Yesterday was Carnival Day so we got up early, fortified ourselves with a large breakfast, packed up sandwiches and drinks and went off to Valletta. The city was absolutely heaving but business was going on as usual. All the shops and restaurants were open, the tourist attractions had queues and apart from about thirty percent of the population being in fancy dress of some sort it looked like a normal day.
We spent some time in Palace Square watching the dancers who were entertaining the crowds by practising their routines ready for the competition later. We went for a walk down Strait Street which used to be the red light district (it could still well be for all I know, but no-one was touting for business in the late morning) known as The Gut and then went to the pub where Oliver Reed died after a massive drinking session. The pub is called The Pub and is now a shrine to Oliver Reed, it is very small and only licensed to serve 27 customers. It seemed to be an Ex Pat haven, serves guest ales and is decorated in the style of a British pub in the 1950's.
We then went up to Upper Barakka Gardens which overlook the Grand Harbour and found a bench to sit on to eat our packed lunch. It was about one o clock by this time, the sun was shining and it was very pleasant. We shared our bench with a chap who had stripped off his top, anointed himself with sun cream and was obviously attempting to gain a tan. I thought he was probably British and was right, I later discovered (the minute he opened his mouth) that he was a Mancunian. I spotted something on the horizon out at sea which made me get my binoculars out for a closer look, it was HMS Cumberland, returning from Libya with a ship full of refugees. We watched the Cumberland dock just below us and it felt very strange, as though we were watching history being made. I had a quite a lump in my throat - it is one thing to see the images on television but quite another to actually see it happening live.
We went for a coffee and then made our way to Triton fountain where we had tickets for the grandstand seating to watch the dance competition and the carnival parade. The seating was first come first served and we were in the first fifty or so and got really good seats about halfway up the bank, at the end of a row and in the middle of the area so we had a fabulous view.
The Maltese like colour, they like sparkle and they like dancing. The main colours in use were air sea rescue shades of orange, yellow, pink and green. With huge amounts of gold and silver, just to make them stand out. Put the lot together and it makes Strictly look like an afternoon tea dance for a gang of OAP's. We watched about twenty different teams of dancers in the competition and they were amazing, all of them. The costumes were very flamboyant and absolutely massive, they mainly seemed to be made from a sort of foam backed plastic which was heat welded to hold the intended shapes. I have muddled them up in my brain now but will try to describe a couple of the tableaus to give an idea of what we saw.
There was one lot who did an "Alice in Wonderland" routine and there were half a dozen of each of the suits of playing cards and their costumes took up about four times their body space, all stuck out. Johnny Depp had heavily influenced the Mad Hatter, the Griffin was there - ten times life sized and very, very, green - Alice herself looked as though she was a Star Wars warrior and the Queen was grotesque.
Another lot did a French tableau, set in costumes reminiscent of Madam Pompadour, which for some reason I still cannot fathom had some men dressed up like pantomime cows with massive Red Indian head-dresses in the back row. The women all had an Eiffel Tower sculpted on the back of their dresses and the men's hats had more feathers than one sees on the average peacock.
Another set had the men dressed as jesters, a tasteful combination of orange and purple one side of the arena and a very fetching mixture of yellow and pink the other side. Several pom poms were lost in that energetic little number which might well have cost them points.
The dancing took almost two hours and then the carnival procession started, the violent colours continued in the floats and they are huge. We had seen most of the floats when they were parked earlier so we only watched the first half dozen and then gave up and came back to the apartment. It was truly a magnificent sight though and I am so glad to have seen it.
Back in Sliema we went back to the pizza restaurant and this time shared one of those wonderful pizzas with a side salad and wine and it cost less than twenty Euros and was a perfect end to a perfect day.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Children's Carnival
Yesterday was the children's day at Malta carnival and I went across to Valletta on the early ferry to see what was happening. Onslow decided to have a lazy day back at the apartment so I left him to it and wandered off on my own. The way to the ferry along the promenade has loads of booths with people selling excursions, bus tickets, boat trips etc and about every ten paces I get accosted and asked if I want to do something. It is a bit like running a gauntlet of a hundred Big Issue sellers in a ten minute walk. I have learned to keep my head down and just walk fast to avoid them.
