Malta has a tiny capital, less than a square kilometer, but it lacks nothing in terms of story. The whole city is a time capsule to be walked through, touched and tasted.
24 Hours in Valletta: A Walk Through Living History
I came to Valletta at the moment when the sun was extending itself over the limestone buildings and everything was turning gold.
Malta has a tiny capital, less than a square kilometer, but it lacks nothing in terms of story. The whole city is a time capsule to be walked through, touched and tasted.
I only had 24 hours in Valletta. It is not sufficient, I said. However, at the end of day I felt as if I had scraped away layers of history, buildings and emotions in the most gratifying manner.
Interestingly, this quick stop reminded me of how some trips begin not with a long itinerary, but with convenience. Just like finding Long stay parking Luton makes a spontaneous escape possible, Valletta offers a condensed but deeply rich experience.
Morning: The Stone Streets and Tales
My day started at the City Gate, entering through the modern gateway by Renzo Piano, which strangely seems at the right place next to the bastions of centuries ago. When you enter Valletta, the first thing you are likely to notice is the way the city talks, it talks through its walls, its balconies, and its little alleys that wind like plot lines.
At 9 in the morning, the Upper Barrakka Gardens were already illuminated. They are located on the southern side of the city, high above it and provide the best views of the Grand Harbour.
The guns of the Saluting Battery below are fired daily at noon, but in the stillness of the morning, you have it all to yourself, the sea air and the scenery. I was sitting there drinking a good, heavy Maltese coffee out of a kiosk, and letting the day stretch out before me.
Noon: Cathedrals, Palaces and Pastizzi
I meandered over to St. Johns Co-Cathedral and although I had read about its baroque drama, I was not ready to be moved by it as much as I was.
Floors are a kaleidoscope of marble tombstones and in the oratory, Caravaggio has painted a dark, violent, and completely unforgettable Beheading of Saint John. It is not art, it is a moment in paint.
Don't Forget to Book : Cheap Heathrow airport parking
The Afternoon: Side Streets and the Sea
Valletta is a place where you can allow yourself to get lost and get lost as one of the best things to do. I was meandering along peeling doors, blue-painted balconies and 1950s shopfronts. All this has an air of faded gentility--nothing tries to be as new as it is old.
I finally reached the Manoel Theatre which is one of the oldest workable theatres in Europe. I did not have time to watch a show but I did the short tour. Its pale blue boxes and gold decor reminded me of the inside of a place where I was intruding into a powdered-wig, harpsichord world.
Later in the afternoon, I walked to the waterfront and had a gelato and then took a traditional dgħajsa to the other side of the harbour to the Three Cities. It cannot be long, and the sight of Valletta as one comes in by water is out of this world, a city of honey-coloured fortresses lifting itself out of the sea.
Evening: Yellow Light and Ghosts The stories: Golden Light and Ghosts
I had dinner in Valletta and somehow I ended up treating myself to a secret bistro where they make homemade pasta and serve local wine. Maltese reds are underestimated; they are hearty, earthy and a match made in heaven with the breeze blowing in off the harbor.
When the sun began to set, the city became dramatic. The shadows grew long, fires were lit, and music tuned up in lonely courts. I signed up to join the ghost tour, not to get scared, but to listen to the stories that most people do not listen to.
Our guide wandered in dark alleys and in old chapels, and talked of siege and sacrifice, war and whispers.
Valletta did not lose its beauty even in the dark light. It was not the same, it was not as loud. You start to get a sense of how many layers of time there are here, how the past is so close to the present.
