Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Malta (South Eastern Region)

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Birgu – Fort St. Angelo (War Shelter)

    The enormity of Fort St. Angelo, and the hundreds of years of history, mean that there are tunnels and passageways going off in nearly every conceivable direction. Unfortunately, visitors can only go down a few of the tunnels, corridors and arches, with the rest being something of a mystery as to just where exactly they lead.

    This is a war shelter that was created during the Second World War, with it turning corners to help avoid any damage caused from blasts. It was though never fully completed, as other larger shelters were created across the fort.

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Birgu – Fort St. Angelo (Entertainment Block)

    This is the entertainment block built in the 1920s for the troops to use, consisting primarily of a large cinema and billiard room. A TV room and bar was added in the 1960s at the rear of the building. It’s currently empty inside, although the former bar area is still visibly there, but there’s not much else present. Hopefully in years to come this will all become part of the museum, it must be exciting for Heritage Malta to have so many buildings to play with on this site.

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Birgu – Fort St. Angelo (Ottoman Cannonball)

    The Great Siege of Malta took place in 1565 and it was the defences of Fort St. Angelo which helped the Knights of St. John to hold off against the attack of the Ottoman Empire. After the siege the Knights constructed their new capital city, Valletta, which is just over the water from this fort.

    In one of the exhibition rooms is this granite cannonball, from that attack on the fort by the forces of the Ottoman Empire. A rather fascinating piece of history, as if the Ottomans had been victorious than the course of history for Christians across Europe could have been very different.

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Birgu – Fort St. Angelo (Dormitories)

    This building now holds three interpretation rooms covering the subjects of (i) the centre of the Mediterranean, (ii) the Key to Malta and (iii) a National Icon. But, until relatively recently, these were dormitories for the British military.

    Inside the second interpretation room. I’m not sure how the military made a dormitory out of this, it might be historic, but it’s not exactly beautifully lit. Incidentally, I’m aware of the current meaning of the word lit by the nation’s younger generation, but I just mean that’s it not very bright (the former dormitory, not the nation’s younger generation).

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Birgu – Fort St. Angelo (Shifting Lobby)

    This is the room where the British stored gunpowder. Unsurprisingly, the British military didn’t want any little incidents involving gunpowder, so they kept it nice and safely in this room. Next to this room is a little lobby area where those men dealing with the gunpowder would have to change clothing as their uniform and boots might be “contaminated”. They would change into white clothing and canvas shoes, with absolutely no metal present, before they could play about with the gunpowder. The boxes in the storage room would be made of zinc and there was a glass and brass panel between this room and the shifting lobby.

    I have no idea what this means, since I’m not an expert in gunpowder (or indeed an expert in anything to do with the military if I’m being honest), but this is an original British sign painted onto the wall.

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Birgu – Fort St. Angelo (Sally Port)

    This is the oldest sally port (a secure entrance) in Malta, which formerly linked Ferramolino’s fortifications to St. Angelo’s Battery. It remained in place until the nineteenth century when improvements (well, changes) to the fort by the British took it out of use.

    The passageway.

    The partly unblocked end of the passage. The building which this leads to was used by the British military as a dormitory until it was recently turned into a museum, and it’s now interpretation room 1.

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Birgu – Order of St. John

    I’ve read a lot this week about the Knights of St. John, the Christian crusaders who successfully defended themselves against the Ottoman forces in their sixteenth century attack on Malta. So important was the victory that Queen Elizabeth I said that Christendom across Europe would have been endangered if the Ottoman Muslims had been victorious.

    The Knights governed Malta from 1530 until 1798 (they had lost their previous base in Rhodes – a city I now want to visit), when the French threw them out. The British reclaimed the islands in 1800, but they then came under British rule until the late twentieth century when Malta went for independence.

    Seeing lots of the history of the Knights this week, it did feel quite unfortunate that they were no longer involved in Malta. However, I discovered today on my visit to Fort. St Angelo that they’re back in the fort that they originally did so much to create. They were given a 99-year lease to the upper part of the fort, which is one of the most impressive defensive structures that I’ve seen (and more on which in other posts), in 1998.

    There is an agreement that the flag of Malta and the flag of the Knights will fly over the fort, which is just visible in my photo above. I like it when history does that, it feels right to me that the Knights are there. The only slightly unfortunate thing is that they’re now occupying some historic parts of the fort which visitors now can’t routinely visit.

