Home (9/10)

Heading home was a drawn-out process.  Everything from Rome ran smoothly until we got to Abu Dhabi.  We thought we had a quick change, but by the time two sick people had been taken off the aircraft and their luggage found we had lost our slot, and the next opportunity was a detour around Oman which meant a longer trip, which of course needed extra fuel had to be loaded on!  Two hours later we were on our way.  The rest was uneventful.

If you would like to see any further photos or catch up with other anecdotes, please call in.  Otherwise, you can log in again when we head off on our next trip.

Cheers.

The Vatican and Rome (8/10)

The Trevi Fountain was unrecognisable under
the scaffolding and glass barriers

We were off to the Vatican today, but via a couple of Rome's famous landmarks. The first of these was the Trevi Fountain, and were we so disappointed! It was empty, and shrouded in scaffolding, and restoration work was being undertaken as we stood there. There was a walkway over the basin of the fountain, quite close to the workers doing the restoration work. It would have been interesting to have been able to get closer to them to see what they were actually doing, but it wasn't to be. The fountain is actually part of the facade of a palace.

Interior of the Pantheon 

From here it was on to the Pantheon, a building Jill has always wanted to see because it is the only architecturally intact monument from the classical Roman period. It is thought to have been built in the the 3rd century AD, and was sanctified as a church in 609. It has not been architecturally modified, but there are many tombs to some of Italy's kings and artists, Raphael among them, which have been attached to the walls and placed in niches which would have formally held Roman statues. Its ceiling was originally covered in bronze, but this was removed to forge Bellini's canopy which is over the high alter in St Peter's. At least it was used to make something beautiful and not something nasty like cannons. The original bronze doors are still in place. The interior measures 43.4m in width and height, and the oculus is still open to the elements. There are holes in the floor to drain away any rainwater that falls through it. It is an amazing space.

The bottom half of the round base of Castel Sant'Angelo
was the base of the Roman mausoleum!

Heading towards the Vatican we decided to visit the Castel Sant'Angelo on the banks of the Tiber. This huge structure was originally built as the mausoleum for Hadrian and his family, and he constructed the bridge across the Tiber to allow access to it. It was begun in 123 AD and was used by the Imperial families up until Caracella in 217. It originally had a huge square base on which was built a round tower decorated with columns, and on this was placed the mausoleum, crowned with a huge bronze statue of Hadrian in a chariot drawn by four horses. Roman emperors were no shrinking violets! Inside this building was a large corridor which spiralled its way up to the vault, "The Room of Jars", where the cremated remains of the family members were deposited. This corridor still remains, although it has been cut by another which gives direct access to the castle mounted on top. 

Chests that the Popes kept their treasure in.

The Mausoleum was converted into a fortress in 400 AD but was sacked soon after by the Visigoths and then the Goths.  The fortress was built on the second tier of the mausoleum, probably in the tenth century. It then became a residence of Pope Nicholas III in 1277, who also connected it to the Vatican via a "secret" rat run. If the pope happened to be at the Vatican when trouble brewed, he was able to make a dash for it if he felt his life was in danger, which seemed to be a regular occurrence. Successive Popes added to the fortifications as Rome was regularly under attack.  We were able to view the former Papal apartments, and there were a number of rooms with magnificent frescoes, interestingly on historical mythical themes as well as the usual religious ones. There were also several rooms given over to commemorating Italy's part in WWI, but interestingly not WWII. There is a good view of Rome and the Vatican from the ramparts. It was off to the Vatican next.

St Peter's from the Castel

We were fortunate that when we arrived the queue wasn't too long and that the day was pleasant and not hot. The square in front of St Peter's was full of barriers and plastic chairs which detract somewhat from its magnificence. We opted to just go into the basilica, and not climb the dome. The queue was too long for that. While we were queued up, Allan told off a tour guide who tried to push her way through. She only had a group of four but we weren't going to have any of it. She tried twice before backing off. Another person in front of us, another Australian, also objected to people pushing past. The Aussie ideal of a fair go lives on! St Peter's is big, but quite restrained compared to some basilicas we have been in. Our first stop was in front of the Pieta. It is a truly beautiful piece of sculpture. It is a shame that you cannot get really close to it now. From here we wandered the length of the nave and admired Bellini's bronze canopy (strictly speaking a "baldacchino") over the high alter. The works that were achieved without modern equipment still astonish. As usual the floor is beautifully inlaid with many coloured marbles and the ceiling was stunning as usual, all gold stucco work. It seemed very quiet for the number of people wandering around, so the structure must be designed such that the noise is absorbed. It would be interested to hear a service in there un-miked. Lots of people seemed to make no noise, but what would one voice sound like?

Crowds inside St Peter's

On our way out we asked at a ticket desk where the entrance to the Vatican Museum was. They were selling guided tour tickets for a combined Sistine Chapel/Museum entry which we didn't want. We had already decided that we wouldn't go into the chapel because of the crowds. As we walked across the square the queues had about doubled in length in the short time we were in the basilica. We had been a bit lucky. To get to the museum we had to walk out of the square and around the walls for a bit, so we joined with what seemed to be thousands of others and headed in that direction. When we got there there were several options for queues. What we hadn't realised was that we could have booked on line which would have been easier because the queue was much shorter. Then we saw the price and considered €16 too much. We weren't sure if we could buy just a ticket into the museum, but decided that there were so many people milling about that we would give the whole thing a miss. We also decided not to boost dear old George's coffers just that little bit more. That price is by far and away the most we have been asked to pay, and it isn't as if the Vatican is short of a shekel or two. They must be raking it in! Still ripping off the masses! We thought that we might walk around the Vatican City instead, but when we looked at the map we decided that that was just a little ambitious, so back-tracked a little and headed in the vague direction of the hotel.

