Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Malta (South Eastern Region)

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – Firing of the Cannon

    Every day at 12:00 a cannon is fired at the Saluting Battery in Valletta.

    There’s a few minutes of explanation of how and why the cannons are fired which is all interesting. The guy doing the firing was enthusiastic and efficient in what he was doing, I imagine it’s all down to a very fine art now.

    The initial reason for the firing, other than when Ottoman forces were sailing into the harbour and needed to be shot at, was at parades. In addition, from the 1820s the gun started to be fired at mid-day so that ships could synchronise their chronographs. It’s obviously a tourist thing now, but it’s a good tradition to keep up.

    From the video I made of the firing, which I must admit didn’t entirely capture all of the firing that I would have liked…. But at least I got some of the after smoke (if that’s the proper term….). They load two cannons and only fire one, I assume the second is a back-up in case of any little incidents with the first one. Although I can imagine that any little incidents with the first firing might be sufficient to cause the cancellation of the second firing…

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – Upper Barrakka Gardens (Winston Churchill)

    Winston Churchill, Britain’s former Prime Minister, is still held in high regard in Malta from what I can tell. This sculpture of Churchill is located in Upper Barrakka Gardens and was sculpted by Vincent Apap, a Maltese artist. It was paid for by the people of Malta and Gozo and I think that it looks rather dignified and elegant.

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – Upper Barrakka Gardens (Les Gavroches)

    This is a copy of the statue that was once held here, but which is now in the National Museum of Fine Arts. The original was displayed in Rome and Paris before coming to Malta in 1907. It’s by Antonio Sciortino and shows three poor street children.

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – Cheeky Monkey

    A lot of restaurants and cafes in Valletta often have quite old-fashioned frontages, but Cheeky Monkey looks and feels modern. It’s well presented and their web-site is up-to-date, something which numerous restaurants in Malta don’t seem to concern themselves about.

    I visited on a rainy late afternoon in February, so it wasn’t a surprise that it wasn’t that busy. There was a friendly welcome from a staff member, not just a “hello”, but something that actually seemed authentic and personable. So, my first impressions were rather positive.

    Having craft beer is obviously a huge bonus for my enjoyment of a location, and although I’ve had this beer a few times, I like having it as an option. It’s the Fungus Rock dry stout from Lord Chambray Brewery on Gozo, one of the few local breweries. It doesn’t have the depth of flavour and afternotes that I’d ideally like, but it’s entirely acceptable. It transpired later on that I visited during happy hour, but the pub didn’t tell me that, which might have made my visit longer……

    The fish and chips, which was neatly presented and everything was at the appropriate temperature. Far too often restaurants put peas on with fish and they’re dry and tasteless, but these were excellent and despite being green, they had a depth of taste. The breading of the fish was even throughout and had a decent flavour, although the portion size was only adequate. The fish itself was again fine, although slightly uninteresting. The chips were though excellent again, crispy on the exterior and flurry on the interior, with the tartare sauce adding some extra flavour.

    It was all very acceptable and the prices weren’t unreasonable given the city centre location of Valletta. The service was above average throughout, always being attentive and polite. A staff member was going around with a tablet asking customers for feedback, something which I’m not sure works or not. I very much like the concept of it for picking up any issues, but they don’t seem to be doing anything directly with the data that they get. So if a customer isn’t entirely happy, I’m not sure if the pub is contacting them either immediately or after the event. If it isn’t (and they didn’t contact me), I’m not sure it’s a great idea, but the concept of immediate feedback is an interesting one which is very rarely done in this manner.

    But, everything was clean and organised, and I’d certainly go again, particularly as the staff were so friendly.

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – Sunset

    The sun setting over Valletta, very peaceful…..

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – Make a Donation

    The wording on this statue apparently means “help me become a Priest” and there has been an art project based on this. I’m sure that these used to be more common, although this is the only one that I’ve seen in a long time.

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – Views From Sliema

    Photos of Valletta taken from Sliema, which is a strip of land just to the north of the country’s capital. Sliema is where the Ottomans attacked the Knights of St. John from, and is where Dragut was killed. It was a fishing village for some centuries, although there was a military garrison located here until the British left in 1979.

    These photos would have looked rather better if it hadn’t been raining for most of the morning…..

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Valletta – The Pub

    There aren’t a large number of bars in the centre of Valletta, it’s mostly cafes and restaurants rather than what might be called pubs. So, it’s not difficult for this location to just be called “The Pub” and still maintain its own identity.

    The pub is small inside, with just four tables and it’d be a push to get more than around twenty people in. Fortunately, there was one table free when I went in and although there were none of those craft beers that I like, there was Guinness, and that’s just fine.

