Sightseeing date: afternoon of October 31, 2014
Now, the second half of the second day.
Upper Barrakka Garden Turret Show
It was almost noon when we finished the tour of the Archaeological Museum. We wanted to have lunch, but we were informed that there was a noon turret show at Upper Barrakka Gardens, a spectacular spot in Valletta, so we headed there.
Indeed, the spectacular view from the Upper Barrakka Garden, one of the most recommended spots in Valletta, was amazing. In front is an area called the « Three Cities » on the other side of Valletta.
The terrace of the Upper Baraka Garden was already packed with people for its turret show. We managed to get a space at the end too.
And we waited for 10 minutes. The show started.
Well, that’s about it. (laughs)
Lunch at the new « Waterfront » spot
And finally, lunch. We chose Valletta’s waterfront as our lunch spot. It’s a relatively new spot in an area a bit far from the old town.
This elevator is a convenient way to get here from the Upper Barracks Garden where we saw the turret show.
If you don’t use this, it may be quite difficult. By the way, the way down is free and the way up is charged.
I had heard from the manager of the apartment the day before that there are many restaurants in the waterfront, so I decided to go there.
Honestly, there weren’t any great restaurants, and it was a relatively disappointing spot, but
Still, we enjoyed our lunch while looking at the luxury cruise ship.
For my normal travels, I was driving a car most of the time, so I was very happy to be able to drink beer in the daytime with impunity.
I ordered a pasta dish with southern Italian style and fish and chips. This hodgepodge feeling was just like a Japanese restaurant.
Here’s a good, bad, British-looking fish and chips:.
And here’s a subtle Sicilian, common in southern Italy, sea urchin pasta.
Well, the waterfront may be an out-of-the-way area (laughs). If you want to eat, you should go to New Town side. There are few shops in the old town.
Visit the Tarsine Ruins outside Valletta
After lunch, we go back to the old town and then to the bus station where we went in the morning. We will go to the city of Tarsine.
It was well written in the guidebook which line it was.
The bus ride was not very comfortable. It’s true that you can move around all over Malta, but it might be a little hard with this ride.
While I was thinking like that, I passed through the traffic jam area near Valletta, and arrived there in about 20 minutes, but there was no one getting off at Tarsine…
Anyway, I walked for about 5 minutes as Google-sensei instructed and arrived at my destination. In addition, I think the nearest bus stop is one before the bus stop named « Tarsine ». But I’m sorry, I forgot the name of it.
ここタルシーンも、マルタの巨石神殿群の一部をなしております。でも、古すぎたのか、結構長い間放置されていたようです。実際、周りは普通の住宅地。
So, this is the world heritage? It was a strange scene. But it is strange that it looks so splendid when you take a picture.
However, I’ve experienced such disappointing ruins many times before, so I thought it would be a good topic for my blog and finished sightseeing in about 20 minutes.
We took a bus back to Valletta. It was a little difficult to find the bus stop, but a local man kindly guided us. He seemed to speak English, but I couldn’t understand him well because he had a strong local accent.
Malta Philharmonic Concerts
After returning safely to Valletta and relaxing a little in my apartment, I headed for the Manoel Theatre. This evening was a concert by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, which I had purchased the day before.
We bought box seats on the third floor, where you can almost see the stage from the front.
The Manoel Theatre is very small compared to other theatres in major European cities, so these box seats can only seat four or five people at the most.
Our seats were occupied by two couples.
The brochure for the orchestra is very nice.
Here’s the program for the day.
- ハンガリアンスケッチ:B.バルトーク
- 左手のためのピアノ協奏曲: M.ラヴェル
- 交響曲第８番:A.ドヴォルザーク
Great combination. By the way, according to the brochure, Nintendo was founded the year Dobo 8 was composed. Why do I know such a thing in this place (laughs)?
But it’s a small theater, so I was worried if the orchestra would fit on the stage. Is it quite forced? It rides, doesn’t it? But it’s interesting.
Now for the important part, the performance. The quality was very high. The orchestra was a little small because of the stage, but the Bartók and Dvořák were very powerful and passionate. The acoustics were not bad, and the balance of the wind and strings was not uncomfortable despite the strange stage layout. The balance of the wind and strings was not uncomfortable, but it would have been better if there were more string players.
It’s really nice to be able to listen to a live orchestra performance on the road.
After the show, I walked to my apartment. I took a shower and went to bed. A long day is over. Only one and a half days left.
（続きます。）