I got across to Valletta and walked up the many steps to Palace Square and the children started to arrive. They were truly magnificent, not one of them more than three feet high and beautifully dressed up in costumes. There were hundreds of princesses and queens, lots of flamenco dancers, nurses, and witches. Quite a few children had obviously been to Disney (I have not seen a shop on the island) because Snow White, Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell were out in force. The boys were brilliant, Superman and Spider Man have costumes with padded muscles on the arms and chests and look rather weird. There were many fine pirates, a particularly vicious one shot me with his gun and then wielded his cutlass at my throat, his little sister was a nurse and stuck a plaster on my hand to make me better. A few Knights of Malta, a particularly dashing naval officer and Dracula were there too. There was a pushchair with what looked a red furry strawberry in it which when I looked closely had a baby's face in the middle - you are obviously never too young for Carnival. There were several double pushchairs with twins in them, a particularly fine pair of Pierrots caught my eye. The entire twelve year old female population of Malta appeared to have decided to attend wearing pyjamas and clutching soft toys. The families were out in force, every Granny on the island was pretending to be David Bailey and every Grandpa was pretending he had never seen her before in his life. It really was a lovely occasion, no drunks, no violence, no litter. Just happy families rejoicing in their young.
One thing that really struck me yesterday was how slim and smart the Maltese are. Yesterday was a festival day and so one would expect them to be in their Sunday best, but even on ordinary days everyone dresses properly. I have been wracking my brain trying to think back and in the three weeks we have so far been here the only fat people I have come across have been either British or German. There are no lardy girls with pushchairs or slovenly youths with builders' bums hanging out of their jeans. Sliema has a KFC, a McDonalds and a Burger King so it cannot just be fast food that is to blame for obesity.
Today we have tickets for the Grandstand for the main Carnival procession so I will report back on that later.
I got across to Valletta and walked up the many steps to Palace Square and the children started to arrive. They were truly magnificent, not one of them more than three feet high and beautifully dressed up in costumes. There were hundreds of princesses and queens, lots of flamenco dancers, nurses, and witches. Quite a few children had obviously been to Disney (I have not seen a shop on the island) because Snow White, Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell were out in force. The boys were brilliant, Superman and Spider Man have costumes with padded muscles on the arms and chests and look rather weird. There were many fine pirates, a particularly vicious one shot me with his gun and then wielded his cutlass at my throat, his little sister was a nurse and stuck a plaster on my hand to make me better. A few Knights of Malta, a particularly dashing naval officer and Dracula were there too. There was a pushchair with what looked a red furry strawberry in it which when I looked closely had a baby's face in the middle - you are obviously never too young for Carnival. There were several double pushchairs with twins in them, a particularly fine pair of Pierrots caught my eye. The entire twelve year old female population of Malta appeared to have decided to attend wearing pyjamas and clutching soft toys. The families were out in force, every Granny on the island was pretending to be David Bailey and every Grandpa was pretending he had never seen her before in his life. It really was a lovely occasion, no drunks, no violence, no litter. Just happy families rejoicing in their young.
One thing that really struck me yesterday was how slim and smart the Maltese are. Yesterday was a festival day and so one would expect them to be in their Sunday best, but even on ordinary days everyone dresses properly. I have been wracking my brain trying to think back and in the three weeks we have so far been here the only fat people I have come across have been either British or German. There are no lardy girls with pushchairs or slovenly youths with builders' bums hanging out of their jeans. Sliema has a KFC, a McDonalds and a Burger King so it cannot just be fast food that is to blame for obesity.
Today we have tickets for the Grandstand for the main Carnival procession so I will report back on that later.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Gozo
Yesterday we had a day in Gozo which entailed an early start since we were collected at 0745 and driven up to the ferry port at the north of the island, collecting other people en route, in time for the 1000 ferry. The ferry port is very scruffy, if anyone can remember Dover in the days of the British Rail ferries back in the 1960's you will get an idea of what I am talking about. No proper facilities, a grubby looking caff and queuing outside waiting to board. The Gozo ferries take cars and foot passengers have to walk up the car ramp and a bit of the car deck to reach steps which then go up to the lounge area. The ferry itself was very clean, modern, good coffee cost only sixty five cents a cup so we have absolutely no complaints about the ferry itself, it is just a pity that the port is so dreary.
Arrival at Gozo is a totally different matter, a magnificent new terminal building, all marble and white walls, an escalator as well as stairs, spacious comfortable seating and a really nice food area. It is difficult to believe that they are run by the same company. The system for buying tickets means that they are only bought in Gozo - working on the assumption that there is only one way off the island no doubt.