Normal human decoration on the Spanish Steps

On our way back we detoured via the Spanish Steps, just because we could, and they were there. Lots of people here also, just sitting and people watching. We had thought that we might visit the Villa Borghese Museum and Gallery, but it is by reservation only so we opted to just wander the streets of Rome and see what we happened upon. Lots of squares with Egyptian obelisks, large fountains, regal palaces, and people doing what we were doing - getting a feel for Rome, and not rushing from one archaeological site or church to another. Rome is also a shopaholics paradise. I bought myself a small red and black leather handbag, my one souvenir of Rome (besides the memories). We also put our heads into another gallery which had a special Caravaggio exhibition on, but the hip-pocket nerve struck again and we opted not to pay €12 for the privilege. We decided to dwell on the memories of his two works we saw in St John's in Valetta instead. As Allan admitted, we were already on the plane home. 

Part of the Baths of Diocletian - now a church

On our way back to the hotel we investigated another church which had been built to incorporate more ancient Roman architecture, this time the Baths of Diocletian. It was a beautiful church with a completely unadorned, white vaulted ceiling. In a room to one side was a very informative display giving the history of the church, and it was Michelangelo who actually designed the vaulting and the church. Perhaps out of respect for his genius, it was decided that it didn't need any decoration. Whoever made the decision must have had some authority, because it was so rare to find a church like this. We arrived back at the hotel around 5.00pm which was early for us, and sat and wrote a bit, and packed the cases so that all we needed to do was put in the toilet bags and go. Dinner was scallops of veal with lemon (Jill) and marsala (Allan) sauce and vegetables. It was very good. Up to the usual Italian standards which was great for the our last dinner before heading home.

Baths, Nero, and the Colosseum (7/10)

Today we were off to investigate more ruins, those of the Colosseum and the baths of Caracalla, and anything else we happened to stumble across on the way. There are bits of wall, large and small, fenced off all over the place, some with explanation, but most without. Their original status is probably not understood anyway.

Remains of Trajan's baths

On our way down to the Colosseum we investigated a ruin marked on one of our maps. These turned out to be yet another set of baths, this time built by Trajan. These complexes are huge (running out of adjectives!). Building bath houses was the same as building a temple - to boost the builder's prestige, and to keep the masses happy. These baths were built on top of an extraordinary complex built by Nero called the Domus Aurea, the Golden house. This was the pinnacle of extravagance and brought about Nero's downfall. It was supposed to have had 300 rooms, and these were only for entertainment. Nero thought of himself as a bit of a thespian, so this would fit with that ego. So far no bedrooms, kitchens nor latrines have been found – all very strange. The house was covered in gold leaf, and the internal rooms were covered in expensive marbles, gems and ivory. He had a lake dug where the colosseum now stands, and the whole complex covered 200 hectares of ground. 

A lot of effort is going towards preserving what is
left of Nero's Domus Aurea

Nero eventually committed suicide. His house suffered in the fire (Rome burns while Nero fiddles) and in the aftermath the house was buried and, Trajan built his baths on top partly to erase the embarrassing memory of Nero as well as bring himself some kudos. Since then, trees have been growing in the soil for years. Obviously this is all now known because of excavation work which has been done, but unfortunately not open to the public at the moment. There is a lot of work being done to stabilise the structure because water and the trees are destroying what is left. We expect the trees will be removed, but this now has to be done without causing other problems.

From here we made our way to the colosseum, and joined the queues, although because we already had tickets, it didn't take long to get in. Before we climbed the stairs to enter the arena, we had a look at an interesting exhibition on literature, writing, and libraries in the historical Roman context. Vellum started to be used after the ban on the export of papyrus from Egypt in the early centuries AD came into effect, because King Ptolemy wanted to prevent the Bergama (Turkey) Library from becoming bigger than that of Alexandria. Vellum was also cheaper, more flexible, and had a significantly higher durability in moist climates, so was an improvement anyway. Libraries became a accepted part of a bath house complex. Before that they were the prerogative of the rich. People were read to rather than sitting and reading themselves, partly because reading from a papyrus roll was an acquired skill, and partly because copies of manuscripts were expensive.

View of the undercroft at the Colosseum.  The structure
allows cages of animals to be hauled to the surface
by a sophisticated pulley system

Jill was a little surprised at the size of the colosseum. For some reason she expected the actual arena to be larger, but it was still an impressive sight. We hadn't realised that the arena was only used for a short period for the water-based spectacles, and then the under croft was fitted with twenty-eight hoists to move animals and scenery up into the arena for the bloody games and fights the baying crowds came to expect. Contrary to what some would like you to believe, no Christians were sacrificed in the arena. Some criminals who were Christian believers may have died in the arena, but not for their beliefs. Ironically it was Christianity which saved the colosseum from total destruction because of this myth. In the mid-1700's Pope Benedictine XIV declared it consecrated ground and this stopped the mining of stone for building materials by all and sundry. There wasn't really much left to take. Most of the marble cladding and all the statues have long gone, and the remaining internal structures are brick. There are scraps of marble columns and capitals scattered about but nothing really worth salvaging now. Most of the destruction happened in the Renaissance, with the increase in building which occurred during that period. We didn't go down into the under croft. This had to be done with a guide, so we decided not to bother. It was enough to know that both men and animals were killed to satisfy a blood lust without knowing the horrific numbers.

The Baths of Caracalla - the circular area was the hot room.
The walls are almost 40 metres high!