    There are numerous photos and references to Oliver Reed, as he died in this pub. It’s perhaps not the best claim to fame to have, but the pub does rather play on it and even sells t-shirts relating to the event. For those who want to know Reed’s final alcohol consumption on the night in question, he had drunk 8 pints of lager, 12 double rums and 14 whiskeys.

    But the pub does have a lot of atmosphere, it’s welcoming, quirky and very traditional. It picks up negative reviews from not being clean or modern enough, but I quite like the slightly rickety nature of the interior.

    This was a popular haunt when British sailors were stationed on Malta, and there are numerous photos of ships as well as the badges on the walls.

    The service in the pub was entirely acceptable, it was efficient, sufficiently polite and made the location not feel unwelcoming. The prices are reasonable as well, with a pint of Guinness costing just under £4. Certainly a unique location….

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Birgu – Cafe Rouge

    This Italian restaurant isn’t part of the UK chain, but is an independent restaurant located near to the harbour area in Cospicua, near Birgu. It was rather busier than I had expected, although the reviews for the restaurant are excellent, and it transpired that I was fortunate to get a table. I arrived around ten minutes before they were serving lunch, but by the time they had offered the menu and taken the order, the wait wasn’t noticeable.

    I didn’t order this tower of beer.

    It didn’t seem right to sit in an Italian restaurant eating pasta without having a glass of white wine. Since I don’t understand wine, I just order the house wine which nearly always tastes fine and is just at the price point that I prefer.

    This is the homemade tortellini Maltese sausage pasta filled with local sausage, spinach, blue cheese, walnuts and a sun-dried tomato paste. It was as well presented as pasta can be and cheese was served alongside for me to sprinkle on. The pasta was excellent, the blue cheese was evident by taste and the sausage meat had a pleasant flavour to it. The walnuts added texture and the tomato flavour was rich, with the portion size being sufficiently generous.

    Service was attentive and polite throughout, with a staff member noticing I had entered and helped me to find a table. I struggled slightly to get the bill at the end of the meal, but that was more because I think they were trying not to rush customers, and I was hardly in a massive rush to get to the next museum. The prices were a little expensive, but that was perhaps inevitable for a fashionable harbourside restaurant.

    I can only imagine how busy this restaurant must get during the summer months, and it’s clearly in a wealthy area given the amount of yachts in the nearby harbour.

  • Malta – South Eastern Region – Tarxien Temples

    The Tarxien Temples are four megalithic structures which were constructed between 3600 and 2500BC, although were then repurposed between 2400 and 1500BC. The map above shows just how complex the structures are in their size and layout.

    The site was discovered in 1914 after a farmer ploughing his field reported finding large stones. The farmer would have known for a long time about these irritating stones interrupting his farming arrangements, but in 1913 the Tarxien Hypogeum had been discovered nearby and he thought that this site might have a similar archaeological interest. He was right.

    If I’m being honest, this really doesn’t help. All over the site there are more modern reconstructions of what the temple would have looked like. In this instance it’s apparent what is old and what is new, but in other parts of the site it’s confusing. In places, there were deliberate attempts to make the newer additions look original, which has all taken away from the experience. The 1950s restoration was also botched as they decided to use concrete to top off the stones, which has now damaged the original limestone.

    There’s a large canopy over the site to avoid any deterioration of the exposed stone.

    Cats have plonked themselves over parts of the site, knowing that they’re unlikely to be disturbed since they’re in an area that the public can’t get to.

    This chamber was discovered in 1921 by Thomas Ashby and was secured by the stone lid which is located next to it. I can imagine the excitement that Ashby must have had whilst nervously opening up the lid to see the delights that lay within. And I can also imagine his irritation when he discovered that the chamber was empty.

    Steps coming down into the temple.

    Visitors can walk all the way around the site on an elevated walkway, and then also through the site.

    This is the floor of the temple, made from thick stone and so not just the compacted earth floor that might otherwise have been expected.

    More views over the site.

    This cubbyhole was opened up and the archaeologists found flint knives and burnt animal bones inside.

    Some of the stones have been taken inside into the small museum area located by the ticket office, which has ensured that they don’t get too worn by the weather and local elements. If you use your imagination, and primarily read the description by the side, you can see boats and rafts on the stone which is on the right hand side. This is of note as it might be one of the earliest representations of a boat which is in existence anywhere.

    I have a rather limited knowledge of ancient temples, with “rather limited” perhaps being better defined as “no knowledge at all”. It was an interesting site and I liked how visitors can walk around the site on the walkways, but I didn’t have much of a clue what I was looking at. The leaflet given to visitors has four items to look for, although three of these aren’t even at the site (they’re at the National Museum in Valletta, where I did actually see them) and there’s a limited sense of history for me looking at a copy that someone had made thirty years ago.