We were met by a local chap with a mini bus, the Maltese driving standards are nobly upheld in Gozo. Horns mean a variety of things "Morning Fred", "Outta my way", "Pillock" being only some of the interpretations we have put on the frequent blares. The driver was very chatty and gave us a right sob story about being paid peanuts but felt that he was lucky to have any sort of job. Softening us up for the tips later no doubt.
We went first to Ta Pinu shrine which is a pilgrimage place, the disabled come here for hope. A sort of Maltese Lourdes. The church itself is very beautiful, rather austere by Maltese standards. It was only built in the early twentieth century and finished in 1931. There is a lovely painting of The Blessed Virgin which was painted in the early seventeenth century, a three dimensional golden crown was added in 1935 and Pope John Paul II visited in 1990 and added five golden stars. I thought it a lovely place, it felt very spiritual. On the hill opposite are some large statue Stations of The Cross but we did not have time to go to see them and were whipped back into the mini bus. We were taken to a craft market at Fontana but the very aggressive sales people put me off and I went outside. I am so glad that I did because there is an ancient laundry room with stone sinks and tables for scrubbing clothes. There were five sinks one side, four the other and some stone tables in the middle. Across the road was another room with just three sinks, much smaller and no table. I decided that the larger room was for washing and the smaller for rinsing. These "rooms" are more like caves built into the hillside and a water spring just flows through the whole place - there are channels cut in the stone floor to enable the water to escape. I had a lovely time making up stories of all the scandal that the women would gossip about whilst doing laundry (I doubt a man ever went there) and could just see the looks anyone with less than perfectly white sheets would get.
There was construction work on the road to the Azure coast section so we never went there. Carnival was beginning in Victoria so we never really got there either, a quick peep at the Citadel and off for lunch. We went to a place called Xlendi for lunch and were shepherded into a restaurant called Two Fishes or something like that. We ordered fried cod and chips (Bolton lad again) but got something extremely odd instead. It is the Xlendi version of fried cod and chips. I suspect, very strongly, that what we got was Vietnamese River Cobbler. It had been poached. It was served with two different sauces, half of the fish was covered with garlic softened in oil, the other half with a tomato/caper/olive sauce. Both were absolutely delicious. The bread was not the Maltese bread I have come to love, it was fairly ordinary white bread. The waitress proudly told us that they make it on the premises - I think they would be better off buying it in. The texture was almost cake like, we left most of it. Still, with two pints (did I tell you I have graduated to a pint pot?) of Cisk and two coffees it was only 22 Euros so very good value.
We then went to the Ggantija Temple - another Neolithic site - and because we had the Malta Heritage pass which covered us we went in. I would not have been amused had I paid six Euros for the visit though, everything was roped off and it was impossible to imagine it as a temple. you could only poke your head round a corner, not at all like Tarxien where you could "see" the rites taking place. There was a stall inside selling local handicrafts - the chief amongst them seemed to be Aran sweaters - I am no expert but they looked exactly like the Irish ones we all wore in the 70's. The driver then took us to Qual to a viewing point from where both Comino and Malta can be seen, and the view was quite incredible. Then back to the ferry and a ten minute wait in the luxurious terminal. As we walked off the ferry back in Malta (via the car deck) there was a queue of hundreds and hundreds of young people going across to the village of Nadur for carnival night, most of them dressed up. Apparently Nadur has a night of total debauchery on the Saturday before Lent begins.
In conclusion I think that it is unfair to attempt to judge Gozo on this glimpse. I felt that everyone wanted us to spend money and they were very vocal and aggressively encouraging us. Not at all the experience I have had in Malta. I think the next time I come to Malta I would arrange to spend a week of the month in Gozo and have a proper look around. Did I mention I will probably be wearing black? It will apparently be over Onslow's dead body.
Arrival at Gozo is a totally different matter, a magnificent new terminal building, all marble and white walls, an escalator as well as stairs, spacious comfortable seating and a really nice food area. It is difficult to believe that they are run by the same company. The system for buying tickets means that they are only bought in Gozo - working on the assumption that there is only one way off the island no doubt.