From the colosseum we set off for the Baths of Caracalla. These actually provided the backdrop for the original Three Tenors concert, so it might be worth having a look at that again. These are the most complete of any ruins of a bath complex, and they are staggering. They took eleven years, starting in 206, to complete, with 9000 workman working on them. All the floors were covered with beautiful mosaics, the baths were lined with basalt, granite and alabaster. The vaults, porticoes, gymnasium were lined with marble, and filled with huge columns and statues. One bath alone was the size of an Olympic swimming pool. You had the usually warm, hot and cold baths, the steam room, change rooms etc. The baths could accommodate 1,600 bathers at one time. There were two levels, but none of the information boards informed us of the use of the second floor. A huge portico surrounded the complex, and this accommodated shops and a library. These baths were in operation until the Visigoths lay siege to Rome and cut off the water supply. They then fell into disuse and gradually decayed. As usual, all the valuable stone and statues were robbed away, so that all that is left is the brick under-structure, some of the mosaic floor and a smattering of marble cornicing here and there on the upper walls, giving just a hint of what it looked like.

The Roman city walls seem to be
symbolic rather than effectual

As we were effectively on the Via Appia Antica, we thought that we would walk along it for a bit. There are still the remains of many mausoleums and other Roman ruins along it so thought it would be interesting. The first part of it was lined by tall brick walls on both sides. We passed some catacombs but they weren't open. We reached the the gate of San Sebastián, one of the gates in the original Roman walls, and decided to go no further. It was peak hour, and there didn't appear to be any footpaths on the continuation of the Via, so walking it was not going to be any fun. We decided to walk around the walls for a bit, before heading back in the direction of our hotel. The walls didn't really look as if they were defensive, certainly not against artillery (the Romans did have siege engines) although it appeared that arrow slits had been introduced into the walls at a later date. There was a walkway on the top of the wall, but the walls themselves were not very thick and wouldn't have stood up to a battering, so must really have been for controlling passage of people and goods in and out of the city.

Malta to the Forum in Rome (6/10)

The taxi was on time and we were off to the airport at 6.29am. Check-in was a bit of Rafferty's rules. The board indicated the desk to line up at, but then all the screens would just scroll through the names of the destinations of every flight leaving, so it appeared that you could line up anywhere. That done Jill bought and wrote one last post card, then we went through security. Within the EU moving from country to country so easy. No customs checks at all. We boarded the flight and unfortunately didn't have a window seat which was a pity as the weather was fine. It would have been good views of Malta as we took off. We were late leaving, but the flight took just over an hour so I think the pilot put his foot down. It seemed to take ages to collect our luggage - forty-five minutes from touch down to collection of bags, and there was no customs check in that time. We caught the train into Rome Central because our hotel was within walking distance (as planned) of the station. Our room was ready so we were able to drop our bags and take advantage of the rest of the day.

The main street through the Forum.

We decided to walk down to the Forum, getting a feel for Rome on the way. Rome appears much cleaner than Palermo, and the driving is a little less fraught, although the drivers “take no prisoners”. They are far less tolerant of pedestrians than the Sicilians.
The Forum, or Forum Magnum as it was originally known, was really a marketplace and therefore the centre of Roman public life. Because it was where people gathered, it became the site of triumphal processions, elections, public speeches, criminal trials, etc, as well as normal commercial activity. Many of the oldest and most important structures such as shrines and temples were built close to the Forum for the same reason. Traditionally, the first forum was supposed to have been created by Romulus, the founder of Rome, sometime after 753 BC. As Rome grew larger, other forums were created centred around particular commerce such as fish, vegetables, meat, etc, while the judicial and administrative work was managed in the Senate House or Curia. At this stage the emperors built their own Imperial Forums, partly to deify themselves, and partly to celebrate a great victory or event in which they had been involved, and these were used for the main celebrations, speeches, elections, etc. Particularly around the Imperial Forums some of the temples would be built by army leaders in thanks to a particular god in return for a spectacular victory.

The Ancient Roman civilisation lasted for about 12 centuries and hence, as in any city, the buildings within the area were modified, destroyed, demolished, and rebuilt, and what archeologists are now trying to do is to uncover what was left after that civilisation collapsed and which has either been buried by soil build-up or utilised into other buildings which still exist today.

Allan was very surprised to see the extent of the archaeological excavations. They are far more extensive than when he was last in Rome (almost 40 years ago!), so there is a lot more information available now to piece together the history of the place.

There is no logical way way to take a tour of the area, so we will just describe some of the features that particularly caught our attention.

The temple to Saturn is the oldest one which has remains which are identifiable, and was dedicated in 497 BC, and one there is one to Castor and Pollux, dedicated in 483 BC. Some columns of these have been re-erected.

The first forum we passed was a small section of the Forum of Nerva, an Imperial Forum built by Nerva, an emperor you don't hear much of but was the first of the "five good emperors" (96AD). He was only around for a couple of years but managed to build a temple in that time.

The Forum of Augustus.
This area was only excavated in the last 10 years.

Next to this were buildings associated with the Forum of Augustus, which has been excavated since Allan was here years ago. What strikes you immediately is the size of the ruins which remain. These aren't just a couple of courses of stones lying in the ground. These are the remains of three and four storey buildings, all built in brick, and some which have been incorporated into more recent buildings and churches. There are sections of columns lying around, along with the occasional capitol, which give you a hint of the grandeur of ancient Rome. Marble was brought from all over the empire, eg marble from Egypt and Turkey was used for Augustus' forum. Augustus built the Temple of Mars Ultor, dedicated in 2 BC, after promising to do so if his army was victorious at Phillipi. Often it was the spoils of war which gave them the ability to pay for such undertakings, and for Augustus it was beating the Gauls.

