A quick burst of school in the morning then lunches packed and out to visit more museums. The plan was to visit the Malta at War Museum then go on to Fort Rinella in time for the tour at 2pm. In the end there were so many full buses that didn't stop that we decided to go straight to Fort Rinella and return to Malta at War on the way back if we had time. Even the bus that we eventually did go on had no seats so the kids sat in the luggage rack!
A change of bus in Valletta brought an opportunity for a quick lesson in bus routes and map reading!
Once at Fort Rinella we were greeted by a soldier in uniform which the kids loved. They kindly let us eat our picnic in the "mess" as it was so cold outside! We then ventured out to look at the big 100lb gun, an example of the biggest muzzle loading gun in the world.
As we were out there we also saw a film set out the back of the fort.... a massive pool that could be filled and filmed with a backdrop of real sea and rocks. There was also an old pirate ship and some other bits and pieces!
Next up was a little look round and then a demonstration of swords and bayonets. At the end Simon the soldier asked if the kids wanted some uniform and let them handle some of the swords which they absolutely loved.
The 2pm tour included a demonstration of all the muskets and rifles, culminating in Patrick getting to fire one! Video here.
We were then shown the loading area for the BIG GUN and shown how the massive shells were moved around using pulleys and then lifted into the loading areas either side of the gun which rotated first one way and then the next to be loaded. Rinella have recently bought a steam engine which they plan to bring back into use as power to load the guns. With the steam engine it took 6 minutes to reload the gun. Using manpower only it was nearer 20 minutes! The massive guns had a range of about 8 miles, but only really accurate to 5 miles.
By the time we had looked at the museum and watched a smaller cannon demonstration none of us felt the need for another war museum so we decided to leave that for tomorrow!
Cool we will have to check that out, sorry to hear that we will probably miss you by the time we arrive in Malta.
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