Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Central Region

  • Malta – Central Region – St. Julian’s Bay – Love Sculpture

    I misunderstood this sculpture, I thought that it was meant to be visible from the other side of the harbour, which struck me as slightly strange. Although technically it can be seen from the other side, apparently though it’s meant to make the word ‘love’ appear on the surface of the water. Which is just a little pointless for some of the year as the water isn’t anywhere near flat enough for that effect. It was conceived by Richard England who is a Maltese sculptor and architect who has designed numerous buildings on the islands.

    Personally, I think it looks rather banal, especially with the number of love locks under it, primarily because it’s badly sited so it gets in the way of pedestrians. Anyway, it’s inoffensive and it’s liked by many other people.

    The sign is just visible in the back of this photo.

  • Malta – Central Region – Manoel Island – Views of Valletta

    The weather didn’t really allow for great photos, but there’s a spot at the end of Manoel Island which looks out onto the centre of Valletta. It’s an excellent way to see the country’s capital city, although it’s just a little bit of a walk to get there.

  • Malta – Central Region – Manoel Island – Fort Manoel

    Work on this fort started in 1722 and it was completed just over a decade later. It was later taken over by the British who used it as a naval base until 1906. It came back into use during the Second World War and it was damaged by air raids. This is the entrance into the site, although it’s unfortunately locked shut.

    Restoration on the site is on-going as it had started to fall into disrepair and had also been vandalised in places. This included the crypt under the fortifications where bones belonging to the Knights had been scattered around.

    Apparently the interiors are now secured in a generally good state and there are occasional special tours which take place. Hopefully over the next years something more substantial will be done here, perhaps a museum, which allows greater public access. I hope that it doesn’t become a housing development, but the developer paying for the restoration does seem to have that intention. They’ve put up a lot of photos of the site at http://www.midimalta.com/en/fort-manoel.

  • Malta – Central Region – Manoel Island – Duck Village

    Manoel Island is quite a quirky place and takes its name from the Grand Master who built a fort here in the early eighteenth century. At the entrance to this island, which is connected to Sliema by a small bridge, is Duck Village. I’m not quite sure what to think of this little arrangement, but there were some children there who really enjoyed it. It can all be seen from the road and there’s the option of leaving money for the owners to pay for duck food.

    The ducks, chickens and cats all seemed to be living alongside each other quite happily, and it’s a harmless little enterprise. Well, so I thought until I went to TripAdvisor and saw this:

    “Ramshackle run down junk compilation of scrap that is an insult to the ducks, primarily designed to relieve idiots of there hard earned pennies”.

    The ducks looked quite happy to me, and if it keeps children happy, then I’m unsure why people have to throw comments around such as “idiots”. But, such is the world we live in. Photos of this experience below:

  • Malta – Central Region – Sliema – Love Locks

    The phenomenon of love locks has reached Malta (apparently over a decade ago), with the theory being that happy couples can place a lock on a fence and chuck the key into the water. Very romantic….

    I think it looks ridiculous, although this is one of the neatest examples that I’ve seen.

    Fortunately, the authorities have limited this love lock exuberance to just a few panels.

  • Malta – Central Region – St. Julian’s Bay – Fisherman With Cat Statue

    I can’t find out much about this statue, other than it’s meant to represent a local fisherman sorting out his nets, whilst a cat sits by eagerly waiting for a snack of a delicious fish to be provided to it.

  • Malta – Central Region – St. Julian’s Bay – Poseidon Artwork

    This artwork has been created using fishing nets which have been found discarded around the islands of Malta. It was created to highlight the problems of discarded nets which can still kill fish and marine animals even though they’re not still being used.

    The information sign notes that 640,000 tonnes of fishing gear are left in the seas and oceans every year. Very thought provoking.