Storyteller Denise (2024)

03/10/2022

Dear Followers,

As of today, I will be starting a Master of Arts in Heritage Interpretation. My hands have been tied up with work and tours for the past few months already (in a good way!) and this will somewhat be the cherry on the cake. I will still try my best to keep this page active, but it won't be easy. Having said that, I do have bigger plans for this little space come 2023 and I hope you'll bare with me and stick around until then.

Thank you for engaging and finding these posts interesting and educational. Let's continue keeping our rich history and culture alive TOGETHER! 🙂

27/09/2022

Did you know? 🤔

Grand Master Perellos y Roccaful exceeded in chastity and contracted syphilis in the process. A manuscript at the National Library refers to one of Perellos' supposed love-affairs as Madame Mutett, who was a regular visitor at the palace. The Bishop at the time informed the Pope that Perellos was even dishing out land and titles to Mutett's relatives. The Pope reacted promptly and ordered Perellos to terminate his relationship but the Grand Master ignored him and was not punished. Madame Mutett was simply untouchable and nobody uttered a word against her out of fear.

By a twist of fateful irony, her stay in Malta may have left an indelible mark on the Maltese language. The word "mutetti" is now used to describe flirty and coquettish behaviour!

22/09/2022

Puy du Fou España - A historical reenactment park. Today's highlight is not over yet... Tonight is the grand finale "El Sueño de Toledo" before returning back to the rock tomorrow. See you soon, Malta!

21/09/2022

Switching from Madrid Centre to the walled-city of Toledo...

Today involved the exploration and discovery of the winding streets, Cathedral and a number of connections to Malta and the Order of St John.

✅ Don Garcia who sent the Great Siege relief force belonged to the House of Toledo

✅ One of the main chapels of the Cathedral is dedicated to St John the Baptist - note also the Maltese Cross within

✅ The Cathedral Museum has a painting of the young Baptist, also by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

✅ A temporary exhibition displayed an original banner which was used in the battle of Lepanto

20/09/2022

My favourite photos from the Madrid Zoo! 🦒 Featuring a giraffe sniffing my hair.

19/09/2022

A visit to the Royal Palace of Madrid. Unfortunately, no photos from the inside again. But... Did you know this is the second largest functioning royal palace after the Apostolic Palace, in Vatican City, as well as the second largest by floor area in Europe, also after the Apostolic Palace? Important decisions by monarchs who resided here, namely Charles V and Philip II greatly affected our history - especially during the Great Siege of 1565.

18/09/2022

Since for obvious reasons, I couldn't take photos on the inside, I experimented with one on the outside. Today was dedicated to the Prado Art Museum featuring extensive collections of Goya, Rubens, Bosch, Poussin and even Caravaggio! A single painting was also entitled "Knight with a Clock" by Titian, with the description claiming that the unknown person was in fact a Knight of the Order of Malta. A small world indeed.

17/09/2022

Switched from to today to start exploring the capital city over the next 4 days!

16/09/2022

A day in Zaragoza - the capital of the northeastern Kingdom of Aragon.

Today we visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar. As we know from our own history, Our Lady of Pilar is the patron of the Aragonese Knights of St John. This is reputed to be the first Church dedicated to Mary in history!

The real gem of today, however, was the Aljaferia Palace. Built during the second half of the 11th century, this building served as the residence of the Banu Hud Dynasty and is the only conserved, large example of Spanish Islamic architecture from the era of the taifas.

After the reconquest of Zaragoza in 1118 by Alfonso I of Aragon, it became the residence of the Christian kings of the Kingdom of Aragon and was officially converted into a palace for the Catholic Monarchs. A beautiful harmony of features and changes now used as the regional parliament of the autonomous community of Aragon.

15/09/2022

Because you just have to release your inner child sometimes... Port Aventura day! 🎢 Tomorrow it's bye bye Barcelona and hello Zaragoza - the northeastern part of the kingdom of Aragon.

14/09/2022

Today's highlight... Montjuic Castle. It highly resembles Mdina's entrance, don't you think? Beautiful architecture, ditch and green wall features.The panoramic cable car views to get there were breathtaking too.

13/09/2022

Barcelona: The wonderful world of Gaudi.

Today we got lost in the colourful Park Guell and the majestic Sagrada Familia. Park Guell really feels like a district made of candy. It was actually designed to be a residential area which never truly materialised. Such a shame!

Gaudi brought the city to life through his original creations which were heavily inspired by nature and is reflected in the Sagrada Familia in particular. This basilica has been under construction for over a century and when completed (one day soon - hopefully) it will be the tallest religious structure in Europe. Words cannot describe the details of this building. A must visit.

12/09/2022

The best way to start a trip to ... from and a cheeky jamon and queso evening snack. 😋

Off to Parc Guell and the one and only Sagrada Familia tomorrow. Culture immersion loading... Stay tuned and good early night!

(Featuring Comino from above as a bonus pic)

11/09/2022

Off to tomorrow for 2 weeks. Time for some different storytelling, culture, history and of course, fun!

07/09/2022

The Maltese clock is a beautiful 17th century invention, yet even the rich who could afford one still did not properly use time as we do today...

Eighteenth-century records prove that time was rarely spoken as "eight o'clock" or "nine o'clock", but rather, linked to a religious ritual associated with the relevant hour of the day. Examples of this include "Dopo la seconda dell'Ave Maria" or "Alla mattina verso il paternostro". Bells also played a crucial role to know the time of day rather than clocks.

05/09/2022

The Malta Fungus is the name of a rare parasitic plant that grows on Fungus Rock, a small island just off the coast of Gozo.

