Visit to Malta (4): more Valletta
Sunday – the hottest day yet – was utterly different from Friday and Saturday because it was a totally free day with nothing organised by Voyages Jules Verne. Roger & Silvia were soon reminded of the downside of a day alone in an unfamiliar location.
Having so enjoyed the visit to Casa Bernard in Rabat, we were keen to visit another 16th century palazzo – Casa Rocca Piccola in Valletta – only to find that it was not open on a Sunday. So we walked all the way down Republic Street to locate the War Museum, which includes one of the three Gloster Gladiator aircraft that successfully defended the island against the Italians in 1940, but discovered that a few weeks ago it closed permanently, preparatory to being relocated. So we just spent the day strolling, talking, shopping, drinking and eating.
Roger had arranged that we would meet in the evening with a Czech doctor whom he first knew 25 years ago as a young child. Silvia had met him a couple of times over the years. Today Vojta is 32 and married with a family. His passion is sailing and he was in Malta to prepare for participation in next week’s Rolex Middle Sea race around the island of Sicily. He came round to our hotel from the boat that he will be sailing with a Czech crew and, after a drink and chat, we strolled down to Republic Street. Outside McDonald’s the place was heaving with Maltese youth; clearly this is what counts for excitement in downtown Valletta on a Sunday evening. We had dinner at a place called “Ranieri” where we all ate silver bream fish cooked in foil before moving on to tasty ice creams and limoncello liqueur.
Roger & Silvia returned home on Monday and we were collected for the drive to the airport at 11.45 am. We were determined to use the short morning to see one more place and so at 10 am we were at the 16th century palazzo Casa Rocca Piccola for the first tour of the day. The building is now the home of the ninth Marquis & Marchioness de Piro and he made an appearance in the courtyard with his colourful parrot Vulcan before we were shown round by a very pretty and knowledgeable masters student in the history of art. All the rooms are adorned with antique furniture, china & silver, and objects d’art and there are lots of paintings. It was a fitting end to a short holiday centred around a long history.
A few weeks before our visit. Malta celebrated 50 years of independence from Britain. However, the British have been welcome in Malta ever since they were invited to throw out Napoleon’s French troops over 200 years ago and in turn the British love Malta because everyone speaks English and the weather is so much better that at home.
The more we saw of Malta though, the more we realised that this tiny nation has an incredibly long history – around 7,000 years. So it is no wonder that it attracts so many (mainly European) tourists, especially now that formerly attractive locations in North Africa and the Middle East are no longer suitable for tourists and that so many cruise ships are ploughing the Mediterranean.