Ryan Murdock's Road Wisdom

So you’ve got a weekend in the Eternal City, and no idea how you’re supposed to cram it all in. There’s just too much. The Imperial ruins of Rome and Christian history alone could fill an entire week of sunrise to sundown sightseeing. And we haven’t even started talking about art, gastronomy, fashion and simply wandering for the love of exploring small neighbourhoods.

If this is your first visit to Rome, you really should start with the big draws. Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, it’s Tokyo-subway-crowded. Yes, everyone else is doing it too. But the hype is justified. You can’t leave Rome without having seen these important landmarks of our collective past.

Deep in the rock beneath the bastions of Valletta lies a forgotten World War Two site. The museum is called Lascaris War Rooms, and it’s a “must visit” attraction if you come to Malta.

Lascaris was the top secret centralized war headquarters for the entire air defense of Malta. Builders tunneled into the rock beneath the Upper Barracca Gardens by expanding an old communications tunnel from the time of the Knights of St. John. And they built it so well that the ventilation system—made of metal scavenged from sunken and damaged ships in the Grand Harbour—still functions today.

Malta is a largely Catholic island, and the rhythms of religion influence the cycles of life here, just as they have for centuries.

One of the biggest events of the calendar year is Easter. For those of you unfamiliar with Christian traditions, Easter commemorates the time when Jesus Christ was crucified, died and rose from the dead.

Christians celebrate this event because they believe Christ died to redeem them of their sins. That may or may not be your cup of tea. Personally, I’m just in it for the Cadbury eggs. But you can still enjoy the island’s Easter traditions whether or not you believe Christ existed, or that he was the son of god.

It’s been nearly a year since I packed up my books and moved to a small island in the Mediterranean.

It was a goal I set 8 years before, after reading Lawrence Durrell and island hopping the Adriatic. I was attracted to something in the landscape: those dry stony islands, the wind in the olive trees, the quality of light, and the pure clarity of Poseidon’s translucent domain. It took me 8 long years to alter the course of my life enough to make that goal a reality. But I didn’t waver. And one year ago I hopped a flight to a country I’d never been to, and spent a few days searching for a rental house. Three weeks after that I left Canada for good.