Hearses with horses

Some time ago, in Sicily I noticed a funny thing happening when a funeral cortege passed by. Some of the male onlookers touched themselves - a superstitious habit that I have not noticed elsewhere. Not a thing of elegance, I'm sure. The Times of Malta has recently reported the entrepreneurial idea of a local businessman who is reintroducing the beautifully poised and dignified carriages of the past to the Maltese islands.

Horse-drawn carriage hearses were last seen on our streets some 40 years ago but an undertaker has dug up his collection and is breathing new life into them, following public demand. Louis Borg's resurrection of the horse-drawn hearses comes in the wake of the liberalisation of the motorised market, which led him to diversify, giving him the edge over double the competitors he had before.

Now he is bringing back from the dead his first-class carriage (tal-kewba), which was used by "rich Sliema residents"; the prima and sekonda, which are for lower levels of society respectively, but equally elaborate to the fresh eye; and the white version for babies and single women.

The set comprises the priest's carriage, which would also transport the altar boy dressed as he would have back then and carrying the large cross, sticking out of the window as tradition would have it.

The little shop of follies

"Cafe du Brazil" by Evilpainter

This morning I met my friend Frank who is managing director of Hugo's Tapas in St George's Bay, for a coffee in Birgu. The city is all set for the second village feast this month (don't ask me which patron saint this one's dedicated to) so there's a feeling of celebration in the air.

Frank's been a great support to me with problems I have encountered lately. We had a pleasant conversation inside Caffe du Brazil in Victory Square and, before Frank left to prepare for gym, he mentioned a little boutique had opened in G. Cassar Street. (Walk up Hilda tabone street and turn right into Cassar Street)



Follie is indeed a sweet little shop. No bland chain shop material - every item is lovingly sourced, some original items sewn by owner Monique herself. Spent a good half an hour chatting and looking at the accessories, gifts and unique pieces all around me.



Most of all I fell in love with the cushions inspired by Maltese traditional tiles. Perhaps I should get a couple for Valletta G-House. They'll fit in splendidly with the bedroom tiles. Monique even said I can have my own choice of colours. Monique can be reached on +356 99891722 or on her e-mail. For Birgu take buses 1 or 4 from Valletta Gate.

Summer festa

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Anyone who's in Malta at this time of year will come across whole villages dressed to kill with elaborate banners and festoons, colourful lights and lovingly painted lifesize models of saints and angels that look down from pedestals made to look like marble. I have always admired the amount of effort, money and craftsmanship that goes into the setting this all up even though it only lasts all of three days to a week. Then again, when you think about it, the same effort goes into the amazing costumes and floats of the carnival in Rio and the massive glossy statues in Valenzia's great bonfire feast in March (The Fallas).

This year I decided to experience the evening festivities and the procession with the patron saint for myself. I had heard of the loyalty and devotion to the saint and to the statue's beauty itself. I must admit to having always found this a bit too close to idolatry for comfort. On one pleasant summer night in a small village in the south of Malta I experienced first hand the saint/statue's loyal following. As the statue was carried shoulder high throughout the streets, a group of supporters walked backwards before the statue, facing it and shouting out sweet little poems dedicated to the saint/statue and clapping until they're blue in the face and hoarse.


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Gay Pride in Valletta

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This week sees various activities for DiversCity, culminating in the Pride March this Saturday. Pride March is about visibility. It's a celebration of diversity. It's there to voice the wish that same sex relationships are recognised by Maltese law. Its also about a bit of fun and should not be seen as antagonistic toward the rest of society. It's as much about inclusivity as about individuality.

Some have commented that the colourful dressing up, common in more well attended Gay Pride Marches in other cities all over the world, are hardly the best way for LGBTs to be taken seriously and to be assimilated within the mainstream. I have known various gay men who describe themselves as 'straight acting'. They are adamant that what they call men with a camp disposition, those who stand out for not fitting into the grey stereotype of the 'virile' man, are a disservice to other gay men. They are equally scornful of lesbians who's demeanor fall short of what they expect women to look and act like. Their use of the phrase 'straight acting' to describe themselves is a clear sign of their repression, and how unwilling they are to accept the beauty of diversity. Assimilation does not mean melting into a mulch of indistinguishable sameness. It means enriching an already heterogeneous society.

Gay Pride is, above all, a celebration of diversity. That is not to say that the fight for equality is not also part and parcel of Pride. Fighting to change the law so that it recognises same sex civil partnership does not mean playing the victim as some would have us believe. And it is not an impossible task, even when one considers the staid two party system ruled by a powerful church institution Malta is lumped with. Look at Spain. It looks as though Ireland will be following suit too. Both have a very strong Catholic Church and yet they acknowledge the need for society to encourage stable partnerships of love.