We were met by a local chap with a mini bus, the Maltese driving standards are nobly upheld in Gozo. Horns mean a variety of things "Morning Fred", "Outta my way", "Pillock" being only some of the interpretations we have put on the frequent blares. The driver was very chatty and gave us a right sob story about being paid peanuts but felt that he was lucky to have any sort of job. Softening us up for the tips later no doubt.
We went first to Ta Pinu shrine which is a pilgrimage place, the disabled come here for hope. A sort of Maltese Lourdes. The church itself is very beautiful, rather austere by Maltese standards. It was only built in the early twentieth century and finished in 1931. There is a lovely painting of The Blessed Virgin which was painted in the early seventeenth century, a three dimensional golden crown was added in 1935 and Pope John Paul II visited in 1990 and added five golden stars. I thought it a lovely place, it felt very spiritual. On the hill opposite are some large statue Stations of The Cross but we did not have time to go to see them and were whipped back into the mini bus. We were taken to a craft market at Fontana but the very aggressive sales people put me off and I went outside. I am so glad that I did because there is an ancient laundry room with stone sinks and tables for scrubbing clothes. There were five sinks one side, four the other and some stone tables in the middle. Across the road was another room with just three sinks, much smaller and no table. I decided that the larger room was for washing and the smaller for rinsing. These "rooms" are more like caves built into the hillside and a water spring just flows through the whole place - there are channels cut in the stone floor to enable the water to escape. I had a lovely time making up stories of all the scandal that the women would gossip about whilst doing laundry (I doubt a man ever went there) and could just see the looks anyone with less than perfectly white sheets would get.
There was construction work on the road to the Azure coast section so we never went there. Carnival was beginning in Victoria so we never really got there either, a quick peep at the Citadel and off for lunch. We went to a place called Xlendi for lunch and were shepherded into a restaurant called Two Fishes or something like that. We ordered fried cod and chips (Bolton lad again) but got something extremely odd instead. It is the Xlendi version of fried cod and chips. I suspect, very strongly, that what we got was Vietnamese River Cobbler. It had been poached. It was served with two different sauces, half of the fish was covered with garlic softened in oil, the other half with a tomato/caper/olive sauce. Both were absolutely delicious. The bread was not the Maltese bread I have come to love, it was fairly ordinary white bread. The waitress proudly told us that they make it on the premises - I think they would be better off buying it in. The texture was almost cake like, we left most of it. Still, with two pints (did I tell you I have graduated to a pint pot?) of Cisk and two coffees it was only 22 Euros so very good value.
We then went to the Ggantija Temple - another Neolithic site - and because we had the Malta Heritage pass which covered us we went in. I would not have been amused had I paid six Euros for the visit though, everything was roped off and it was impossible to imagine it as a temple. you could only poke your head round a corner, not at all like Tarxien where you could "see" the rites taking place. There was a stall inside selling local handicrafts - the chief amongst them seemed to be Aran sweaters - I am no expert but they looked exactly like the Irish ones we all wore in the 70's. The driver then took us to Qual to a viewing point from where both Comino and Malta can be seen, and the view was quite incredible. Then back to the ferry and a ten minute wait in the luxurious terminal. As we walked off the ferry back in Malta (via the car deck) there was a queue of hundreds and hundreds of young people going across to the village of Nadur for carnival night, most of them dressed up. Apparently Nadur has a night of total debauchery on the Saturday before Lent begins.
In conclusion I think that it is unfair to attempt to judge Gozo on this glimpse. I felt that everyone wanted us to spend money and they were very vocal and aggressively encouraging us. Not at all the experience I have had in Malta. I think the next time I come to Malta I would arrange to spend a week of the month in Gozo and have a proper look around. Did I mention I will probably be wearing black? It will apparently be over Onslow's dead body.
Valletta Again
On Friday we had a "free" day between two busy ones so I left Onslow at the flat to rest and went off to Valletta in pursuit of some grandstand tickets for the Carnival parade on Monday. The chaos with the bus station seems to have calmed down, all buses are now going to Indepence Street and customers for Valletta alight there. The buses then continue down to the docks area temporary station and people needing to change buses can do so. All the buses from Independence Street to the docks are now operating as shuttle buses and are free, you only pay a fare when you get on to your chosen bus at the bus station.
