Today was a work morning for Christine. She finished up her interview questions for Plexus and took care of some other business things. She emailed a couple of clients to touch base and begin scheduling GoToMeetings. So, work really is starting again.
We met our cleaning lady, Annette, who will come once a week to change sheets and towels, wash the floor and clean the bathroom. We have nice tile floors in the flat, but they do get dirty. And they are very cold on bare feet! We had a nice chat with Annette, a nice Maltese lady who lives in Mosta.
After lunch, we decided to take our first foray into Valletta, Malta’s capital city, a UNESCO world heritage site. We needed to get passport photos to stick on our applications for the tallinja card, the bus transport smart card. So off we went, walking through the narrow, twisty streets of Sliema, over the hill to the Sliema harbor. Of course, we still haven’t figured out the best route, and so we probably walk a little further than is necessary. It is so difficult to navigate by map because the small 1-2 block streets aren’t on the map and some streets aren’t named on the map nor are there always street signs (which are tile plaques up on building walls at the corners). But we eventually get to where we are going, and things are starting to look more and more familiar. Here’s a Sliema street map. Our flat is right about where #1 is in the upper left where it says St. Julian’s Bay. We walk from there to where it says Sliema Ferry on the lower mid part of the map.
We took the Sliema ferry across the harbor to Valletta, a short 10 minute ride. Sure beats about a 40-minute bus ride. You get great views of both Sliema and Valletta from the ferry.
Valletta, described as being architecturally superb, was built by the Knights of St. John after the Great Siege, occurring in 1565 when the Ottoman Turks invaded Malta. Foundations were laid in 1566 and the plan was to build an impregnable fortress containing a civilized, elegant city. In fact, one of the most significant aspects of Valletta is that it was architecturally planned from scratch on the virgin land of the Sceberras peninsula that lies between Marsamxet Harbour and the Grand Harbour, two natural deep harbours. It was the most strategic position on the island.
The massive bastions wrap themselves protectively around the city and are cited as being among the most fascinating fortifications in Europe. The bastions were, unbelievably, completed within 5 years, an impressively short length of time considering the extensive perimeter, using huge stones and primitive tools.
Valletta is literally overflowing with palaces, churches, monuments, and works of art. But the old bridge and city gate into the city have been rebuilt, but not in an historical manner. Malta’s new modern parliament buildings are just inside the city gate, and are so out of character with the rest of the city.
Just down the street from the parliament building, where you can see columns sticking up, are the remains of the famous Valletta Royal Opera House, which was bombed to smithereens during WWII. The opera house has not been rebuilt, but what they have done is build an open-air theater inside the remains still standing. Kind of a neat thing.
The main street from the city gate down to St. Elmo Fort is Republic Street. Sauntering down Republic was rather like rambling down Las Ramblas in Barcelona, albeit not quite so crowded. But we saw marvelous buildings.
As we were walking down Republic Street, Christine was talking about the library her mother would take her to as a child. It was a big event for her to go to the library. As we were coming up on a plaza, Christine could feel that was the place her library was, and sure enough, there was a fabulous building in this courtyard – her library.
After that find, we rewarded ourselves with a drink at a little outside café. We were in the shade under a lovely tree next to a church. Nice spot for a relaxing beverage. And then the bell rang at the church and I about jumped out of my chair. It was loud!
Walking around Valletta is great exercise. All streets running off Republic Street, which is essentially along the spine of the promontory, run downhill to either the Grand Harbour or Marsamxett Harbour. Down is my preferred direction. The thought of climbing up all these steps exhausts me. We walked up a sloping roadway to get up to Valletta when we got off the ferry.
But even though you have to go either up or down, the sights you see down little streets and alleys are phenomenal. I got to see St. Dominics Church down a one block alley, probably a view that not many tourists get to see.
Something I noticed when we were walking back to the ferry was a bocci club. It was tucked up against the city wall and was nothing more than a square of sand within wooden side walls. Bocci is the national sport of Malta, but it’s not like any bocci or bocce that I’ve every seen. In additional to the jack and larger colored balls, they also throw wooden cylinders that look about the size of a soup can, and because they are cylinders they bounce all over the place when they land on their top edges. I’ll have to learn more about this sport.
We had quite an excursion into Valletta. It is a fantastic city and I’ll probably have lots and lots to tell you about this fascinating city. I didn’t even touch on some of the Knights’ palaces we saw today, but over the weeks, we’ll return to Valletta many times. There is a glorious history of the Knights of St. John to learn about. I have a plan that we will walk the entire city around the bastions. How exciting!
I am so enjoying your travelogue. Sometimes it feels like I am there smelling the salty air and feeling the breezes. My legs feel sore from climbing all the stairs and walking up the hills. I would love to see pictures of the inside of your flat when you get a chance. No elevators, right? You have to walk up 4 flights of stairs whenever you come home?
Thanks, Michele. When I sit here writing all this stuff, I’m never sure anyone will read it. You encourage me to keep at it.
I have to say that, before you went to Malta, I seriously did not understand the appeal. But now I do!!
It’s such an interesting place, Eve. It is steeped in history and everywhere we go we learn something. Can’t wait to get out and explore more.