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August 9th 2014
Published: August 18th 2014
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Hello my fellow travellers!

Okay, I have to admit that our itinerary didn't end up exactly like the one we had yesterday. We started this day with a steady continental breakfast at the hotel before we hopped on a bus to Valletta, this time however we got off at the Bombes Gate instead, it's a pretty nice ornamental gate in the old Florian defensive line and it's worth a closer look. From there we went and took a look at the small Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church and the Spencer Monument that both stand a little further down by the road.

Our path next took us by the Lion Fountain and the statue of Florian to the stunning Saint Publius's Church, which was unfortunately closed so we'll come back another day. Oh, if you're wondering what all those pillar-foundation-like things in front of the church, they are granaries, an invention which the Knights of Saint John brought with them to Malta and which the British kept when they took control of the island.

Next we looked at the holy trinity of monuments, the War Memorial, the Independence Monument and the Malta Memorial. The War Memorial is a memory of those who fell during World War I while the Malta Memorial commemorates those commonwealth airmen who have no known grave from World War II. The Independence monument of course celebrates Malta's independence from Great Britain. All three of the monuments are very nice, although I am quite a sucker for memorials, monuments and statues so my opinion might be given through a bit of rose-tinted glasses, I did give fair warning in my profile though, historical sights are right up my alley and Malta has an abundance of these!

We decided to sit down and rest for a moment in the Mall, which despite it's name isn't a mall but actually a quite beautiful garden which was started in 1656 by Grandmaster Lascaris. We began our second tour through Valletta with the Church of Saint Catherine of Italy which is quite beautiful inside, especially the painting behind the altar is particularly striking! Then we crossed the street into the Church of Our Ladies Victory where we got a private tour of the Alessio Erardi vault paintings that are currently undergoing restoration. They are quite spectacular, you were asked to make a donation of 3 EUR for the restoration in order to see them, perhaps a a bit pricey but in my opinion it was worth it. On the tour we also learned that the heart of a Venetian admiral rests here while his body rests in Venice.

When we were satisfied with religious art we went to the National Museum of Archaeological for some even older artefacts instead. We bought a combined ticket for this museum along with the Grandmaster's Palace, the National War Museum and the National Museum of Fine Arts for 20 EUR (later I discovered that there is a ticket for all Heritage sites except the Hypogeum for 50 EUR). The museum was nice but didn't house that many artefacts, however there was a small but very beautiful piece called Sleeping Lady which is 3000 years old.

Filled with impressions of ancient artefacts we made our way to Saint Johns Co-Cathedral again only to once more find it closed so we moseyed on over to the Grandmaster's Palace instead where we started with the state rooms before going down into the armoury. This is really my cup of tea, the state rooms are absolutely stunning and the armoury houses a very high number of quality items. Pay special attention to the section of reinforced armours that have stopped bullets! I counted over a half dozen stopped bullets on a single breastplate!

From one era of warfare to another, we jumped a few hundred years ahead as we went to the National War Museum which has a nice collection of World War II artefacts as well as a few ones from World War I. I had read that there was supposed to be a parade here on Sundays so I asked about it but was told that it was suspended for the summer (understandable in this heat) and I also learned that both Fort Saint Elmo and Fort Saint Angelo are closed for restoration, dammit!

Today, instead of going left as we did yesterday we went right and took a look at the former Holy Infirmary of the Knights of Saint John. This former infirmary still boasts the longest hall in Europe. Here we could go down into the old halls underneath the ground and enjoy displayed scenery of how the Knights of Saint John treated the sick and wounded as well as go into old World War II bomb shelters. It was both quite creepy and very entertaining, I highly recommend it to you all!

From here we went down and looked at the Siege Bell Memorial before taking a stroll down by the water and just enjoying the beautiful view. We passed through the Victoria Gate and made a quick visit to the Franciscan Church of Saint Mary of Jesus. After this we both felt quite satisfied with the day and so we returned to the hotel for another calm evening watching TV.

Tomorrow we'll go to Rabat and check it out, it seems to have a lot to offer.

Until tomorrow I wish you all peace and happy travels!


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19th August 2014

Juicy museums!
What fabulous museums, churches and palaces--I think the Grandmasters' Palace with the sumptuous staterooms would have been my favorite. How lucky you are to have a traveling friend who also likes these historical sites! I love visiting these types of places and imagining myself back in time.
19th August 2014

Juicy Museums!
I am indeed very fortunate, Marcus and me work very well together on our travels, similar interest, similar mindset and we've known each other for a long time now. :) Tee state rooms were indeed amazing!
19th August 2014

SMORGASBORD
What a fantastic collection of photos of a fascinating place Per-Olof. I knew little of Malta...now I know its an absolute jewel.
19th August 2014

SMORGASBORD
Thank you my friend! Aye, Malta indeed has so much lovely things to offer, and the best is yet to come! :)

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