I went to sort out the tickets and then had a bit of a mooch around. There is a special carnival cake called Puljizana made from cake crumbs mixed with ground and roasted whole almonds, studded with green and red glace cherries and shaped into a dome. The cake is then covered with white icing, chocolate swirls and more cherries on the outside. There was a chap with a huge one - about twice the size of the glass domes you see covering cakes in tea rooms - in front of the cathedral selling it by the slice so I bought a bit. It was sixty seven cents per hundred grams and my slice was about 250g so not expensive. The texture is damp, something like soft fudge or marzipan, and it slices very easily. It is very, very, sweet and a little goes a long way. I have eaten it twice with coffee so far and am not even half way through my slice.
St Francis of Assisi church was open so I slipped in for a look around and my brain must be becoming used to the OTT decoration which is the norm in Malta because it seemed fairly restrained. It contains very unusual Stations of The Cross. Each illustration is carved and placed inside an individual chapel, the illustrations themselves have been painted so the end result is both three dimensional and coloured - not a combination I have previously come across. The little chapels are carved and gilded and all slightly different.
I went to sort out the tickets and then had a bit of a mooch around. There is a special carnival cake called Puljizana made from cake crumbs mixed with ground and roasted whole almonds, studded with green and red glace cherries and shaped into a dome. The cake is then covered with white icing, chocolate swirls and more cherries on the outside. There was a chap with a huge one - about twice the size of the glass domes you see covering cakes in tea rooms - in front of the cathedral selling it by the slice so I bought a bit. It was sixty seven cents per hundred grams and my slice was about 250g so not expensive. The texture is damp, something like soft fudge or marzipan, and it slices very easily. It is very, very, sweet and a little goes a long way. I have eaten it twice with coffee so far and am not even half way through my slice.
St Francis of Assisi church was open so I slipped in for a look around and my brain must be becoming used to the OTT decoration which is the norm in Malta because it seemed fairly restrained. It contains very unusual Stations of The Cross. Each illustration is carved and placed inside an individual chapel, the illustrations themselves have been painted so the end result is both three dimensional and coloured - not a combination I have previously come across. The little chapels are carved and gilded and all slightly different.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Mdina and Rabat
Yesterday we got up earlyish and caught the nine o clock yellow bus from Sliema Ferries to Rabat which is inland, it is right next door to Mdina but very little traffic is permitted in Mdina which is a walled city and extremely beautiful. The bus ride itself was an adventure, one of the very oldest buses we have been on and extremely tatty. Onslow said that he could understand the shock absorbers not being replaced three months before the new fleet comes in but felt they should have been replaced five years ago. The driver kept on letting people on until the bus was absolutely packed out, people were sitting on knees in places and at least twenty people were standing. It made the Tube at rush hour look empty. There is a sign on the bus that clearly states it is licensed to carry forty people, I counted sixty seven and a pushchair. At Naxxar a motorbike policeman waved the driver to stop and gave him a right old telling off, wrote down the number and the time (he looked at his watch) and then sent the driver on without removing any passengers. It took a good hour to get to Rabat and Onslow says it was the most uncomfortable bus ride of his life.
At Rabat we headed for The Little Train which does a circular route of the area and from some distance there are wonderful views of Mdina. We went through Mtarfa which is where the Royal Signals and WRAC were stationed in the sixties and seventies and if any of my friends from those days who were posted there read this, the clock tower is still standing. Mtarfa itself has a lot of new building though and has grown considerably from the little village it was then. The train ride was lovely and the commentary pointed out things of interest so afterwards we went off to have a look at St Paul's Catacombs and church which were most interesting and then it was time to seek out lunch. And we had the most fabulous lunch at Ristorante Constanza Navarro. A simple set lunch, I had penne with a rabbit sauce to start and Onslow had some cheese ravioli in a rich tomato sauce - huge portions and absolutely delicious. For mains we both had the Bragioli which is a sort of beef olive and this was totally different from the one we had in Valletta a couple of weeks ago. A very thin slice of beef had a very thin slice of ham laid on it and then chopped hard boiled eggs, raisins and onions were mixed together, spread on it and rolled up and tied. The spicing was definitely Moorish in execution. They were cooked in a rich tomato sauce studded with chunks of carrot and decorated with half a dozen tinned marrowfat peas (a very Maltese garnish I am beginning to find) and served with loads of chips. The pudding was halva, but not halva like I have ever come across before. It was dry and crumbly and almost powdery when in the mouth - it was absolutely fantastic. Two beers each accompanied lunch and the total cost was twenty seven Euro for the two of is. I am now trying to work out how to get back there for some more of that halva. I know I won't get Onslow on the bus again.
