we tried worked! This is the correct way for a city to be. It is very hilly, with stairs and steep roads all over. Many narrow little alleys between buildings, and connecting passages and staircases up and down hills, between houses, churches, and pa...
In Malta on Palm Sunday I went to a Holy Week pageant called “Ħtija Tiegħu?” which means something like “His guilt?” It was held in Marsa, a few kilometers south of Sliema where we were staying. The pageant has been held since 1970 and is normally done outside on the street, but rain was forecast for the day and by evening it was coming down pretty steadily, so they moved the pageant indoors to the church and started two hours late so they had time to adapt to a fully indoor setting. It's a newish Catholic church, bright and colorful, and a bit in the suburbs and there were lots of families there. While we were waiting during the delay, a man who spoke English, named Albert, introduced himself to me. He has been involved in the pageant for 30 years and is currently the treasurer and one of the participants, no longer Judas as he was for many years and got tired of portraying. 😂 In a building across the street they had a display of some neat handmade Christian artwor...
This past Monday our friend Jeff Walsh from the York 2nd Ward took Phin, Lillian, Seth, and me on a hike in an amazingly lovely part of the North Yorkshire Dales: Gordale Scar and Malham Cove near the village of Malham. Later I found this description of the walk that closely matched the route we took. We started at Janet's Foss with a small waterfall and pool: Phin did some kind of abortive breakdancing routine by what looks like a farmhouse ruin: After a short walk we were already at the amazing Gordale Scar, climbing up the left side of the waterfall up the canyon, back down to where the waterfall goes through a hole in the rock, then up some stone stairs to the best grassy hills these sheep could ever hope to live in: Up top we walked to a pool that fills from a stream out of Malham Tarn, farther up, where the pure waters flow: Then we started heading down the other side over scattered stones, past stone walls: And then we came to the top of Malham Cove ...
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