Trajan's column

Trajan was able to build a forum, and the column for which he is famous, on the booty brought back from the war with the Dacians, whom he defeated. The Romans never baulked at a grandiose plan. To build his forum, sixty-one million cubic feet were removed from the base and side of the Quirinal hill! Apparently the height of the top of the column is the height of the hill before excavations started. Still standing are the semi-circular markets which formed one side of the forum, and some of the columns of his temple. Also standing is the column which depicts Trajan's two wars and his victory over the Dacians (in present Rumania). It consists of nineteen blocks of marble which are beautifully sculpted, and there is a spiral staircase inside it. There is now a continuous photograph of the carvings on the column which spiral all the way up from bottom to top. It records his victory over the Dacians in minute detail - bridges built, forts attacked, the enemy he attacked, killed, and captured.
From this part of the forum we crossed the street and were able to overlook what is left of Julius Caesar's temple and forum. This has many of its columns standing, but only because they have been reconstructed, incorporating pieces of columns, surmounted by capitols, recovered from the site.

The lock on these bronze doors
still works

We then headed up to the Capitoline Hill from where we were able to get a view along the length of the forum to the colosseum, the Arch of Constantine and across to the Palatine Hill. We could also see the ostentatious monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the "wedding cake" which is just so over the top, so Italian. From here we made our back down to the forum and found the entrance into the complex. Our ticket was a combined forum/colosseum ticket, so we weren't going to have to queue again for that. We headed towards the Colosseum passing a number of buildings which are still in use today, mostly as churches. These were often basilicas rather than temples as the basilicas were more usually a brick building with a columned portico. The Curia was the first of the forum's civic buildings, and was originally established in the 7th century BC, but the building itself underwent several transformations and its present location was chosen by Julius Caesar. It was originally the meeting place for the senate, but its use has changed over the centuries. It is now a church. Backing onto the Curia was the rostra which was the place where the orators and public officials addressed the people. Over time this also changed and became smaller. Another building still standing is the temple to Romulus and has managed to keep its 6th century bronze doors, still with a lock in working order. These buildings are three and four storeys high, or more. Fortunately there were very good information boards strategically located throughout the site because we didn't have a map.

Gardens and palace on the Palatine

We headed up to the Palatine Hill where the imperial palaces were built. This was the preferred living area for at least 300 years. These are staggering in their size. There was a huge bath house incorporated in the complex and a garden with a pool which was 160m long. Unfortunately there is no explanation as to how these palaces were used. The emperor lived here with his family, but did his retinue also live here as at Versailles, or was it empty most of the time, and was only built to impress? Don't know. We only see the brick core now. Originally these palaces were covered with marble both inside and out, floors were covered with mosaics, and some of the walls were frescoed. There would have been statues along the corridors. These palaces had running water and a sewerage system. The size leaves you open-mouthed, but when you think about the sourcing of the materials to build these you shake your head as well. These buildings are all brick, which had to be moulded and fired. Forests for miles around must have been stripped bare, unless the kilns themselves were some distance from the city, and the finished article was carted in. The logistics are just as amazing as the structures themselves when you take into consideration when they were built.

From the top of the Palatine Hill we were able to look down on the Circus Maximus, the home of chariot racing, which is 664m long by 123m wide, and initially seated 170,00, but was increased to 250,000 by Trajan. Virtually none of the structure remains, but the contour of the land indicates how it was laid out.

House of the Vestal Virgins

We returned to the forum area and continued past the temple and house to the Vestal Virgins. This was a cult is almost as old as Rome itself, having its roots back in the 8th century BC. The house was the equivalent of a convent of today, and the Vestals came from aristocratic families. They could enter in their early teens and stay for 30 years, and chastity was obligatory.

None of the temples remain in their original state, but several have three or more columns still standing to give you some idea of the height, at least twenty metres high. It must have been a very crowded area. Only the temples which faced onto the open forum and rostra would have been seen to advantage.  There were a number of other commemorative columns and triumphal arches scattered throughout the area.

By now the head was spinning with information (as yours probably is trying to follow this!) and the legs were feeling a little weary. The sun was also setting so we headed back to our hotel. The forum was at least two kms from the hotel as the crow flies so we had put in a few kms in our wanderings. As we were tired, we didn't stray too far from the hotel for dinner, but what we got suggested we should have made more of an effort.

Gozo part 2 (5/10)

Holiday flats, regulated deck chairs and beach umbrellas

It was back to Gozo today, to follow up on some of Mike's suggestions of places to see. This time we decided to take the bus around the coast directly from near our accommodation. Unfortunately we just missed one so had a 20 min wait for the next one - Sunday timetable. The area around the coast from us is becoming a forest of high rise apartments with shopping malls on the lower floors. Not sure if this is to cater for the locals or the tourists, but suspect the latter. Most of Malta's beaches are on the northern coast, so this is also where the tourists tend to congregate, and where the resorts are found. Mind you, on a hot day I think you would be pushed to find somewhere to lay your towel. The beaches aren't big and at least half of the beach is taken up with umbrellas and deck chairs. Actually, thinking about it Malta is almost triangular, the north side may have the beaches, the south side has cliffs (and therefore no beaches or just a couple of really tiny ones) and the east side is too short for anything!

Trip across.  Traditionally painted boat with Gozo in
 the background.  Note the blue sky

On arrival at the ferry terminal, they ushered us straight onto the boat. Tickets were to be bought on the way back. We were going to go back to Ta Pinu church but wanted to check with TI to see if it was open. It was Sunday, and sometimes churches are only open to worshippers. All was fine, but it was only 11.00am and it was highly likely that a service was being held, so we opted to go down to Dwejra first which is on the coast. 

There are several geological features here which have become tourist attractions. There is a small bay called the Inland Sea because it's only access to the ocean is via a tunnel through the cliffs. Here, we took a short boat trip to go to Azure Cove, the Zerka Window and the Fungus Rock. We left in sunlight to first go to Azure Cove, a sea cave which has the most intense blue water in it. We think it is a combination of light and water depth which gives it its colour, but Jill would have called it lapis lazuli not azure. There were some purple and orange soft corals on the cliffs. From there we went past Zerka Window which is a natural arch formed in the limestone, and was quite impressive. 

