Some photos from my visit today to the St. Julian’s Bay area….
Category: Malta
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Malta – Gozo – Citadel Stone Circle
This would have been an interesting sight (not that they know what it is or how old it is), although since it’s not a special occasion it was covered up when I was in Gozo….
This sign is located in front of the metal section at the base of the steps, so I assume the circle is under that….. It’s a shame they can’t place a clear covering over it (over the stone circle, not over the sign) so that visitors can see it when it’s not a special occasion….
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Malta – Gozo – Gozo Nature Museum
I suspect that Gozo’s nature museum will be swept away when the new national museum opens in a couple of years. As a museum goes, this was a bit hopeless and the staff member was polite, but seemed to have slightly lost the will to be enthused by the place.
Rather irritatingly, the building that the museum is housed in is absolutely fascinating. It was an inn during most of the nineteenth century, and I can imagine the stories that this building must have. Unfortunately, other than for one brief mention on a sign, there is nothing else giving details about how the building itself evolved.
Some stuffed dead animals, one of the highlights of the museum. These were the better displays, the rest really did just get in the way of seeing the historic building itself. The other highlight is the moon rock, the one which Heritage Malta haven’t had pinched.
The museum does though to its credit have its own terraced area which looks out onto the Cittadella. It’s marginal whether visitors would spend more than fifteen minutes in the museum as it stands (and even then I’m allowing for a few minutes using the toilets) and it’s a poor use of the building which Heritage Malta own.
Whilst I’m busy complaining about this, Heritage Malta list the top reason to visit this building as:
“Housed in a building which dates back to the 1600s, full of authentic architectural features.”
Which they promptly do nothing to explain at the site. Anyway, I like Heritage Malta, and I hope in a few years this site is repurposed when they have their new museum in Victoria open.
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British Airways (Gatwick South to Malta) – Third Time
Back to an A320 for this British Airways flight from Gatwick South to Malta, the third and final (well, for the foreseeable future) of my trips to the islands. This is aircraft G-GATK which was for ten years part of the Wizzair fleet, and before that it was operated by ACES Colombia.
Boarding was efficient at Gatwick, with customers being called through by order of priority. There was a problem with the number of bags being taken on board and it was a full flight, so the ground staff did ask passengers if they’d put their luggage in the hold. There was a remarkable variety of reasons why customers refused, such as “my medicines are in here”, “my book is in the bag” and my favourite one of them all, “no, I’m here first, get someone else to put their bag in the hold”. The customer said it with a powerful sense of entitlement if nothing else…. I don’t use the overhead lockers, which makes matters easier for me. Boarding was made harder for the crew by the lack of assistance from customers, but I think they’re more than used to it by now.
There’s an inevitable Groundhog Day feel to this, it’s of course the same menu as I had on the flight last week.
I’m not particularly keen on the British Airways Full English breakfast, so I didn’t even try to change my option for the sake of having a different photo….. I was, to my knowledge, the only person who went for the meat platter, other passengers went for the cooked breakfast options. It’s not startlingly exciting, but it’s a reliable and comfortable cold option.
Service was professional and efficient throughout, with customers served from the front to the back of the cabin and the crew were available with top-ups of drinks. The cabin was clean, one of the airline’s inconsistencies, and the disembarkation was speedy. The only slight delay was that we had landed just after an easyJet service, which meant that there was about a 20-minute delay at border control.
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Malta – The Moon Rock
The Richard Nixon administration in the United States gave away 270 pieces of moon rock to countries around the world. A staggering 180 of them have gone missing, and one of the two which Malta owns has been stolen.
The National Museum of Natural History in Mdina housed one of the two Maltese moon rocks, but it was stolen in a raid in May 2004. It’s still not known where it is and an amnesty was held to try and recover it, as the item itself is impossible to sell on the open market. It’s an unfortunate loss, and it was also the most valuable item in the museum’s collection.
The other piece of moon rock in Malta is still safe and is located at the Gozo Museum of Natural Science.
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Malta – Northern Region – Mdina – National Museum of Natural History
This was the first building that I saw when entering the ancient walled city of Mdina, and it looked a fascinating building. It was included in my Heritage Malta pass, so I went in without really being aware of what it was. The whole visit was rather surreal, a fascinating building clearly packed with history, and a museum which was, to be honest, in the way of seeing the historic interiors. The building is the Vilhena Palace, originally built between 1726 and 1728, built as a grand residence, but later used as a hospital before it was converted into a museum.
