Found slightly bigger blanket for each of us and turned the heat up from 16 C to 18. More comfortable night. Several times during the night the very loud sound of revelers shouting from the street or their cars revving woke P. There are several clubs and bars around here and the narrow canyons created by stone buildings make perfect resonating chambers. Even though it is not 'the season', there are lots of tourists about.
| Woke earlier than on Saturday. Still didn't get out quite as early as we wanted but a couple hours earlier than yesterday. Decided to walk counterclockwise along the water - opposite from the day before - but discovered stairs down to near water level and again walked toward Lower Fort St. Elmo where we had explored above on Saturday. Took a lot of photos and ran down the power on our IPhones in short order. Decided to go back to the apartment to collect the Nikon and the Pentax to circle left according to the original plan. Triq Marsammett is a major thoroughfare so decided to head a bit inland to smaller streets and far less cars. Stopped in a little shop for meat pie and a smashed pea filled pastry, walked back towards the water for lunch at a small playground looking out at Fortizza Manoel on Manoel Island. Made our way up some steep, winding pedestrian stairs towards Hasting Garden - some beautiful old, gnarly trees that we haven't identified and some interesting flowers. Mostly stone pathways with some planter beds rather sparsely planted with flora for arid climate. Walked around the very large but artistically unimpressive Triton Fountain near City Gate. Google Maps claimed that the usage was low but there were still way too many tourists about for our enjoyment. Went past Spazju Kreattiv housed in another centuries old stone military building in a city filled with centuries old military buildings and churches with vertical walls lining the various inlets of the port. At the entrance they have very enticing displays going up the stairs. We decided against going in as we are teaching a class there Tuesday early evening and will be given a personal tour by Daniel Azzopardi, the director on Wednesday morning. Onto the Barrakka Garden, that we had seen from below during our walk on Saturday. Just like Hasting Garden it is a lot of stone work with some planting areas. Barrakka Garden overlooks the port. It is filled with memorial plaques to WWII military members who defended against the Axis (Malta was a British possession during the war and its location is very strategic for naval engagements with Italy). Looking down a level were several cannons (there is evidence of past employment of cannonade in other old structures we have viewed. It became clear why Valletta, with the various inlets that can be defended from all sides of the water was a value for the various powers that controlled it. Saw that there is a Chocolate District on Google Maps so headed to it. It was, like many other shops, closed on Sunday. Had an espresso at a small street-side table outside a little restaurant before walking past the National Library and then back to the apartment. |