Shoulder to Shoulder
- Gary Crallé
- Apr 5
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 6
March 19th would turn out to be a special day. It was the Feast of St. Joseph, a religious festival held annually in the town of Rabat, not far from Valletta. Waiting for a municipal bus to get there was hopeless, so we shared an uber with (yet another!) Canadian couple, Ed and Fay, who had been waiting at the same bus stop in Sliema.
In Rabat we followed the crowd along St. Joseph Street from the Basilica where St. Paul stayed for 3 months in 60 AD after being shipwrecked, as mentioned in the Bible. Like fish caught in a current, we found ourselves swept along in a festival that continues to celebrate his accidental stay.
It was still mid afternoon when fireworks signalled the end of the parade — but not the day.
We found ourselves conveniently at Mdina Gate, the Baroque entrance to Mdina Fortress and a filming location for the first season of Game of Thrones. So we tramped the limestone bordered streets before searching for an evening procession from St. Jesus of Mary Church where a service preceded the procession with its statue of St. Paul carried aloft through the street.
A night bus took us back to Sliema where we celebrated day's end seated in our oriel window munching on traditional pastizzi (pastries) and sipping a miniature bottle of wine that we'd been gifted by Air France.
Photos and text
© Gary Crallé
2026
Comments