Best of Beth Ashley: An island rich with history and some surprises as well

Frankie Frost/IJ archive

Beth Ashley

Editor’s note: The IJ is reprinting some of the late Beth Ashley’s columns. This is from 2010.

Malta, the Mediterranean island I had wanted to visit for years, was quite a surprise.

I had not expected this long, low stretch of land — pale, parched and almost treeless, its main coloration the brown of limestone and the green of olive trees and cactus.

We fell in love with it nonetheless, captivated by the ubiquitous sea and the history written everywhere around us.