The Zerka Arch with the storm in the background

Also impressive was a storm which seemed to come out of nowhere. We commented to the boat's skipper that it looked like we were in for a storm and he said that it was imminent. We had been on our way to Fungus Rock, which we saw it in the distance, and we think that he then cut the tour short and high-tailed it back to the boat ramp. As we approached the shore we had a look for some shelter, and noticed a covered way between two buildings on the foreshore. The boat had hardly stopped before we leapt off and ran. We just made it to the tunnel before the skies opened, the thunder and lightening started, and the first squalls hit. One boat followed us in and the people joined with us, soaked to the skin. Although the tunnel had private written on the walls, the locals were more than happy for us to shelter there. After a bit, a man appeared and spoke to the other people sheltering with us. They were from a tour group, and they just had to move. One of them braved the weather and fetched a few umbrellas, but three under an umbrella doesn't really go. Fortunately, Allan still had ours in his pack, so we decided to brave it and get closer to the bus stop. We tried a restaurant but they were full, so then went to a cafe which was shut but had a verandah, which turned out to be made of bamboo so it didn't offer much shelter. Finally a Hop On, Hop Off bus arrived which thinned the waiting crowd. Our bus eventually arrived and it was another dash through the wind and rain. Most of the people on board had been caught out, expecting a beautiful sunny day at the beach, so were totally unprepared.

Weather on the trip back - what a difference!

We decided to just catch the ferry back and return to the apartment because the weather didn't look like it was going to improve in the short term. It was another cold and wet wait for the bus to the ferry. On board the ferry this time, it was a seat down below instead of up top in sunshine. On board we had a chat with an English girl who had spent six days cycling around Gozo and loved it. She hired the bike on the island and had had a thoroughly enjoyable time cycling from village to village. She was fortunate to have been picked up, bike and all, and dropped at the ferry by a local who had seen the storm coming, so she had arrived dry. It was a very quiet bus load of people on the way back. Of course, it had stopped raining by the time we were off the bus, but it was fairly late in the afternoon and we had packing to do. We had booked a taxi for 6.30am tomorrow so we wanted to be able to just lock the cases and leave. Walking back to the apartment it looked as though Sliema had also had the storm come through. Some of the small kiosks for boat trips had blown over and a branch had blown off a tree. At least we still had power.

Marsaxlokk to White Night Malta-style (4/10)

The day didn't start well. We had hoped to go back to Gozo today, but it was after 10.00am before we were contacted about the power, or lack thereof. Finally we got a phone call and it took precisely one minute for Allan to locate some keys so that he could get into another fuse box down by the front door. Why they couldn't have contacted us as soon as Allan messaged them this morning who knows. So that meant a change of plan. We decided to reverse our plans and go down to Marsaxlokk today and go to Gozo tomorrow. It is a pity, because there was a festival and market in Marsaxlokk tomorrow which would have been interesting.

St John's co-cathedral - very ornate

We caught the bus into Valletta and decided to go to St. John's Co-cathedral before heading off to Marsaxlokk because we didn't know how long we would be down on the coast. It was just as well. The Cathedral closed at 12.30pm today so we would have missed it again, but what a crowd! To put other information into perspective, it was worth the effort. The cathedral was started in 1573, although the foundation stone for the new city, started after the Great Siege, was laid in 1566. Fortunately it escaped damage during the war. For the first hundred years its austere exterior was matched by a simple barrel vaulted interior. 
Off the nave were chapels for each of the eight auberges which the Order was divided into, and each of these was dedicated to their own patron Saint. As the power and wealth of Rome grew, the Order decided that it had to match the extravagance that was being created in Rome, not to mention a little competition between the auberges as well. This was at the height of the Baroque period, so every square inch of the interior was decorated. It was breath-taking. Gilded stucco work was everywhere, and in each of the chapels was a painted alter piece, and often at least two memorials to past Grand Masters of the Order. Some of the sculptures were beautiful, having been carved in Italy by the masters of the time. You have to remember that many of the Knights of the Order, and in particular those who held office, were very rich men in their own right, so they could afford to pay for the top artists. 

Some of the marble-inlay floor

The floors of the chapels and the church were covered in the beautiful gravestones of the most noble of the knights who died on Malta and were subsequently buried there. They are all of inlaid marble of many hues. The workmanship is stunning. From the main church we moved into the Oratory, built by the Order where the noviciates were taught practices of the Order. This was a little less ornate, but held two magnificent paintings by Carravagio. One, the largest and only painting he signed, of "The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist" was originally the alter piece in the church, but this was replaced in 1710 by an equally magnificent sculpture of "St. John Baptising Christ In the River Jordan ". Carravagio arrived in Malta after fleeing Rome on the threat of imprisonment after he killed a man in a brawl. He became a noviciate and was accepted into the Order, but after just several months he quarrelled and injured a knight of higher rank and was jailed. He managed to escape, and never returned. The second smaller painting is "Saint Jerome Writing" and was bequeathed to the the Chapel of Italy, but has been moved into the Oratory for safe keeping.
From the Oratory you had the option of going through the museum or exiting the cathedral. We opted to go through the museum, and saw some of their collection of tapestries. This is apparently the only complete set of tapestries known. Often sets are broken up when they fall out of fashion or their owners need some cash. There are twenty-nine of them, and they are huge. The original cartoons for them were drawn by Rubens. They used to be hung in the cathedral on special occasions. At present there isn't enough space in the museum to have them all on display at once. There were also some very early books of choral music, in a very large format, but perhaps this is so that several choristers could gather around them to read the music. It would have been too expensive to have had individual sheets of music. There were some vestments donated by several of the Grand Masters, all beautifully embroidered. Although the cathedral was very crowded, we were pleased to have seen it. Photographs give you no comprehension of what it is really like. It is like listening to the radio instead of being at the concert.

