The Many Faces of Strait Street. ('Museum Night' 70x100cm acrylic on paper)

Strait Street, Valletta, has been getting quite some attention in recent months. Not that its name hasn’t had a certain resonance for well over a century – ask any British ex-servicemen who were stationed in Malta up to the ’60s or so.

Famed, or notorious for its music halls and less salubrious life in Valletta of old, Strait Street is now high on the agenda for rehabilitation and becoming an ‘in’ venue for those who love art, wine and music.

Wine bars and little hole-in-the-wall galleries have emerged along its very narrow thoroughfare, and thrive. By day M&S, that most British of retailers, is open for business in a designer-renovated building and further down, as it dips towards the end of the Valletta peninsula, law firms have lovingly done up patricians’ houses into amazing offices.

And, a couple of months back, we got the new Strait Street public conveniences! Which were talk of the town when they opened.

Riding on the crest of all this interest in the once much maligned Strait Street, this year’s Malta Arts Festival has created an event to celebrate the street. Spaces or Spazji is all about representing visual arts in a way the festival hasn’t captured them in previous editions. Rather than a conventional exhibition, the scope of this year’s project was to find and create a ‘new’ space for the visual arts.

The Art Exhibition
A privately-owned space near the upper end of Strait Street (nearly opposite Trabuxu wine bar has been ‘loaned’ out especially for the occasion and now hosts the works of five independent artists.

In complete contrast to the street’s physical boundaries, the works on show are broad in theme. The artists – Sean Gabriel Ellul, Fabrizio Ellul, Ruth Bianco, Anton Grech and James Micallef Grimaud, selected by curator Lisa Gwen Baldacchino – have been drawn together in the hopes of setting a precedent.

Spaces|spazji runs from July 9 till July 30 at No. 187, Strait Street, Valletta. Opening hours: 10 a.m. till 7 p.m. daily. Entrance: free.

More on Malta Arts Festival.

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There's always a different angle to Malta. But many tourists miss its real gems.

This is a selective round-up of some of the more unusual and we hope more interesting pastimes, excursions and tours to think about if you are holidaying in Malta. If you’re coming with a tour operator, the chances are that the rep assigned to your hotel will have regular packages on offer. But what about the things to see that are more off the beaten tourist path? The quirkier, more eclectic museums or the more sensual or adventurous ways to see the Islands?

Here, we hope to give you some ideas about what else is on offer in Malta and Gozo, when the guides, guidebooks and reps’ choices leave you, well, feeling a little like you’ve done and seen the things before (the Balearic Islands perhaps on last year’s hols?!).

Wind, Sea & Sky
Seaplane Trip
A friend of mine took her mum up in the seaplane for a birthday treat. Apart from running the regular hourly shuttle to Gozo and back, the plane also offers scenic flights over Malta. It does recall the glam ‘flying boat’ era of the ’50s even if it’s a thoroughly modern descendent of those planes. What is interesting about seeing Malta from the air is that you discover hidden coves, swathes of walkable countryside and landmarks that you just don’t know about, even if you’ve lived here for years. Places you are eager to seek out later on land. And of course, there’s the thrill of landing on sea, not runway! Contact Harbour Air for details.

Trial Flight
If you are keener to ‘have a go’ and do more than see the scenery, then try one of Malta’s light aircraft flying schools, most of which offer a trial, orientation flight to would-be pilots. Again, like the Seaplane, prices are reasonable, and you do get a go on the joy stick and learn about flying with natural and screen horizons. The instructors are happy to let you treat it as a scenic flight if you prefer! Don’t forget the camera. One school we’ve tested out ourselves is Diamond Flight Training. See our write-up here.

Aviation Museum
Near Ta’ Qali crafts village and right next to the National Stadium is this fascinating aviation museum housed in what were hangers of the old RAF aerodrome. Run as a non-profit organisation, the museum has gone from strength to strength in its work salvaging, acquiring and doing up an eclectic collection of planes and plane bits (mostly World War II era) such as a Hawker Hurricane and a Spitfire as well as having display cases packed with fascinating memorabilia. EU funding secured it a new hanger and the collection, layout, and information are admirable. Kids love it! So do grandads. See its site here.

Sail away
You need to plan this rather than expect to get it sorted when you’re here, but a private hire of sailing boat is an amazing experience, whether you’re out for a day or are more flush for cash and hire it for a three-day trip to Sicily. The tourist boats that start from Sliema ferries are fine for a quick family outing, but if you really want to experience Malta from the sea, you’ll need to sail. Most higher-star hotels with lidos and beach concessions offer sailing instruction, as does Vikings Sailing Club based in Hay Wharf (near the Excelsior Hotel), Valletta. Vikings has three-day (half day) courses in the summer for newbies to the sport. Well worth fitting in if you can and the Valletta bus terminus is conveniently nearby. Other clubs and schools operate too, especially in the St Paul’s Bay area in northern Malta.

