WHERE IN THE WORLD: VALLETTA, MALTA

Travel notes from the tour zone with George Fontana

We entered (and departed) Valletta’s aptly-named Grand Harbor under gale force winds – an appropriately dramatic introduction to the most spectacularly sited city to date. Perched high on a rocky peninsula which thrusts into the sea, Valletta’s mellow yellow sandstone buildings gleam golden in the sun. Badly damaged by bombings during WWII, the city was lovingly rebuilt and restored by the resilient Maltese. Once inside the city walls, visitors are transported to the Middle Ages. Baroque structures stand alongside Moorish, Venetian and Roman architecture, and the pedestrian friendly plazas, streets and narrow passages are chockablock with shops, cafes, bistros and restaurants. Occupied over the centuries by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Moors and British, Malta has been an dependent island-nation since 1964. The famed Knights of Malta, The Knights of St. John’s, still exist – although now based in the Vatican – and continue their ancient mission to provide hospitals throughout the world. Like the extinct Maltese falcon, Humphrey Bogart was nowhere to be seen.

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