It was then back to the bus station via the crêperie as it was lunch time. They welcomed us like long lost friends. Allan had a chat with them. They are from Brittany where they said there was too much competition so decided to try their luck elsewhere. They knew about the crêperie we have been to in Melbourne. This time it was one savoury one and one sweet one.

The bus trip to Marsaxlokk took us in a different direction again, this time down to the south east. The countryside really doesn't vary very much. We took a little while to get through the suburbs and then we were into rural country, where the fields are a little larger and are probably big enough for a tractor rather than a hand-guided rotary hoe. We passed several watchtowers along the way. These were built by the Order to maintain a coast watch system.

Traditional boats at Marsaxlokk

We guessed correctly and got off at the right bus stop and walked down into Marsaxlokk, a fishing village which has grown somewhat. Fishing is probably still its livelihood but tourism also plays a large part. There were a number of market stalls along the waterfront. Riding at anchor were many of the small, brightly painted traditional fishing boats called luzzu. These have a very high prow and vary in size, although most are small enough for one man to handle. They are supposed to have derived from the Phoenician boats, and all of them have the eye of Osiris painted on the bow, which offers protection against all the dangers the sea might throw at them. We wandered along the waterfront, through the market and back again. There were a couple of bus loads of people, but in the main it was very quiet and peaceful. Were a couple of bus loads of people, but in the main it was very quiet and peaceful. We had a bit of a wait for the bus back to Valletta, but it was warm and sunny, so it didn't matter.
We went straight back to the apartment and then decided that we would return to Valletta for an early dinner then see what Valletta's version of "Notte Bianca" or "White Night" had to offer. We sat outside (haven't eaten inside since Sicily) and were busy eating our pizzas at a restaurant in the main street when the drums, then the pipes of a local band started away in the distance, then marched down past our table and disappeared. It created a real stir amongst many of the patrons at the restaurant. That set the scene for the evening. We finished dinner and set out to explore. 

An operatic group keeping the crowd entertained

Our first stop was on the steps of the cathedral. Here a group of singers were performing popular arias from a number of operas. I have to day that it quite a surreal experience having the toreador doing his thing in one ear, and having the bagpipes playing a Scottish air in the other. The tenor coped very well. When the singers had finished, an army band took over. We didn't wait for them to finish their set. From there we went into the building which at one time had been the law courts and is now the Public Health Department. The building was originally commissioned in 1757 by Grand Master Pinto to house the Civil and Criminal Tribunal of the Order. It also housed a chapel and a prison. The courts were eventually moved out of here in 1853, and it became a girls school before being abandoned for nearly half a century before before becoming what it is today. It was actually here where the discovery was made that Brucellosis, which was present in goat's milk, was the cause of fever and that measures could be taken to prevent this. There were many other government buildings not normally open to the public which had their doors open, but the queues were very long so we avoided them. Having earlier in the day paid to go into St John's Co- cathedral, we decided to have another look to see what it was like at night. This proved worth it, because there were fewer crowds, some of the chapels we hadn't been able to get into were accessible, and the chairs had been moved so that you could see the tomb stones in all their massed magnificence. 

A Jazz group lead by an Australian

From here we wandered down a side street and came across an Australian jazz band which we listened to until someone literally pulled the plug on them and the music died. The auberge which is also the parliament building was open but as I said the queues weren't worth it. There was a stage in front of it where some musicians were setting up, but they were taking so long we wandered off, passing a band in the old opera house which seemed to make more loud music without much tune. We hurried past head-banging group down yet another street and came out onto St George's Square where there was a brass band playing up on a balcony of another of the aubergues. From there we came across a female jazz singer who had a great voice and could really play the piano as well, and then heard the last number by a duo playing ukulele and guitar. Our final hoorah before heading back home was to go via St John's cathedral steps to see what was on. There we heard a tenor sing several popular songs, then "I'm A Believer" followed by "Nesum Dorma". We decided that those two did go together. Shrek sang the former, and Pavarotti the latter, and both had a similar physique! We decided Valletta had put on a much better White Night than Melbourne, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Embattled Malta, Tarxien Temples (3/10)

We had quite a thunderstorm last night which was great as it cleared the air a little. We were off to find the Malta at War Museum and the Tarxien Temples today, both on the opposite side of the Grand Harbour from Valletta. This meant a number of bus changes again, but we didn't have to wait to long for any of them which was good. The war museum was located in the walls of the original bastion of Vittoriosa, one of the Three Cities opposite Valletta. The Three Cities is made up of Senglea, Vittoriosa (formerly Birgu) and Cospicua. During the Great Siege, the inhabitants of fortified Senglea and Birgu showed great courage in surviving the onslaught and it was only after the seige that Cospicua was also fortified, and this new fortification enclosed all three cities with massive bastions, hence the grouping. These cities predate Valletta, and the Order (Knights of St John) had its original seat of government here, but after it was transferred to Valletta the Three Cities remained the base for the Order's shipyards and navy.