One of the supporting columns under the floor in front of the museum entrance. I liked how this history was revealed, although it wasn’t a theme of the rest of the visit. The nearby toilets were located in an old cellar part of the complex, although there was no explanation of what all the rooms used to be.
Some of the building is sealed off, I’m not sure what the non-museum part is used for.
The view out of one of the upper windows, although visitors couldn’t access this.
I must take Dylan and Leon to another museum of dead animals. Anyway, this is a jaguar.
And an owl, another of Dylan’s favourites. Although I think he prefers living ones.
More owls.
A dead snake, with a dead giant lizard behind it.
A mackerel shark.
A turtle of some kind, but the descriptive plaque has fallen off and bits of the skeleton have also fallen off. It’s a little bit symbolic of the whole museum.
A bat.
An early Homo Sapiens skull which was found in Kenya.
Glassware which was found from when the building was used as a hospital, which was between 1909 and 1956.
A piece of lead shot which was likely fired in battle that was found in the south facing walls of the building. These small displays were some of the more interesting to me, as they had a relevance to the building itself. The collection of dead animals and rocks was no doubt of some importance, but it could have really been housed anywhere.
Perhaps in the future much more could be done with this historic palace building itself, rather than just using it as a location to house a museum which has no relation to it.
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Malta (Northern Region) – St. Paul’s Bay – Thalassalejn (Then and Now)
A photo taken in the 1940s in front of what it looks like now, it hasn’t really changed very much.
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Malta – Northern Region – Mdina – City Walls
Mdina is the former capital city of Malta, but the Knights of the Order of St. John moved it away when they constructed Valletta, which was designed to be easier to defend. Above is the main gateway into the city, which is also known as Città Vecchia and Città Notabile. This isn’t the original entrance way into Mdina as it was re-constructed in 1724 with a Baroque design and it was also designed to be easier to defend.
The map at the entrance to the walled part of the city shows just how many buildings were located within it.
The city was never as well defended as Birgu, which was where the bulk of the action took place during the Great Siege, but the defences are still formidable. During the Great Siege the Ottomans did come to try and seize Mdina, but the local governor was able to fool them into thinking there were more troops than there actually were, so they decided not to attack. There’s a story that I’ve read in a few books that the governor also got the females in the city to dress up as troops, as part of the plan to pretend it was better defended than it actually was.
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Malta – Gozo – Cassata
I will say in advance that this isn’t Greggs standard, it’s just the cafe which is located inside the ferry terminal at Gozo. But as I had some time before the next ferry, I thought that I would try one of their cakes.
I’m entirely confident that this probably isn’t the best example of a cassata, and it’s probably not meant to be served with a dent in the middle. I’d never actually heard of a cassata, but Wikipedia informs me that it’s “from Sicily, Italy and consists of round sponge cake moistened with fruit juices or liqueur and layered with ricotta cheese and candied fruit”.
I find that foods that are coloured green usually taste like mud, but this was a pleasant exception. Lots of healthy sugar, a moist sponge filling and some candied fruit on the top. All very acceptable before the ferry journey.
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Malta – Gozo – Ta’ Kola Windmill
Located just a few metres from the entrance to the Ġgantija Temples, this windmill was first constructed in 1725. Unfortunately it wasn’t built very well, some dodgy use of stone and mortar was to blame, so they had to rebuild it in the 1780s.
Bread is very important to the people of Malta, and they make it very well from what I’ve experienced, and the miller would have lived and worked here.
The staff member at the front desk was enthusiastic and gave me a comprehensive introduction to the building and what there was to see in it. There are a lot of milling related items on display, some of which are from the last miller to have worked here.
The recreated bedroom of the miller.
Some kind of machine.
And then the climb to the top of the windmill, up some fairly narrow steps at times. Fortunately I was the only visitor at the site, so I didn’t have to worry about passing people on the way up or down.
This was what was at the top of the steps, the two stones which would have ground up the cereals into flour. There was also a lot less space than I had been expecting when I reached the top. I think I had expected some kind of viewing deck, rather than a functional windmill, but only two or three people could be up here at a time.
Incidentally, one TripAdvisor review noted the below, and I certainly agree with them….. I was very brave though and struggled up.
“There are very steep and narrow stairs to the top so if you have trouble walking or are nervous with heights it probably isn’t a good idea to go up.”
I was using my Heritage Malta pass, but I think visitors who went to the temples next door also got free entrance into this mill. That has probably realistically boosted visitor numbers to a level which the mill might not otherwise have got, but it’s still an interesting site.