Here is the programme of events prepared by MGRM. Hope to see you in Valletta on Saturday.

Mon 13 July: Film festival - 'Ma vie en rose' (released 1997; run-time 88 minutes) St James Cavalier, Valletta

Tue 14 July: Film festival - 'Bent' (released 1997; run-time 105 minutes) St James Cavalier, Valletta

Wed 15 July: Women Space. GAIA Foundation, Ghajn Tuffieha

Thurs 16 July: Film festival - 'I can't think straight' (released 2007; run-time 80 minutes) St James Cavalier, Valletta

Sat 18 July (10:00am at City Gate Valletta): PRIDE MARCH
Sat 18 July (20:30): Concert performance with The Pink Singers (London) and Zghazagh Haddiema Nsara choirs. City Theatre, Valletta
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Malta Arts Festival and Censorship

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It does not augur well for the annual Malta Arts Festival when the Arts Council decides to exclude an installation by artist Raphael Vella from a collective at 68 St Lucy Street.

It is not the first instance that the Maltese islands have been in the news for censorship. This year, the play “Stitching” was banned on moral grounds (Case is pending in court) and, egged on by Gozo Bishop Msgr. Mario Grech, police arrested a group of young men who dressed as Jesus during the Nadur carnival celebrations.

All is not doom and gloom for the 2009 Arts Festival. The Malta Jazz Festival has returned to its original form, taken away from the hands of purely commercial private interests. The annual Jazz Festival will hopefully become a fixed appointment on the calendar of many a true jazz enthusiasts, both local and foreign.
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Piano piano, quickly.

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Is Valletta finally getting the entrance that it deserves and in such a short period of time? The time line in the brief to world renowned architect Renzo Piano is completion in four years.

A friend of mine was adamant that I should go visit the Museum of Archeology where Renzo Piano's concept plans for Valletta are showing. I was not to be disappointed. Piano's new entrance will put Valletta on the map. I thought I'd share some photos of the exhibition with you.


An overview of the plans


The back of the Parliament building


The new City Gate


The open air theatre


Parliament exterior stonework

I do suggest you take the opportunity to go and have a look for yourselves. The exhibition explained some of the thought process behind the plans. Seeing the plans in three dimensions gives one a clearer picture. There is also a presentation of the kind of thing that can be achieved visually in the theatre.

The new entrance to Valletta

Great expectations in Valletta today as this evening world renowned architect Renzo Piano himself will unveil his plans for City Gate. A hand-built model of the project plans will be the main attraction in this long awaited launch outside the Museum of Archeology. The grand ceremony will also be televised live.

Piano interviewed on Bondi+
Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Square by Christmas

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Various projects are mapped out for the north side of Valletta. There have been reports of a luxury hotel planned just up the road from Valletta G-House (where the Evans Lab building stands now), a boutique hotel where the fish market and the Rural Affairs Ministry now stands (as reported by The Malta Independent on Sunday 17 May 2009), and the development of Fort St Elmo into a centre for cultural and leisure activities with cruise liner berthing in the harbour below.

These are projects that will take some years to materialise. However, the transformation of the Palace Square from unappealing car park into an embellished pedestrianised square is to be ready by this Christmas. The proposed design (see picture) is to feature a lit water installation with 14 jets of water of different heights, lighting fixtures, public wi-fi and street furniture.

The Knights had built a fountain in the square to celebrate the piping of water into Valletta.
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Bakeries in Malta

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My uncle and aunt ran a bakery in Żabbar. Their day started early before sunrise and aunt Berna drove around town in a white van delivering their freshly baked bread. I very much recall as a child being sent to our local bakery in Tarxien to buy bread. Wicked rascals such as my young self would dig out a hole in the soft core of the bread, annoying our mothers no end. It was also common for households that lacked an oven in the home to make use of the services of the bakery to cook their Sunday roast or their għaġin il-forn (oven baked pasta). This is from a short story by Carmen Debono in a book printed by Midsea Books - Top Ten Tales of Malta 1977.

The bakery was cosy and warm. There were long low trestle tables where people placed their dishes and were given metal tickets for receipts. Long muslin-like sheets covered the tables to keep the food clean until it was time to be put in the oven. There were about six women gossiping when I went in. One of them detached herself from the group and came forward to meet me. She wore a white overall and looked both brisk and efficient. So this one was the one in charge of this bakery, I thought. I was relieved as I had expected a man to be in charge. I was soon to change my mind, however, about her. She lifted the sheet on one of the tables and showed me where to place my dish. She then stopped an stared.