Part of the walls and moat (now part utilised with more
buildings) of the Three Cities

The Knights must have kept their people very busy as there are bastions everywhere around Valletta, and you never know what they are hiding.  It is to be expected that they have guardhouses and weapons stores and this is where this museum is housed. This time we had to pay direct entry into the Museum. (Up until now most of the museums and historical sites we had visited had been on a Heritage Malta ticket which made it certainly worth buying.) We knew that Malta had received the George Medal for its fortitude during WWII, but were short on details, so we hoped this visit would remedy that by giving us some of the history. 
 At the beginning of the war, Malta was almost abandoned by the British in favour of Alexandria because the French were supposed to look after the Western Mediterranean, but when France capitulated, Britain realised that Malta must be held at all costs. It was recognised by both sides that Malta held a very strategic position in the Mediterranean. It was from here that the Allies could attack Axis supplies to Rommel in North Africa, so Hitler desperately wanted it neutralised (he needed Libyan oil as well), and Britain was equally desperate to maintain it as an air and naval base. The situation on Malta sat on a knife edge throughout the three years they were under attack, and it became more desperate as the siege lengthened. Food rations dropped to under 2000 calories a day, there was little fuel, and clothing became scarce. On the military front, sometimes there were no planes in flying condition to scramble to oppose the incoming bombers. Even though more aircraft eventually arrived, a submarine base was created, and naval power was strengthened, the siege of Malta wasn't lifted until Rommel was defeated at El Alamein and Allied forces were landed in North Africa in Vichy French Morocco and Algeria. At the start of the war, most of Malta's population live in Valletta (23,000 in 0.65 km2) and the Three Cities (18,000 in 1.3km2), and these areas suffered the heaviest, most concentrated, and most sustained bombing in history. For the density of population the casualties were relatively light - 1300 killed. But the privations suffered were felt most in the young and the old. Infant mortality rose to 256 per 1000 births. Many Maltese left the cities and fled to the country. Those who remained were eventually housed in an amazing network of dugouts in the cliffs surrounding the Grand Harbour. Some of what we have seen when moving about the island started to make sense. 

The view from one bastion to another, and yes,
those are yacht masts in between - the yachts are
in the narrow harbour.

By the end of the war, 30,000 buildings had been destroyed. Britain offered the Maltese assisted passage to emigrate to Australia or Canada. Most of those who took up the option were the able-bodied younger generation and this is why there are almost more Maltese living in Australia then there are in Malta. This may also account for the land we have seen which appears un-worked, and for the number of buildings which seem abandoned The older generation stayed, and when they passed away there was no-one on the island to take over. Also, farming here would be very hard. There is little arable land, fields are small requiring manual labour to till the soil, and the climate is harsh. Having endured the hardships of years of war, many would have taken the opportunity to move away from a difficult rural life, or a life which lay in ruins in Valletta. We may be a bit harsh in this assessment as we are seeing the land at the end of summer and they have been expecting rain for several weeks now. (No photographs allowed in the museum)

The museum itself covered many different aspects of the war, but perhaps the most interesting were the underground tunnels in which the Maltese sheltered during the bombing and which were now part of the museum. We had to wear hard hats to go down, and with good reason as we bumped our heads a number of times on the ceiling of the small tunnels. (May not have been an issue for the Maltese as we haven't seen so many short people in a community). There were tunnels everywhere, and these included a small hospital. It would not have been a very pleasant place to stay, but then being outside was no fun either.
On our way down to the harbour from the museum we walked past the Inquisition Museum. This was included in the Heritage Malta ticket so we decided to investigate. It wasn't huge and was housed in the building which the Inquisitors lived and worked in until Bonaparte told them to go away. They were no better or no worse than the East German Stasi or the KGB, in that you were expected to let the authorities know when you had witnessed something which was against church dogma. We found out that less than ten percent of individuals were tortured (very good of them!!!) and most punishments were not physical (just stretching!). At least there were no torture implements on show, but the building did include the prison cells. These were rebuilt after one chap dug his way out eight times! (The Count of Monte Cristo was an amateur by these standards!).  

Temples at Tarxien.  Partly restored

After checking out the Grand Harbour from the other side, we set off to catch the bus to the prehistoric Tarxien temples. Fortunately Allan followed his intuition and we got off at the right stop.  This temple complex is the youngest of these ancient ones on Malta, and not surprisingly, the most sophisticated. Again the floor plan is a series of apsidal rooms grouped around a central passageway, although here there is no mention of there being an astrological component to their alignment. These temples have more decoration, and more niches than the others, There are also several "altars" which have small niches on top of them, and one was found to have flint knives and animal bones in them. There were also several large vessels and the remains of a huge statue of a large-bottomed sitting figure found. The decoration is mostly variations on a spiral theme, but beautifully worked. Under a number of the megaliths have been found large balls of worked stone, and some have theorised that these were used to move the stone slabs into position from the quarry. The society which built the temples on Malta and Gozo seems to have been home grown, existed for just over a thousand years then suddenly disappeared. During the Bronze Age, the Tarxien temples were used for funerary purposes and turned into a cremation cemetery, and finally abandoned. This group came to light again in 1913 when farmers complained to an archeologist, working on a site nearby, that their ploughs kept hitting large blocks of stone. In the 1950's more work was done on the site, and there was a lot of reconstruction carried out. Many of the standing megaliths were capped with concrete, and some stone walls re-erected, but the essence of the site has been maintained and further work is currently being carried out.

An inner part of the temple at Tarxien.  Because of
drawings on the walls it is thought that this might
 be an entrance for pigs, perhaps for sacrifice

From here it was back into Valletta to go to St John's Co-cathedral. This was the original cathedral built by the Order of St John when Valletta became their base. Unfortunately we arrived too late. So then Jill wanted to go to the post office before it closed at five. Ha ha – firstly it was difficult to find as it was not well signposted and then it closed at 3.45pm! So, we headed off to walk down to the waterfront and came across a real French crêperie (set up in a space just wide enough for the lady and her hotplate to be side by side). This lifted the spirits - a proper crêpe smothered with home-made salted caramel. We shall return! 

Looking across the harbour towards
our accommodation

We did get to the waterfront and looked across Marsamxett Harbour towards where we are staying. This is the harbour on the other side of the peninsula that Valletta is built on - Grand Harbour on the south east and Marsamxett Harbour on the north west. We also found a post card seller who also sold stamps so the day ended not so badly after all. Then it was back home for a bit, before wandering out to dinner. We thought that we might catch the bus around to another area of restaurants north of us, but the buses were full, so we gave up on that idea. We suspect that it may also be the nightclub area and it was Friday night. Whilst eating dinner, lightening started to play in the sky, so we decided to head home before it started raining. The storm broke not long after and we lost all power and lights. We suspected it was a fuse, but the fuse box in the apartment wasn't the one which would switch on our lights, so it was off to bed after letting our landlord know of the situation.