In the times of the Knights of Malta, it received much attention from the wealthy nobility as a cure for various ailments including dysentery, venereal disease, impotence and blood clotting. Its ph***ic shape and blood red colour were a sure sign of its power. Its effectiveness was not limited to its use in medicine. Worn close to a woman's heart, the dried plant had the effort of improving happiness and satisfaction.

Being so rare, it commanded such high prices that many tried to steal and sell the plant. The Grand Masters had to place a guard at the rope bridge that connected the mainland to Fungus Rock. Anyone caught gathering the plant without permission ended up serving time rowing the Order's galleys.

03/09/2022

Bread was always the most important food for the Maltese. Did you know that in the 18th century in particular, even pensions used to be paid in bread rations?! 🍞

Many visitors during the Knights period praised the quality of bread produced in Malta and the various Grand Master laws guarded the quality of bread to stay on top. Most Maltese ate their bread with peppers, onions and anchovies. The renowned Hobz biz-zejt u t-tadam was a later introduction. On feast days, the Maltese were lucky enough to eat bread and pork - the traditional way of eating it was to hollow out the soft part of the loaf and fill it with a mixture of all the above ingredients.

We still make amazing bread nowadays. What's your favourite type and/or filling?

31/08/2022

The vine is the route of spiritual nourishment that derives from the earth and concentrates in its rich grapes. Legend has it that the ancient god Bacchus guaranteed that Maltese grapes fermented into a wine with a highly concentrated spiritual element.

A Gozitan legend recounts how one day Dragut, the most feared Turkish corsair, executed one of his crewmen just for damaging a vine on the northern shore of Gozo. According to this legend, Dragut's galley was travelling off the coast of Gozo when he spotted a field of fruit-laden vines. He sent a swimmer to pick a bunch, but the man was surprised by a Gozitan giant who owned the field and built the Ggantija Temples. The terrified soldier managed to escape but in the process damaged one of the vines. This made Dragut so angry since vines are sacred, that he ordered the ex*****on of the careless lad on the shores of the island.

29/08/2022

It's soon pomegranate season!

Did you know that pomegranate trees have been cultivated in Malta since Punic times? Maltese tradition holds that its fruit need to be ripened by flashes of lightning. The dark thunderstorms that brew over the Maltese Islands in September create the electrical activity that develops the fruits' deep red colour and rich sweetness.

Legend has it that the strongest effects occur on the feast of St Michael, when pomegranates are ripened and split by the flashes of lightning. Some people are said to offer a sign of devotion to the archangel by specifically eating these split fruits on his feast day.

"Il-beraq ta' San Mikiel ihammar u jfellel ir-rummiem."

28/08/2022

A funny legend I read a couple of days ago which I just have to share...

According to legend, the ants in Malta hated Napoleon's French who invaded in 1798. They attacked and bit the soldiers, causing them to miss their Maltese targets. It is said that if the French ever do invade Malta again, the Ant King will command the ants to rise up and revolt with the Maltese people.

Vive la Malte? 😅

26/08/2022

Today's highlight from today's tour... Pastizzi making with an artisan! Great stuff by Malta Rural Tours. Happy to be with them! 🇲🇹

24/08/2022

My favourite element of St John's Co-Cathedral is the way Preti ingeniously used the six bays of the barrel vault to fit his narrative cycle...

Each bay is subdivided into three sections, crisply explaining the life of St John the Baptist from his birth, (starting on the right as one faces the main door) up until his death, (the last bay to the right of the altar).

Bay 1: The priest Zachary's vision in the temple - Mary's visit to Elizabeth - The birth of John the Baptist.

Bay 2: John in the desert - Elizabeth praying, accompanied by two angels - John indicating Jesus the Messiah.

Bay 3: John preaching in the desert - God the Father giving His blessing - The baptism of Christ.

Bay 4: John imprisoned and being interrogated by priests - John handing a coin to a soldier - John the Baptist being arrested by Herod's emissaries.

Bay 5: John warning Herod of his immortality - Salome holding John's head on a platter - John sending two disciples to Jesus.

Bay 6: Salome dancing at Herod's banquet - A group on angels playing music - The beheading of John the Baptist.

A bit difficult to capture it all in one photo! 😅

22/08/2022

St Catherine is the patron Saint of the Italian Knights...

The Church dedicated to her is attached to the Auberge of Italy - the modern day MUZA Art Museum. The portico was constructed by the Italian architect Romano Carapecchia. This Church has a very unique dome which is octagonal instead of rounded. Am personally yet to see its beauty from the inside! The octagonal dome must be stunning...

St Catherine herself died a virgin and was martyred through beheading after she converted towards Christianity. Before her ex*****on, however, she was tortured on a spiked wheel which broke without explanation - believed to be the result of divine intervention. This led to the creation of the Catherine Wheel, which is now a popular firework apparatus used in the Maltese village feast.

20/08/2022

There is potential Jewish influence found in a particular mosaic in the Domus Romana, Rabat...

In the Book of Judges, there is a biblical narrative which describes how a woman named Delilah unlocks Samson's (the Jewish Heracles) secret power and plots to humiliate him by cutting off his manliness - his hair - with a pair of scissors. This story can be seen in the mosaic below. It is unlikely that this mosaic, or any mosaic in the Domus was actually manufactured here in Malta, but rather, most probably, in Alexandria, Egypt - hence the Jewish influence. It is unfortunate that this mosaic is quite damaged.

19/08/2022

Back in Malta, back in history...

When it comes to St John's Co-Cathedral (my personal favourite site in the Maltese Islands), something I find extremely worthy of note is the tombstone in the centre of the Chapel of Auvergne. It commemorates a legendary hero of the Great Siege, Don Melchior de Robles, who strangely enough isn't a member of the Order of St John but of the Order of the Sword. His epitaph says that he fought like a lion and died heroically for the cause of the Order and the defence of Christianity. A great honour for an "outsider".

Storyteller Denise