The afternoon was spent in Mdina in various museums and simply wandering around in the sunshine, going up and down the ramparts and soaking up the atmosphere. The architecture is absolutely wonderful, a lot of baroque and very "French" looking in places. The lovely golden sandstone creates such a visually beautiful image and the city is very well maintained. There are horses and carriages driving people round but we just walked and walked.
We went to catch the bus back and it was the same driver - who crammed it full again. Onslow thinks he is on commission and needed to earn extra money to pay the impending fine from the morning!
At Rabat we headed for The Little Train which does a circular route of the area and from some distance there are wonderful views of Mdina. We went through Mtarfa which is where the Royal Signals and WRAC were stationed in the sixties and seventies and if any of my friends from those days who were posted there read this, the clock tower is still standing. Mtarfa itself has a lot of new building though and has grown considerably from the little village it was then. The train ride was lovely and the commentary pointed out things of interest so afterwards we went off to have a look at St Paul's Catacombs and church which were most interesting and then it was time to seek out lunch. And we had the most fabulous lunch at Ristorante Constanza Navarro. A simple set lunch, I had penne with a rabbit sauce to start and Onslow had some cheese ravioli in a rich tomato sauce - huge portions and absolutely delicious. For mains we both had the Bragioli which is a sort of beef olive and this was totally different from the one we had in Valletta a couple of weeks ago. A very thin slice of beef had a very thin slice of ham laid on it and then chopped hard boiled eggs, raisins and onions were mixed together, spread on it and rolled up and tied. The spicing was definitely Moorish in execution. They were cooked in a rich tomato sauce studded with chunks of carrot and decorated with half a dozen tinned marrowfat peas (a very Maltese garnish I am beginning to find) and served with loads of chips. The pudding was halva, but not halva like I have ever come across before. It was dry and crumbly and almost powdery when in the mouth - it was absolutely fantastic. Two beers each accompanied lunch and the total cost was twenty seven Euro for the two of is. I am now trying to work out how to get back there for some more of that halva. I know I won't get Onslow on the bus again.
The afternoon was spent in Mdina in various museums and simply wandering around in the sunshine, going up and down the ramparts and soaking up the atmosphere. The architecture is absolutely wonderful, a lot of baroque and very "French" looking in places. The lovely golden sandstone creates such a visually beautiful image and the city is very well maintained. There are horses and carriages driving people round but we just walked and walked.
We went to catch the bus back and it was the same driver - who crammed it full again. Onslow thinks he is on commission and needed to earn extra money to pay the impending fine from the morning!
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
South of Valletta
Today we did the open top bus tour which goes from Sliema to Valletta, Vittorioso, Paola, Marsaxlokk and The Blue Grotto. Not an unqualifed success generally. We have used the City Sightseeing tours all over the place but I have to say that in Malta they are less than satisfactory. The bus was very late turning up (almost an hour), the speaker system worked for about twenty minutes altogether in the whole day and our first bus lost its silencer at one point and a replacement bus was required. The weather was a bit rough for the boats to operate at The Blue Grotto so we just had a bit of a mooch around. There was not very much to see and one woman refused to let us in the gift shop because she was closing. At 1545hrs. Did she not want to sell any stock to a captive audience?
However, we did not let it spoil our fun and had a very nice day despite all the problems. We went to Valletta and had what is advertised as a walking tour - it walked about a hundred yards down Merchant Street from the Prime Minister's Palace and then back up to Upper Barraka Gardens. Then back on the bus. To be fair, the chap leading the tour was very knowledgeable about the Knights, pointed out and explained the architectural symbolism of the Langues we did see and gave a really good explanation of The Grand Harbour. Apparently the Prime Minister holds Open House on New Year's Day and just sits in his office whilst the entire population of the Island wander in to wish him a Happy New Year. I approve of that. He does it again on a specific date in September but I cannot remember when. We dipped out of the tour of Vittorosio because we spent the whole day there last week and went for a coffee by the marina. The yacht Samara complete with helicopter is still sitting there waiting for a call. From Libya perhaps? At Paola the bus stopped by the Tarxien Temples so we just sat there and read our books having visited only yesterday.
