Ryan Ho Kilpatrick

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比浩浩的長風更遠，更遠的，是崖上的眼睛。

“Maltese balconies” are a national icon: enclosed wooden protrusions whose bright colours stand out amongst the plain limestone facade of nearly every building. But technically they’re not balconies at all: they’re “galleries” (gallarija) based on the stern galleries that housed the captain’s quarters aboard British and French ships of the line that began sailing to Malta in the 18th century. The corbels that support them were also inspired by these ships’ figureheads. In the summer they let in cool sea breezes but not the intense sunlight. In the winter they’re the closest thing you’ll find to insulation.

As the bishop leaned over the lectern to deliver his sermon, he began with a line I never thought I’d hear: “The shipwreck was a blessing from God.” I hadn’t quite realised it before then, but this whole holiday was a little bit ludicrous—a nationwide fiesta celebrating the stuff of sailors’ nightmares. Every 10 February, the Feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck commemorates the day in 60AD when the vessel carrying Malta’s patron saint to Rome, where he would stand trial before Caesar, was run aground here. Thanks to Paul, all hands made it ashore safely—but as the survivors mustered around a campfire a venomous snake struck the apostle’s hand, leading the assembled islanders to conclude that before them stood a villain so foul that divine justice found him even after he escaped the violence of the waves. Yet as they waited for him to keel over and die, Paul simply shook the viper off into the fire, unfazed. The islanders changed their minds: this was a god; and while Paul is represented worldwide by the sword and the book, here his symbol is the serpent inflamed. Paul’s stay in Malta was brief—after wintering here he was ferried aboard another ship to his martyrdom—but it left a lasting mark. His converts comprised Malta’s first Christian community, and included the local governor (later Saint) Publius, first Bishop of Malta. Together, they turned this site of shipwreck and sorcery into the first Christian nation in the West. If there ever was a shipwreck worth celebrating, this has got to be it.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is like Disneyland for maritime archaeologists and historians, from the world’s first ironclad HMS Warrior (fig. 1) to the masterfully recovered wreck of Henry VIII’s carrack Mary Rose (figs. 2,3), the fore topsail of HMS Victory from the Battle of Trafalgar (fig. 4) and of course Nelson’s flagship itself, the oldest commissioned warship in the world (figs 5, 6, 7).

Postcards from Vienna

A very merry Crimbo to all from the chateaux, chalets and slopes of the Swiss Alps.

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