Road
Open-top Bus Tours
Malta doesn’t have the space and roads to offer real motoring pleasure while on holiday (nor the road etiquette). There’s little point in hiring a vintage motor (we don’t mean old banger) to cruise the scenery. Leave that to larger countries. But what it does have is its quirky London-style double-decker bus tours. You can sit up top, sun or rain permitting, feel the wind blast your cheeks out of shape and rattle along spying over those rubble walls at a ‘hidden Malta’! Choose the southern or northern Malta tour, and hop on and off at will. Commentary in eight languages. I’ve not tried the tour, but my son wants to next holiday!

Classic Car Museum
If you aren’t getting your fix of old cars on Malta’s road, try out this museum to glimpse some that have had real tender loving care having been restored to near pristine condition. The museum is in one of Malta’ most touristy towns – Qawra – but often gets overlooked. It is privately run, and well kept and has a vast collection, so you can easily pass two or even three hours eyeing up the motors.

Quad Bike Tours
Very popular in Malta over the past five years are quad bikes. I suppose they give a feel of US-style beach riders. Though they are road bound here. The enterprising Malta Quad Bike Association offers all you need to find a tour or jaunt that suits you, from half days in Gozo to tours to Sicily. You need a valid drivers licence and must be over 25 years to take out a quad.

History
Wayside chapels, watch towers and quirky sites
A non-profit heritage organisation that does jolly well in keeping interesting gems of sites and buildings going for the pleasure of visitors is Din L-Art Helwa. We’ve given it several mentions on this site because we feel the places it cares for make interesting, more off-the-beaten tourist path places to visit. Red Fort (mentioned on a walk here), Bir Miftuh, the Wignacourt Tower are all ones we’ve covered. It is now on the verge of completing restoration of the Delimara Lighthouse which will be run also as holiday accommodation. See the organisation’s site for more hidden gems to visit – most are accessible within a short walk of public transport, and all make for an hour’s diversion from the regular tourist fare.

Wine & Food
Winery Tour – Meridiana Wine Estate
If the tour operators tell you only about the crafts village at Ta’ Qali, try to steal away when you’re there to Ta’ Qali’s other business – wine making. Meridiana is a small winery has been going just over 20 years and had start-up know-how from Marchese Piero Antinori, Tuscany’s famed wine lord. The estate produces what is calls ‘world-class wines of Maltese character’, not in great quantities, but all are well worth seeking out in restaurants and wine merchants if you don’t get to make a winery tour and tasting.

Maltese Olive Oil & ancient Olive Trees
The Romans introduced the olive tree to Malta, and it’s been proved in recent years that a few ancient olives growing in Barija, in the North, are around 1,000 years old, and therefore the offspring most likely of those Roman trees. One man, Sammy Cremona, is responsible for reviving this ancient root stock unique to Malta with the help of EU, government, and private sector funding. His own olive farm in Wardija offers tours, tastings and a typical Maltese farmers lunch with all the trimmings. By appointment only and usually run for small groups. His wife Matty is a well-known local cookery expert. Call Sammy Cremona on: +356 79582294. See more on olives here, and about Sammy and the project here.

Photo: Therese Debono

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Let the conversation flow (along with a little wine). Food, Wine, Art lectures at Palazzo Falson.

Note: We’ve been informed that these lectures won’t be taking place as Prof. Variana is unable to come over to Malta for now. We’ll keep you posted when they’re rescheduled.

Not all culture comes at a price as February’s series of free lectures at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum in Mdina proves. What’s more, these particular talks have an added bonus – they come complete with free tastings of wine, Renaissance cookbook-inspired foods and extra virgin locally pressed olive oils.

What an enlightened trio of cultural pursuits. The lectures are a winning formula for getting us to appreciate an historic venue and learn something new, and also an ingenious way of the museum marrying its collection with some complementary, lively events.

The Food, Wine & Art lecture programme
Palazzo Falson has invited a visiting art historian, Prof. John Varriano, to give two, two-hour lectures on food, wine & art, each one covering two distinct themes. The sessions (including tastings) are completely free of charge, but booking is essential to secure a place (and we advise you book fast as seats are limited). To book, tel: +356 2145 4512 or +356 2145 1021, or email: info@palazzofalson.com.

Friday 12th February (1400-1600hrs):
1. “Wine and Health, Wine and Death” first discusses the presumed therapeutic benefits of wine as brought down to us through the ages, and goes on to examine its changing metaphorical associations with memento mori, or images of death, in ancient and Early Modern times.

Wine Tasting & sampling of food inspired by Renaissance cookbooks (researched and prepared by Matty Cremona). Sponsored by Marsovin and Wardija Extra Virgin.

2. “Erotic Appetites” focuses on paintings of food that embody two genres of Renaissance allusion, the first exploiting the sexually suggestive shapes of certain fruits and vegetables, and the second linking the eating habits of the different social classes to stereotypical notions of sexuality and procreative success.

Saturday 20th February (1030-1230hrs):
1. “Eggs, Butter, Lard, and Oil” traces the evolution of the binders used in Renaissance art and cuisine, noting the importance of oil in particular for the signature characteristics of both cultural expressions.