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Valletta – Worn Steps

    These steps are several hundred years old, which is evident from the heavy usage that they have had. The steps don’t lead anywhere now, as in 1854 Lascaris Battery was plonked down right on top of them, but they were once the steps that led down to the sea. Modern development has seen some land reclaimed and the road level raised, so now they’re just a little piece of Maltese history….

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Valletta – Time Ripens the Prickly Pears

    I still have a few more of these to find in Valletta, the sculptures of Maltese proverbs. The text for this one reads:

    “Time ripens the prickly pears – people acquire experience and wisdom with the passage of time”.

  • Malta (South Eastern Region) – Valletta – 67 Kapitali

    One of the exciting developments I saw in countries such as Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania in recent months is the opening of craft beer bars at some considerable pace. They’re on-trend, exciting and the service is usually bordering between very good and exceptional. The food offering in these bars is frequently far better than it should be for what is often a drinks-led venue and they’re often open all day.

    Valletta doesn’t appear to have that same wave of craft beer bars opening, but one that I keep seeing being mentioned is this one, 67 Kapitali. In all honesty, my expectations weren’t great, although the reviews are very supportive of this bar and restaurant.

    Beers should be marked up on blackboards in my ideal world, it’s just something which makes things easier for customers when the selection changes according to availability. So, this is an excellent start for me and the interior generally looked welcoming.

    In addition to the board, the staff member was also very aware of the selection and offered a suitable recommendation of a dark beer. On which point, I was acknowledged by two staff members before I sat down, an attention to service which remained impeccable throughout my visit.

    The interior of the bar, modern, on-trend and comfortable.

    The beer is Fungus Rock, brewed by Lord Chambray, which is a craft brewery based in Gozo. Advertised by the brewery as “not quite a black IPA and not quite a traditional stout”, the beer was served at the appropriate temperature and it had a rich and pleasant flavour. There weren’t deep aftertastes of any particular ingredients, other than perhaps slight notes of coffee, but it was drinkable and well kept.

    I’ve slightly done this an injustice by not clearly showing the two slabs of feta cheese at the rear of the photo. The concept of these platters is that you can choose two, or more, main ingredients and they’re served alongside bread, crisps, chutney, oils and olives. I went for the smoked salmon, spicy salami and feta cheese. I think the platters are more designed for sharing, but I was happy to go with one just for myself.

    The warm olives arrived separately.

    Almost uniquely for me, I could find nothing wrong with the food, its presentation or its quality. My first thought was that the portion size was rather larger than I had expected, and I was delighted at the amount of bread that was provided. I like having that much bread, but I can’t think of that many restaurants or bars that provide it in the amount I require.

    The salmon was beautiful, tender and full of flavour, with a slice of lemon provided that was sufficient to drizzle over the fish. The spicy salami had a real kick to it, not excessive, but enough for the chilli to add some spice to the proceedings. And the feta cheese seemed to be of a good quality, not overly salty or watery, and it had a suitable consistency and a creamy flavour. The bread was freshly baked, crusty on the exterior and deliciously soft on the interior. And I liked the salt in the corner which gives the customer the choice of how much to use and on what, although I thought it went marvellously with the salmon.

    And, in terms of customer service, this as mentioned earlier was impeccable, the welcome was authentic, timely and genuine. The server took the food and drinks order efficiently, was knowledgeable about the drinks, cleared the board away promptly and seemed keen to serve customers.

    I do like it when staff acknowledge and welcome customers into their location, it’s so common for staff to seem to expect their diners to know what to do and where to go. I heard one staff member say to a customer, who had enquired on where to sit, “pick anywhere, find something where you feel the most comfortable”. I thought that was a lovely line, as it seemed to be said in a genuine manner.

    Not once either did I feel rushed during the meal, it was all very comfortable and customers are in danger of staying longer than they might have initially intended, not because of inefficient service, but because it’s such a pleasant atmosphere.

    I had a look at the TripAdvisor ratings and I have no idea how they’ve picked up a handful of 1 out of 5 ratings, although they mostly seem ridiculous. I saw a review from someone who managed to rate them down for charging extra for a local beer. It defies belief to me that someone judges the quality and price of a beer by how far it has travelled. The bar could probably serve all manner of run of the mill lagers for €3, but that’s not quite the point of quality craft beer. Sometimes decent beer, like decent wine, costs a little bit more and it’d be nice to think it’s judged on its quality and not just its price.

    Overall, this was marvellous. It was slightly expensive for a lunch as it cost a total of around £17, but that’s pretty much in line with what a pizza and beer would cost in one of the many generic restaurants in the city. And this was much, much better than that would have likely been.

    This could be an early contender for my favourite bar of the year….