Malta Favorites

Favorite thing: While I was in Malta I went to quite a few museums:

1. The Malta at War Museum (at Couvre Porte Gate, Birgu). After being shown a wartime propaganda film ("Malta GC" - narrator Laurence Olivier), you're given a hard hat to put on and taken down into a warren of tunnels, which is fascinating, and brings wartime Malta really to life - the smell of the earth, the birthing room, .... I got the impression that it's run by a group of enthusiasts :)

2. The National War Museum (in Lower St Elmo, Valletta), with original guns, searchlights, the fuselage of "Faith" (one of the cekebrated Gloster Gladiators), parts of a Spitfire and a Messerschmitt, etc. Very interesting indeed

3. The Malta Maritime Museum (in Birgu). Also interesting, but could maybe do with more organisation seeing how much there is there. There's an amazingly elegant British naval cutter, and an impressive model of a Grand Master's magnificent galley

4. The Inquisitor’s Palace (in Birgu). Mostly about furnishings, etc, but there are some other things too, with a small inquisition room that you can peer into,. equipped with a small selection of instruments of torture. The lady on the front desk, who's obviously got a special interest in such things, thinks they're pretty mild stuff, though. There isn't a rack or a thumbscrew, but there's a thing to crush your ankles.

5. The Archaeology Museum (Auberge de Provence, Republic Street, Valletta). Wonderful. Everything a museum should be, including small (it only has prehistory), select, and letting you think for yourself. It complements the prehistoric sites - it's about the thinking and religion behind the stones. The famous Sleeping Lady found in the Hypogeum is kept there.

6. The Grand Master’s Palace (Valletta). Absolutely stunning. I knew that in theory the Grand Masters were sovereign princes, on a par with other European princes, but I'd never imagined magnificence on THIS scale. Normally you go round with just an audio-guide, I think, but I managed to latch onto a group from a German naval ship in the harbour being given a private tour.

The exhibition of arms and armour that you come to after touring the palace is more interesting than that sort of thing usually is. You learn a lot about the science of armour.

There's a good gateway site giving the full address, opening times, etc, of all these museums and others. It's http://www.visitmalta.com/museums