Oil Tasting & sampling of food inspired by Renaissance cookbooks (researched and prepared by Matty Cremona). Sponsored by Wardija Extra Virgin and Marsovin.

2. “Edible Art” introduces the art of trionfi da tavola, edible table decorations that routinely embellished Renaissance and Baroque banquets.

Prof. John Varriano taught Art History at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts from 1970, until his retirement in June, 2009. He is a specialist in the art of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods in Italy, and the author of five books and more than four dozen articles. His latest interests combine the history of art with the history of gastronomy.

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A Marinara Moment: Gozo's food at its best

One of the best things about eating out in Gozo is the service. Generally it’s friendly (if they know you, it’s first name basis pretty quickly), most times it’s quick and it certainly isn’t ITS’ (Malta’s Institute of Tourism Studies ‘cum chef school’) cookie-cutter. In fact, it’s often enough quirky, which adds to the enjoyment, unless you’re some up-tight nuevo-yuppy who thinks he’s worthy of silver service and has this need to send back the first couple of bottles because they’re, you know, not quite the thing.

Hey, fool, if it’s got alcohol in it and it ain’t corked, you don’t get to send it back: next time, choose something you like.

So, where to go when you’re up North and peckish? Time for a coffee or lunch: where do I point the wheels?

You want somewhere smart? OK, if you must, you must, though this is Gozo after all, so chill an’all that, so there’s Tmun, Victoria and Ta’ Frenc for smart dining, right up there amongst the best. Me? I tend towards the more casual end of the spectrum, so close to home, there’s Oleander in Xaghra Square – a leisurely Sunday lunch on one of the outside tables; if the weather’s friendly, it’s as close to bliss as you can get legally.

Don’t jump down my throat, but you can also have fun in Marsalforn, the Bugibba-in-the-North disadvantages notwithstanding. Il-Pulena, in the Menqa, serves up seriously good pizza and other basic stuff, and as far as I’m concerned, a weekday lunch in early spring is the best reason for playing hooky from the real world.

Just back along the harbour-front, towards what must be the least busy Police Station in the country (in winter, anyway) is the Calypso Hotel, where you get a good coffee and can relax a morning while the missus is off getting her hair done or whatever it is people do on a Saturday morning. Alternatively, there’s it-Tokk, in Rabat, with something like six coffee shops intemingling, amongst them the original Jubilee, and the Central, where the Marocchino is luxurious.

After your siesta, which is de rigeur, you’ll need a coffee to clear the cobwebs and, a bit later (you don’t want anyone thinking you’re too fond of a drop) a g&t or something on those lines, to set you up for the evening. Here’s where somewhere like Xlendi comes into the picture – if you can bag a table at the edge, where the beach wall serves as an excellent foot-rest, you’re chilling with the best of them. When you get hungry, walk (yes, walk) to La Terrazza, where “location, location, location” isn’t used to detract from the obligation to provide excellent pizza (you’ve noticed I like pizza?)

It’s the dinner hour, so off you go: Tatita’s in San Lawrenz or Tmun, down the other end of the island in Mgarr (yes, there are two Tmuns) will hit the spot, as will Wileg in Qala or Maji in Rabat.

So there you go, a few places to satisfy the inner man – they’re not the only ones available in Gozo, by a long shot and I’ve probably left a few out.

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A weekend of blending cutural pleasures - wine, art, books - at Valletta's Fine Arts Museum

Valletta may be more well known for its history and cultural past than its cultural present. But it’s been doing very well of late in living up to its name as it plays host to all sorts of literary, musical, artistic, festive, theatrical and gastronomic events, month in month out.

This weekend sees another art and wine special at the National Museum of Fine Arts, South Street, with a programme throughout 28 & 29 November. The event is aimed at giving us ‘ a passport to enter a world of colours, visit amazing places and meet interesting people…’.

So, it’s a bit of a medley really, but sounds worth investigating, especially if you’ve kids in tow, or are at a loose end – Sunday afternoon, characters in historical costume will be walking the museum’s corridors! And adults might like the ‘Art & Wine @ South Street’ on Saturday evening – another in what’s become a series of such evenings. This time, Maltese contemporary artist Caesar Attard is discussing his works.

Midsea Books, which is co-hosting the event along with Heritage Malta, has a range of their Melintensia books on sale, to complement the talks, presentations, exhibits, and films.

Other highlights:
Saturday at 11.00 hrs, art historian Lino Borg will discuss printing techniques; and there will be what are described as ‘historic films’ screened in the afternoon.
Sunday morning sees a special presentation of Midsea Book’s publication of The Year Baroque Painting in Malta, delivered by its author Keith Sciberras PhD. Sunday afternoon, graphic artist Mark Scicluna, designer of a set of five bookmarks featuring artists represented in the National Collection, will be around.
Fun & Fact:
There are story-telling sessions at times throughout the weekend, as well as special tours for those who may not have ventured into the world of art before. The event also includes music, book prizes and a quiz desk.

Admission:
Entrance to the museum will be free on Saturday and Sunday but donations are welcomed. Further information from Heritage Malta.

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