Megolithic Temples on Malta (2/10)

After yesterday's marathon effort we declared it a catch up day. We were up late, and Allan decided to go for a light run. He has had ankle trouble for a week or more now, so running hasn't featured on the agenda as much as he would have liked. Jill did another load of washing, then sat down with her diary – it always is there to be done!

The Temple at Hagar Qim is in good shape considering
how old it is.  How did they move (and shape) those rocks.

At about 2.30pm we decided to head out, our target this time being the temple complexes we didn't get to on our walk along the southern coast a couple of days ago. This involved three buses. The first into Valletta, the second from there to Zurrieq, and the third to the temples. This went according to plan until the temple stop. Jill made the mistake of asking the driver if he was going past the temples, and not asking him to tell us which stop to get off at. We got to the bus stop, and it wasn't until we had passed it that we realised that that was where we should have got off. We immediately buzzed and he eventually stopped. It meant we had a reasonable walk back to the entrance by which time it was 4.30 pm. As suspected, the main entrance was closed, but we went to a side entrance and were allowed in, on the condition that we were out by 5.00pm. We weren't able to do the site justice, but at least we got to see the temples. There are two temple complexes about 600m apart. The first, Hagar Qim, is the older of the two, built around 3700-3200 BC. It is similar to the temples we visited on Gozo, but in a much better state of preservation. There is one main temple and three additional megalithic structures. The floor plan has a series of six apses off a main passageway, and there are more internal structural arrangements than on Gozo. There are niches and upright stones which look a little like alters. Some of the stones are enormous. The largest has been estimated to weigh 57 tons, and the largest upright menhir stands at 5.2 m high, truly monumental. They are built of local stone, unlike Stonehenge, but it is not known how they moved them to the site – there is speculation that they could have used the stone balls that have been found in the vicinity, but they would have needed a fairly smooth trackway. Neither is it known how they erected them either as the entrance to the temple is a trilithon, two uprights holding up a lintel. Some of the stone slabs here have been decorated with pock marks over their entire surface, but the purpose is not known either.

Complete doorways have been carved out of solid rock
using stone tools! 

No human remains have been discovered at the site, but there have been many animal bones recovered leading archeologists to believe that animal sacrifices were carried out here. There have also been statuettes of humans with large bottoms recovered, but they have no sexual characteristics. Highly decorated pottery has also been found. The second complex, Mnajdra, is about 600m down the slope from Hagar Qim. There are three temples in this complex, built over a period from 3600 to 2500 BC. These temples were constructed from a harder coralline limestone so have suffered far less from weathering. The upper three-apsed building has a doorway cut through a block of limestone, and some of the pillars have a pattern of horizontal holes drilled into the stone. The roof appears to have been vaulted. The middle temple is the youngest and is formed by slabs topped with horizontal courses, however the lowest temple is the most impressive and has a forecourt and benches built into the outer wall. The inner passageway was covered with horizontal slabs and the roofs of the apses were possibly corbelled. Some of the inner slabs of this one have been decorated with pitted decoration and spirals. Unlike the temples at Gozo, no plaster has been found, so the stones forming the internal walls may have just been smoothed down.

Decoration on the structure at Mnajdra

On the spring and autumn equinoxes the sun passes through the doorway and lights up the major axis, and on the summer and winter solstices the sun strikes the megaliths on either side of this doorway. Flint knives have been found along with animal bones, so it is thought that these temples were also used for animal sacrifice. Again, no human remains have been found in any of the structures. Unfortunately we had to race through both complexes because of the time constraints, but at least we did get to see them and we were impressed. Both of the temple complexes are now protected by a sail roof over them, but are still open to the elements,and have monitoring stations within the structures so they have a head start on the temples on Gozo for surviving into the long term. Obviously there are a lot of unanswered questions about these temples here on both islands of Malta.

Fortunately we did not have to wait too long for a bus back to Valletta. For Malta, we were a reasonable distance from Valletta, so the buses are less frequent. It was just on 6.00pm by the time we got back so we decided to eat in Valletta before catching the bus back to Gzira. We both ordered a Maltese salad. This came with slices of sausage, mixed olives, dried tomatoes, Gozo cheese, a dip that we think had olives and eggplant in, Maltese crackers and salad. The flavours were very intense but we both wanted to try something "typically Maltese". Compared to what we are used to Maltese and Sicilian food seem very salty. We stopped off at a gelati bar on the way back to the bus, and paid a premium price for a very good gelato.

As we wandered along the main street of Valletta, we came across a band playing in a small hall, then heard more music up a side street. One was a band rehearsing for a concert, and the other was a group of locals line-dancing! We could have also have had tango lessons. We then found a brochure which had a music and performance program on it. The performance space the band was practising in was actually the remains of the opera house which was destroyed during the war. This was up near what would have been the original city gate into Velletta, where there is a lot of construction/restoration work going on around it and the bus terminal. It would be interesting to see it completed. It was a bus ride back to the apartment after a relaxed day.

One mystery was solved today. In almost every field we saw was a small stone "building" which didn't seem large enough for anything practical. We found out today that they were used as hides for bird trapping. A snap trap would be set, a caged bird was set up as a lure, and the man then crawled into the hut to hide, waiting for his prey to come close enough for him to spring the trap. It is now illegal, but may explain why we have seen very little birdlife. Actually, I don't think we have even seen a skink, which was a very common sighting in Sicily, even in the heart of cities like Catania.