Day 324: Friday 4th May - Malta at War Museum and Esplora take 2

Today tried to get off the boat early to do the Malta at War museum and still have time for a second visit to Esplora Science Museum... Science is one subject I thought we would naturally do more of but seem to struggle to fit in so I was happy to pay for a second day in this museum as we still hadn't seen all of it.

The walk from the bus stop to Malta at War war was beautiful and we spent a few minutes admiring the lovely boats... a different world from ours! I always say that the size of the boat doesn't matter, most sailors just tend to get on, however once you get big enough to have a paid crew I think that may change!


The Malta at War Museum focusses solely on WW2 and so was right up AJ's street. Esmé was less enthusiastic but still gave it a go. There were some exhibits with lots of information about life in Malta during the war, and AJ was really interested in some parts, however it was a little dry for Esmé.






















There were a few things that interested her. One of which was the tally board for miners which we noticed was similar to the tally board at Burnham Sailing Club to keep track of who is on the water!

The kids were also quite surprised at the size of bombs that were dropped, as well as the meagre amount of rations that a person got for 15 days!

We also saw a really good picture of the Ohio being supported in by two destroyers.

The final part of the visit was to go underground to the Air Raid Shelter which had been dug by hand. AJ absolutely loved this, Esmé wasn't sure if she was enjoying it or terrified!

 




In the afternoon we walked to Esplora only to find it shut at 3pm. It wasn't too expensive so we decided that Patrick would take the kids in whilst I did a last minute dash for more bacon as well as Marmite and Mango Chutney for the crew of Spacegrazer who we will meet in Syracyuse on Sunday.

Tomorrow we will leave around lunchtime for Syracuse, our first overnight passage with the kids and they are a little nervous. So, no blog tomorrow but follow us on marine traffic and hopefully we'll be with friends in Syracuse Sunday morning!

Day 323: Thursday 3rd May 2018 - Fort Rinella

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!

Day 322: Wednesday 2nd May 2018 - Shopping shopping shopping!

After a hectic few days, today turned into a bit of a “Jobs day”.  After a bit of school AJ and I headed off to Lidl to pick up groceries while Patrick and Esme did the laundry. It was a little bit shorter walk than last week as I now knew the way, but it was still all uphill! As usual I bought far too much and AJ and I really struggled to carry it all, both breathing huge sighs of relief when Patrick and Esme met us half way back to help with the carrying!

After a lunch of leftovers, and a little more school, Esme and I headed out for a girlie shopping afternoon. We caught a busy bus into Sliema but although there was standing room only a lovely lady offered Esme her knee to sit on which she gladly accepted. Once off the bus we walked to “The Point” shopping mall.

Esme had a great time in New Look trying on clothes, although they were all really too big as their smallest size is age 9! 

We then had some fun playing on the ride on toys before hitting the supermarket where we found some typically English foods that we haven’t seen in a while.  60 euros later and yet again weighed down with shopping we just had time for Esme to get a micro sd card for her kindle fire as she’d been complaining she was running out of storage space.

As the bus arrived for the way home my heart sank as it looked so crazy full that I was sure the driver wouldn’t let any more on, as is often the case here. Oh how wrong I was! We, along with plenty of others, were let on and asked to squeeze up. At the next stop we learned just how funny  (or maybe crazy) the driver was. He jumped up out of his seat and said there was plenty of room, offering to let people sit on the dash board and the roof, even asking if anybody wanted his seat! It was quite surreal.

Back at the boat I inspected our haul, satisfied that although the prices were pretty high, we had some lovely treats to see us through the summer!

Day 321: Tuesday 1st May 2018 - AJ Guest Blog: Saluting Battery and Lascaris War Rooms

Today we went to a cannon firing display at a Saluting Battery in Valletta.

In the war rooms we learned that it took 15 minutes for an aircraft to fly from Sicily to Malta.  We also learned that there was a big convoy delivering rations and fuel, if the convoy did not reach Malta it would have to surrender.

Day 320: Monday 30th April 2018 - Valletta Fireworks

A lazy day getting school work done, jobs, and resting ready for the fireworks in the evening. AJ was somewhat anxious about big crowds and getting back, but I had been assured there were special extra buses laid on from Valetta so after an early mid afternoon tea, we set off at about 7pm. (Somewhat regretting letting them watch Karate Kid!)

At first we weren't sure where to go and found ourselves up high amongst all the photographers. We had a cracking view, however it took me a 1/2 hour walk to find a pizza snack for the kids and I then worried about what would happen if either of them needed the loo!

We could see portaloos and refreshment tents down by the waters edge so decided to move.

There we listened to music and watched a handful of preliminary fireworks before the big event started half an hour late at 10:30pm by which time Esmé was asleep on my knee and AJ just wanted to go home. However once they started AJ was in awe of them and eventually Esmé woke up too and was dancing around. I think they were possibly the best fireworks I am ever likely to see live and the atmosphere was really friendly.

The journey home wasn't quite as much chaos as I expected either and by about midnight we were back on the boat and falling into bed!