Head into Valletta with Marc to go check out the Fort St Elmo National War museum which is a great museum (I dont say that much about museums but I really enjoyed this one). Lots of great relics from various times in the past of the country but most importantly, the museum has 3 timelines that let you put history in perspective; 1 timeline for the knights of st john, another for the ottoman empire, and the 3rd for all else. This is the way history should be taught my peeps. It is so cool to be able to put history into context of what was going on in the world that I spent so much time just staring at those timelines and being impressed with how it was all set up.
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| So checking out the fountain during the day, still pretty nice looking |
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| Church we stumbled upon walking through the streets |
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| Awesome old church with a slightly newer but still old artifact chilling out front (phone booth :) ) |
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| Bell tower by the lower gardens. Unfortunately it had scaffolding everywhere as its in a great location for some pics |
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| Crinkly checking out the pass into the bay |
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| Crinkly looking along the fortified wall |
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| Fort Ricasoli across the way. It may seem like this whole island is a bunch of forts. Thats because it is :) |
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| Another bell pic |
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| Crossfire!!! I would have hated to been on a boat that tried to come into harbor uninvited |
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| Not a bad resting place |
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| Cruise ship docked in hte distance... tourism picking back up |
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| Enjoying this view :) |
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| But man is that sun hot |
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| Crinkly hanging out with his Maltese knight friend |
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| Cool tunnel |
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| Looking back the way we came |
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| Crinkly looking forward to learning about Maltese war history |
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| Crinkly met a giant old lego maltese dude |
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| Fort walls - something about forts and castles just looks amazing |
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| Wave break with a lil lighthouse on the end. Little bit closer view than before |
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| Another view of the Fort Ricasoli |
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| Viewing of the fort through the irons |
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| Series of doors along the barrier |
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| Crinkly chilling with his men of metal |
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| Old ass fort. |
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| Had a small church inside the fort |
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| Like I said, its small :) |
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| View from the top of the fort |
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Murica! But seriously, this was one example of the 3 timelines I was talking about
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| Some nazi artifacts from the most recent war Malta was involved in |
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| Allies hall |
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| View down into the fort area |
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| Some old school armory decorations |
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| Boat sailing past the fort across the way |
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| It has escaped the cannon fire |
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| That first cannon has seen better days |
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| These bad boys could do some damage though |
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| I feel like a really big gun went here, but regardless, look at that view :) |
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| Little look outs in the fort |
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| Crinkly looking back to Sliema along the fort walls |
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| Big bonsai looking trees |
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| One tower has 3 clocks the other 0... lil unbalanced |
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| Checking out the St Johns cocathedral |
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| Such beautiful decorations |
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| pardon the bright light, but yeah impressive entryway |
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| Intricate designs everywhere |
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| So there are alcoves for each of the founding members regions, so different designs, colors, etc. really great |
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| Outstanding!! You can see the alcoves branching out left and right |
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| What exploration of the knights of St. John would be complete without the emblem |
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| Beautiful tombs all over the floor |
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| Crinkly enjoying checking out the church as well |
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| Found the mural room |
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| Somehow this is one of the least pretty rooms in this place |
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| Top to bottom beauty. |
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| Another alcove with the pretty tombs |
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| Some amazing design work. Next many pics Ill just let yall enjoy the various beautiful pieces without my random comments :) |
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| Church Alter |
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| The side room with a bunch of Carravaggio's works. Tis a cool style |
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| Also has a bunch of beautiful tombs back here |
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| The main Carravaggio alter area |
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| Smaller organ for this back room |
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| I have emerged from the darkness and checking out the light... does this look familiar? |
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| Surprise its the clock tower with the tomb by it. :) |
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| View of the science center across the way. That is a building to promote science |
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| Cruise ship passing by |
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| Yachts chilling in the harbor |
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| Was trying to get to the upper gardens to get a pic of the cruise ship going between the wave breaks but didnt get there in time |
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| Love this view |
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| Crinkly approves as well |
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| This guy is wearing a pigeon as a hat |
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| Found some pretty flowers in the gardens |
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| Impressive building even when its not lit up |
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| Enchanting |
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| Fort walls in the sunset |
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| Serene beauty |
Marc leaves to go to work at some point and after I finish the museum, I head over to the St. Johns co cathedral which is ridiculously ornate and incredibly ostentatious but beautiful. Walk around there and had to kind of hurry at the end as they were closing and shooing me out hahah. Walk from there to check out the gardens (lower and upper Barrakka) and realize a huge cruise ship is leaving the bay so take a couple pics of that and watch as it navigates the bay to get back out to sea and then find my way over to the bus station to take the bus back to the place. After Marc gets back from work, we head over to Storeroom to meet a group of friends and listen to some live music but the place is tiny so we just hang out outside and chill in the group. Eventually make our way back home after the music stops.
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