b'The Popeye Village in Anchor Bay was built for the film with Robin Williams. Today it is a tourist town. Sadly, the Azure Window collapsed shortly after my visit.Maltese Falconcity was named after Queen Victoria, inwho, for a few Euros, would let the bird (continued from page 55) 1887 the occasion of her golden jubilee.sit on your arm and pose for a photo. months while being shipwrecked. TheFor me, it was another opportunity toAlthoughthisparticularfalconisnot main reason one visits Rabat is to seeenjoy local ice cream, something I try tonative to Malta, once it rested on my the ancient catacombs of Saint Agatha.do everywhere in the world. arm, I knew I had at last discovered the ThesecavernswereusedinRomanI proceeded to the Citadel, the for- Maltese Falcon. times to bury the dead, as accordingtified historic City Castle, which lies in toRomanculture,itwasunhygienictheheartofVictoria,anddatesback to bury remains within the confines ofto 1500 BCE. The massive defensive a city. stone walls of the stockade, which rise Mylaststoponthesouthislandabove the town, were built to protect the was Anchor Bay, the site of the famousvillage communities from a threatening PopeyeVillage,constructedfortheinvasion of Muslim forces fighting Chris-Robin Williams movie of 1980. Todaytendom in the 1500s.the site is a popular tourist destination. My last stop in Malta was the Az-I took the ferry to the island of Gozo,ure Window, a natural limestone Arch, passing by the smaller island of Com- which was formed when two sea caves ino,thethirdoftheMalteseIslands.collapsed. The arch was disintegrating Gozo is 14 km long and only 7 km wide,rapidly, as large pieces of rock contin- At last, I found the Maltese Falcon.and exactly half the size of Maltas mainued to fall from the underside. Sadly,Jonathan van Bilsen is a television host, island. The ferry ride will accept cars,itfinallycollapsedwhenroughseasaward winning photographer, published and to my surprise, was only 25 min- lashed the country during a storm a fewauthor, columnist and keynote speaker. utes long. months after I was there.To see the photosNtravel episode on The main city of Gozo is Victoria, aJust as I was leaving the Azure Win- Malta, visit RogersTV or Jonathan van city of just under 7,000 inhabitants. Thedow area, I saw a man with a falconBilsens photosNtravel on YouTube.Travel testing a block away? START THE PLANE!!! TICO #4577532 MCCall us today905-985-2268158 Casimir St., Port Perry\x1f\x1e\x1d\x1c\x1b\x1a\x19\x18\x17\x1e\x16\x15\x14Virginia Frew & Doug Brownvirginia.frew@marlintravel.ca56 FOCUS - OCTOBER 2021'