The next stop was Marsaxlokk which was absolutely delightful. We had a very nice lunch - not quite what I expected but different and delicious. The menu said Seafood Platter for two for thirty five Euros which sounded like a bargain. I expected a French style Fruits de Mer and got a massive platter of different shellfish, all hot, plus a bowl of fried potatoes and a bowl of salad and the obligatory Maltese bread. The seafood consisted of mussels (ordinary and green lipped), clams, razor clams, scallops, king prawns and a heap of braised octupus which is the nicest I have ever tasted. Very soft and luscious with a faintly liquorice tinge to the sauce. Interrogation of the kitchen revealed it had been braised for hours in olive oil, lemon juice and water and then at the point of serving a good tablespoon of a mixture of mint, parsley and Greek basil was chopped finely and stirred in. Quite one of the most delicious things to come my way. The fishing village itself is lovely, there were hundreds of the brightly coloured boats with the eyes painted on the prow, fishermen mending their nets, a little market with lots of Maltese lace and generally a lovely atmosphere. There is a big fish market there on Sundays and it is our intention to return one of the next two Sundays to see it.
The climb in the bus up to the Blue Grotto area was quite spectacular. I am not awfully good at heights so just looked the other way for a lot of it. The area near the car park overlooks a lot of rock pools, some of which have been cemented over to provide look out/fishing points for people. There were loads of cats in this area, all sunning themselves and not deigning to notice the incomers from the bus. They are obviously used to the hordes invading and just carried on washing. Or sleeping.
However, we did not let it spoil our fun and had a very nice day despite all the problems. We went to Valletta and had what is advertised as a walking tour - it walked about a hundred yards down Merchant Street from the Prime Minister's Palace and then back up to Upper Barraka Gardens. Then back on the bus. To be fair, the chap leading the tour was very knowledgeable about the Knights, pointed out and explained the architectural symbolism of the Langues we did see and gave a really good explanation of The Grand Harbour. Apparently the Prime Minister holds Open House on New Year's Day and just sits in his office whilst the entire population of the Island wander in to wish him a Happy New Year. I approve of that. He does it again on a specific date in September but I cannot remember when. We dipped out of the tour of Vittorosio because we spent the whole day there last week and went for a coffee by the marina. The yacht Samara complete with helicopter is still sitting there waiting for a call. From Libya perhaps? At Paola the bus stopped by the Tarxien Temples so we just sat there and read our books having visited only yesterday.
The next stop was Marsaxlokk which was absolutely delightful. We had a very nice lunch - not quite what I expected but different and delicious. The menu said Seafood Platter for two for thirty five Euros which sounded like a bargain. I expected a French style Fruits de Mer and got a massive platter of different shellfish, all hot, plus a bowl of fried potatoes and a bowl of salad and the obligatory Maltese bread. The seafood consisted of mussels (ordinary and green lipped), clams, razor clams, scallops, king prawns and a heap of braised octupus which is the nicest I have ever tasted. Very soft and luscious with a faintly liquorice tinge to the sauce. Interrogation of the kitchen revealed it had been braised for hours in olive oil, lemon juice and water and then at the point of serving a good tablespoon of a mixture of mint, parsley and Greek basil was chopped finely and stirred in. Quite one of the most delicious things to come my way. The fishing village itself is lovely, there were hundreds of the brightly coloured boats with the eyes painted on the prow, fishermen mending their nets, a little market with lots of Maltese lace and generally a lovely atmosphere. There is a big fish market there on Sundays and it is our intention to return one of the next two Sundays to see it.
The climb in the bus up to the Blue Grotto area was quite spectacular. I am not awfully good at heights so just looked the other way for a lot of it. The area near the car park overlooks a lot of rock pools, some of which have been cemented over to provide look out/fishing points for people. There were loads of cats in this area, all sunning themselves and not deigning to notice the incomers from the bus. They are obviously used to the hordes invading and just carried on washing. Or sleeping.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Neolithic and Earlier Malta
Well, the sun has got his hat on, we had tickets for the Hypogeum anyway at 2pm and decided to make a day of it and went off to see the Tarxien temples first. It is a jolly good job that we have a well developed sense of the ridiculous because the transport system is in total chaos. We had no idea that Valletta bus station closed yesterday and will not re-open until Arriva takes over on 3rd July. So instead of the buses sticking to timetables and routes they are all over the place. There is a temporary bus station down by the docks and our 62 went through Floriana and round by the Knights' Dome instead of on our usual route. We then had to find the second bus without there being allocated stands for different numbers - but we managed. It all took rather longer than anticipated though so I was very glad we had plenty of extra time built in. The Hypogeum only admits limited numbers, the tickets are booked up loads of time in advance and if you miss your slot you simply miss it and there is no refund.
