Once More Unto the Breach

Another gorgeous, hot, beautiful day in Malta.  They call it November.

For us, an ad-hoc adventure today to the fortified three cities (mainly Vittoriosa).  Not fortified like cereal, and speaking of three, Snap, Crackle, Pop, I should address first, with sadness, that Rice Krispies will no longer be made from whole grain rice but instead rice flour.  So Kellog’s adds to its list of ultra high processed foods and puts a dagger into Rice Krispie squares.  OK, with that cereal bombshell out of the way, onto the forts, towers and redoubts that adorn the harbour here.  I mean take your pick.

We took one ferry from Sliema to Valletta, took a leisurely walk across the peninsula, then caught another ferry from Valletta to Cospicua.  Then we wandered the cobbly side streets, very “characterful” as they say on Escape to the Country, which are blissfully less touristy than Valletta.

We stopped at the Inquisitor’s Palace.  Any adult who came of age in the 1970s was aware of Python.  And anyone aware of Python knows the Spanish Inquisition sketch.  As a museum, meh.  But, you know, couple of centuries of fear in the walls.

From there we went to a fort.  Fort St. Angelo.  Another Fort.  A-no-ther-fort.  If you only have time for one fort on your fort list…  The museum here was not bad, but the layout was excellent, the views stupendous, and it was lightly visited and serene (or as serene as you can get in Malta).

We doubled back through Valletta afterwards, the Upper Barrakka gardens, pleasant although very busy, which sit atop the Saluting Battery (so two sides of the harbour could, once upon a time, repel invaders at the same time).  Stopped in at an Anglican church en route back to the hotel.  Then a light and delicious supper at the Seafood Market Grill in Sliema.

Above gallery: Upper Barrakka gardens, the Saluting Battery, a terrifying glass elevator for those with a Euro to spare, and views back towards Fort St Angelo.