Day 21 Back to Valletta once again

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Today was going to be a quiet day after our day long trip to Gozo yesterday but it didn’t turn out that way. We were even going to get an early night before our 4 am start to go to Sicily tomorrow but ended up watching World Cup football as England suffered a humiliating draw with the USA.

We had to go to Valletta to collect my new sunnies so as part of the trip decided to see a few more of the Heritage Malta sites before we leave on Tuesday.

As the glasses were not going to be ready until 12.30 we headed to the markets on Merchant Street and bought a few thing that we had seen when we were last here. The good on sale are reasonably priced, although not quite as good as Malaysia. Mind you, you can’t buy Malta souvenirs in Malaysia either.

After we collected the sunnies we then went and had lunch at Cordina Cafe. This place has been in existence since 1837 although not at the current location for that time. This cafe has its tables in Regina Square along with four other cafes and is a prime example of what King George Square in Brisbane could be with a little foresight. We had a pleasant lunch served by waiters dressed in traditional garb of bow tie and cummerbund.

This place is surrounded by historical buildings including the State Library, the former Knights Treasury and the Grand Masters Palace. After lunch we headed into the Grand Masters Palace where the state rooms and the armoury are open to the public. They are run by Heritage Malta, and we recommend you purchase a multi venue ticket which allows unretracted entry to all their sites for one month.

We visited the State Rooms first. The rooms which are open all overlook one of the two central gardens and are accessed by a spiral staircase. They are all rendered and painted with frescos which in most cases have stood the test of time. On talking to one of the curators, she told us that flash photography is not permitted as it affects the pigments of the paints. The rooms are huge, and all have suits of armour along both walls, as if the Knights are still defending the palace.

One room is full of tapestries, some as big as the ones in St Johns Cathedral and the lighting in this room is very subdues to protect them from too much light.

We then went to the Palace Armoury, located in the same building. This building contains a large array of armour, including some that may have been worn by previous Grand Masters. They also have a large range of weapons, from swords and crossbows through to muskets and cannon. All of this would have been used by the Knights through the centuries to defend their homes. As the Grand Master automatically inherited all the possession of the individual knights on their death, the collection is extensive.

To bring us back into the modern era, we then went to the War Museum, which is located in the outer section of Fort St Elmo. This has a lot of displays of military equipment from the first and second world wars. Like most museums there is an awful lot to see and take in but there are a couple of significant items in here.

The first is the name plaque of the SS Ohio, one of the largest tankers built before 1939. This ship helped to save Malta during the Second World War and had been heavily attacked in a convoy before reaching the island. The oil on the tanker was desperately needed and the Ohio was sinking about 45 miles from Malta. Two Royal Navy destroyers were lashed to the side of the tanker and the three ships tied together limped into Valletta Harbour. As the oil was pumped out, the Ohio actually sank further and once all the oil was it removed, it sank in the Grand harbour.
After the war, the two halves of the ship were towed out to sea and sunk by Royal Navy gunfire. The captain of the Ohio was awarded the George Cross which leads to the next item.

During the Second World Ward, the people of Malta suffered greatly defending the island and in 1942, King George VI awards the people of Malta the George Cross. This medal and the citation from the King are in the museum, on display, for everyone to see. Since that time, the Maltese flag has proudly had the medal on the top left corner of the flag. The George Cross is the civilian equivalent of the Victoria Cross and is awarded for great gallantry.

To end our day in Valletta we then walked all around the northern bastions on the Sliema side and headed back to our car. The day was a bit longer than anticipated and we went to Bugibba to do a bit of shopping before heading home for the evening, supposedly for an early night before our early start for the Sicily trip.

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