Valletta refers to the fortified peninsular area of the greater conurbation which includes
Sliema, Gzira, St Julians and Paceville. It is full of steep, narrow streets and thick defensive
walls. Valletta was the command post of General Eisenhower during the war, you can still visit his
office in the war rooms deep within the rock on which the city is built.
I spent two nights in the Valletta area, staying at the Imperial Hotel in Sliema which had seen better
days but was cheap and cheerful in a faded glory sort of way. Valletta is beginning to see the
benefits of the EU, there is much restoration underway.
Valletta as seen from the Strand in Sliema. The domed building is the St Francis of Assisi
Church.
Some of the defensive structures at Fort St Elmo at the very tip of the Valletta peninsula.
Looking towards the Upper Barrakka Gardens area from the Lower Barrakka Gardens.
The central conduit of Valletta, Republic Street, leading past St John's Co Cathedral
to Republic Square.
Republic Square has some very nice cafés and is the perfect place to sit, read and soak
up some sun, which is exactly what I did.
Lower Barrakka Gardens, which has a monument to Alexander Ball, an 18th century British
admiral, later governor of Malta. I really like how peaceful it was.
Valletta is a fairly dense city, as can be seen from this picture.
The war museum by St Elmo's Fort contains all sorts of memorabila dropped on the city by
the Italians and the Germans. It also has a Gloster Gladiator biplane, the type flown by Roald
Dahl in North Africa during the war.
Malta is teeming with these old-school buses, which make up the bulk of the public transport
system. There are no trains in the country.
A more sedate, and certainly more environmentally friendly method of transport can be taken
if desired.
Valletta is built on some very large rocks, a channel has been cut out here, part of which
accommodates a car park. There are networks of underground tunnels within the walls.
One of the steep streets in the centre of Valletta, good for practising clutch control.
Inside the tunnels beneath the city, there are still fold-down bunks in place as used
by the citizens for shelter during extended air raids.
Lewis of Resting Souls, statue by the bell tower of Valletta, looking across the harbour to
the south.