We got to Paolo which is a working class district, most of the residents up until the British left were employed at the dockyard and it is a bit seedy but entrancing architecurally. The balconies abound and I saw some new variations on the theme there. My guide book had warned me there was nowhere to eat in Paolo so I had a decent breakfast before we left. Whilst wandering around looking at balconies I came across one of the mobile greengrocery vans and his produce looked superb. I bought some grapes which were fabulous, about the size of figs and that purply green colour which figs have. They were juicy and delicious and had pips in them so I had a lovely time having a spitting contest with myself in a secluded public garden near Tarxien. I suspect people were watching from windows - but I am past the age of worrying about what people think of my behaviour and I hope the seeds sprout into lots of vines and grow up the trunk of the tree I was aiming at. Tarxien itself was OK and it was quite pleasant wandering around the stones looking at the plantings in the surrounding area. Nasturtiums and snapdragons are in full flower here, as are lilies and even a few dog roses.
Now - the big one - Hypogeum. Very difficult to describe. Try and imagine a simple non-comformist chapel with several rooms for different purposes on three levels. Built underground, hewn out of rock with nothing more than antler horns and flints as tools. About five thousand years ago. Some of these rooms were quite large and every bit of stone had been dug away leaving the space. The ceilings looked like they were made up of several pieces of stone - getting smaller in diameter as they reached the top - but were actually just a massive lump of rock eaten away from the inside. The whole thing is a sort of burial chamber but apparently people were not put there until most of the flesh had decomposed - a bone chamber. It was awesome. The tour takes about fifty minutes and was an hour very well spent. It is insisted that you turn up fifteen minutes before the tour time and whilst we were waiting a local chap (obviously well known to the security staff) came and entertained us. I think "Care in the Community" might give you an idea of his behaviour. He was harmless and just wanted to chat to the ten people waiting and offer them a bite of his mortadella butty - no-one took him up on it.
The bus trip back was fairly uneventful and it will be an early night tonight. The weather has turned and it is glorious sunshine everywhere so tomorrow we will do the South island tour.
We got to Paolo which is a working class district, most of the residents up until the British left were employed at the dockyard and it is a bit seedy but entrancing architecurally. The balconies abound and I saw some new variations on the theme there. My guide book had warned me there was nowhere to eat in Paolo so I had a decent breakfast before we left. Whilst wandering around looking at balconies I came across one of the mobile greengrocery vans and his produce looked superb. I bought some grapes which were fabulous, about the size of figs and that purply green colour which figs have. They were juicy and delicious and had pips in them so I had a lovely time having a spitting contest with myself in a secluded public garden near Tarxien. I suspect people were watching from windows - but I am past the age of worrying about what people think of my behaviour and I hope the seeds sprout into lots of vines and grow up the trunk of the tree I was aiming at. Tarxien itself was OK and it was quite pleasant wandering around the stones looking at the plantings in the surrounding area. Nasturtiums and snapdragons are in full flower here, as are lilies and even a few dog roses.
Now - the big one - Hypogeum. Very difficult to describe. Try and imagine a simple non-comformist chapel with several rooms for different purposes on three levels. Built underground, hewn out of rock with nothing more than antler horns and flints as tools. About five thousand years ago. Some of these rooms were quite large and every bit of stone had been dug away leaving the space. The ceilings looked like they were made up of several pieces of stone - getting smaller in diameter as they reached the top - but were actually just a massive lump of rock eaten away from the inside. The whole thing is a sort of burial chamber but apparently people were not put there until most of the flesh had decomposed - a bone chamber. It was awesome. The tour takes about fifty minutes and was an hour very well spent. It is insisted that you turn up fifteen minutes before the tour time and whilst we were waiting a local chap (obviously well known to the security staff) came and entertained us. I think "Care in the Community" might give you an idea of his behaviour. He was harmless and just wanted to chat to the ten people waiting and offer them a bite of his mortadella butty - no-one took him up on it.
The bus trip back was fairly uneventful and it will be an early night tonight. The weather has turned and it is glorious sunshine everywhere so tomorrow we will do the South island tour.
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