TotalDismay.com

Malta was under the control of Britain from 1814 to 1964. Queen Victoria ruled for, I believe, most of that time period. Like just about every other British colony, they named a city after the old lady. Rabat on the tiny island of Gozo already had a perfectly good name and, to this day, both are used pretty much interchangeably by Gozitans.

There is a wonderful new road nearing completion that had necessitated a convoluted detour for a year or so. I noticed one day that the signs guiding drivers along the detour mostly said Victoria –> , but at one very crucial point there is only a hand painted message on a cement median that says Rabat –>. I hope this didn’t confuse too many tourists. I have always thought that there should be some kind of exchange program for road sign makers. In every area that I have ever traveled, I always see signs that are unintentionally misleading because the planners simply can’t think like an out of towner.

When I was a young driver in Nova Scotia, I got tricked into going across a huge suspension bridge needlessly by some vague signs. I had to shell out another 75 cents to go back across it again.

But I digress, I want to talk a bit about Victoria. It was called Rabat originally because that is a word used in much of the World to describe a residential area is outside the walls of a fortified city. The Cittadella is a breathtaking vantage point in the middle of the island. It is a major tourist attraction. A cathedral and the courts are within the walls of the Cittadella. Very few people reside inside the walls anymore. There is a very nice restaurant that caters mainly to tourists. I talked about it once before. It has a very small set menu that is basically the best traditional local fare. And the setting it a very very old house.

I was going to start a big history lesson, but I just saw that Unesco does such a good job of distilling history onto one page, I’ll leave it to them.

I will point out the startling incident when the island was attacked by Muslims in 1551 and the entire population was carried off into slavery.

The quiet inside the walls of Cittadella is in sharp contrast to the noise and activity of Victoria. It seems like every vehicle on the island is lined up on Republic Street between eight and nine every morning. Luckily for me, my errands can usually be accomplished without getting snarled in the traffic.

Someone who was Head of State of an empire for about 1/30th as long as Victoria has a small square named in his honor. If I am lucky enough to get a parking spot, I leave my car in JFK Square and walk around the city.

The older part of the city has amazing narrow alleyways where you can escape from the typical city noise. There are lots of clothing shops, shoe shops and housewares stores in the back alleys. I guess any business that has a product that doesn’t require deliveries in a large truck. Cars can and do drive through these alleys, with a foot or two to spare on either side. Oh, and there is always a bird cage or two hung up outside a house to give the birds some fresh air. And there are lots of cats in the city. The local SPCA supports outdoor colonies of cats, with a program of food, water, health care interventions and neutering. The island has one of the most ideal climates in the World, so it’s pretty good for cats as well.

Just as Victoria is popularly called Rabat, the main street of the city is often referred to as Racecourse Street. Here is a picture of some ponies waiting for their turn to race up the street. This is only done on a few religious feast days.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 20th, 2007 at 3:38 pm and is filed under Personal, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.