June 30 Valletta at our own pace

 We say, and sometimes desperately feel like, we want to rest, to just kick back, but exploring new places on our own at our own place has a great allure. There were a few places we hoped to see that had been on our tour guide which they didn't get to so off we went today – more climbing!  To get anywhere from our hotel we had to climb up to the citadel, the lovely old city. 

 There have been so many movies or rather scenes from movies shot in Malta, many around the magnificent harbour that they have created a Movie Trail. Russel Crow was supposed to be in town for more filming.

The new rather stunning Parliament House built in 2015

These colourful hanging balconies were built to relieve the starkness of the fortified city

Palm Goddess bronze (2015) stands outside the ruins of the Royal opera house

This is an interesting plaque. Zoom in to read the text.

I love the sign for Wifi above to old telephone booth

Many Clubs or bars had we booths in the entrance where lottery tickets are sold

The philharmonic society was old but quite grand

The very British Wembley Store

So much is still very British from the Clubs to the shops. The Wembley Store is a specialty food store with a range of goodies and wine – very British. We stocked up for a picnic.

A drinks break - iced coffee and berry smoothy type thing.

Many street corners featured shrines or mini statues 

We were heading for Upper Barrakka Gardens so we headed off. After a zig zag climb through old Valletta we reached this tranquil spot. The gardens themselves are not fantastic but offer lots of shade and the setting is spectacular. From the terraces outside the arched you gave the most amazing 180+ degrees view of the Grand Harbour. Well worth the climb. It is built on part of the bastions which was guarded by the Italian knights. The arches were built by the Italian knight, Flaminio Balbiano in 1661 as a place for the Knights to relax. In the C19th it was transformed into beautiful gardens decorated with fountains and monuments. You also have a birds eye view of the Saluting Battery below; the cannons fire at noon and 4pm Monday to Saturday. There’s a café there but where the chairs and tables are were pretty much covered with bird droppings and nobody is cleaning up tables - all self serve. From there you can take a lift down to the harbour to catch a ferry or simply wander. 

For posterity!

The café promised a respite from the heat but it was just too dirty

Entrance to the saluting battery

Twice a day there is a ceremonial gun salute. 

From the gardens we descended and by sheer accident found one of the entrances to the Lascaris War Rooms, an underground complex of tunnels and chambers that housed the War Headquarters from where the defence of the island was conducted during WWII; the rooms were later used by NATO. It is now open to the public as a museum; we had thought to return but we didn't make it. 

Opposite the entrance is a delightful secluded garden, the Herbert Ganado Gardens. He was a prominent  Maltese lawyer, politician and author.

Everywhere around Valletta we were trampling around Bastions, fortifications which held the city safe - or so it seems. 

On the left are the Laparelli Garden, named after the Italian architect who designed Valletta in 1566. It is a public garden located in the ditch below Valletta’s City Gate bastions. I guess they could attack any would be intruders from these humorous 'bollards'.

From there we hikes back into the city for a late lunch - a deliciously ordinary toasted lamb sandwich.

This pair of mobile phone 'shops' were literally as wide as the doorway and sandwiched a grander affair.