'You's better change that dish,' she said, 'as it will break in the oven.'

Very sure of myself, I said that it was oven-proof and there was no question of it breaking. The lady pursed her lips and looked at the other women, who had stopped talking in order to listen. I thought she was going to insist on my changing the dish but, instead, she took another look at the contents. I squirmed, thinking that I might have left an eye or two while peeling the potatoes. But no.

'You'd better add some liquid to the dish,' she added. 'This oven is hotter than the ones in home cookers, and things dry up quickly.'

Bakery in Valletta:
Old Theatre Street (the stretch between Merchants' Street and St Pauls' Street)
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New kid on the blog

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This blogging thing is becoming habitual. As a certain articulate chap said, I can resist anything but temptation. An invitation came my way to guest blog on Robert Micallef's WIRED MALTA and I gracefully accepted (as elegant an undertaking of the sort can possibly be). The one strand of entries I am mostly excited about is a story that will be published in episodes. The story takes place in the town of Birgu (one of the Three Cities) and no doubt you will recognise quite a few locations and landmarks if you follow it. So far, only the first episode has been published, introducing our heroine, a British woman who has just moved to Malta and is in search of a house to buy.
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Fireworks festival postponed

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The Malta International Fireworks Festival, which was to be held tomorrow and the day after at the Grand Harbour, has had to be postponed due to a mechanical fault in the ship carrying some of the fireworks. The organiser of the festival, the Malta Tourism Authority, said it is doing its utmost to hold the festival on Friday and Saturday.
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Telling pictures

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The Three Graces at the Irxoxt (Holy Week Celebrations) in Birgu


One Foot in the Grave (M'Xlokk - fishing village)
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Tea with your sugar?

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In Marrakech people love sugar with their tea. In the UK, I grow mint in our conservatory just so as to be able to make tea in those beautifully decorated Moroccan glasses and remember the Hideous Kinky city. In the UK tea with milk used to be the drink that embodied Britishness even though the number of coffee chains now well exceeds that of English tea parlours. Which hot drink is it that makes you think of Malta? Mark Anthony Falzon writes about the ħanut tat-te' on today's Sunday Times.

John, a close relative of mine who is not Maltese, told me the other day how he had been charged 30 (euro) cents for a coffee in Vittoriosa. He wasn't complaining of course, and in fact asked me how come the cost of living in Malta was so heart-warming. It turned out he had forgotten two important details. First, the place was a 'men's bar', as he put it; second, the coffee had come in a glass.

This then was John's first brush with what we might call the 'Maltese coffee shop' - or, as better known, the ħanut tat-titotla (lit. 'teetotal bar'). I'm sure it won't be his last. He happens to dabble somewhat, and rather effectively, in anthropology and will no doubt be familiar with the saying that the way to a culture's heart is through its coffee. Or rather the context of its drinking it.

How 'Maltese' are the ħwienet tat-titotla? I'd say as Maltese as it gets, which simply means that we tend to read into them for elements of 'Malteseness'. Thus the noisy atmosphere will be interpreted as our 'natural Latin rowdiness', the whiff of illegitimate cigarette smoke as our national disrespect for law and order, and the heaps of pastizzi flakes as the sign of a generally unhealthy population.

We might add that the Maltese coffee shop is unique in that tea, rather than coffee, is the favoured choice. Which brings our history, in this case our take on British heritage, into the equation. Italians often complain that we couldn't make a 'proper' coffee at gunpoint, and they're probably right. We can't make coffee all'italiana simply because we are not Italian, and don't want to be. But we also prefer our tea not to come in a cup, or in the company of watercress sandwiches.

The joys of being a host

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These few months I have been here in Malta due to other commitments has given me the opportunity to meet with our Valletta G-House guests. Unlike a B&B or a hotel, ours is a private town house (we originally did the place up for ourselves) and so we like to make our guests feel special, like old friends who have come to stay. The preparation is part of the joy of being a host and I shall miss doing this when I return to the UK and hand the job over to my dad again.


Our florist

Day starts with a visit to our florist early in the morning before he gets busy. The flowers go in the bedroom upstairs, so the flowers cannot be cottagey but neither too formal. I have always thought fresh flowers bring a nice touch to a house, something no inanimate decoration can.


Welcome pack

It's the little extras in the welcome pack that make it that little bit more special. Lately we've taken to putting in Italian espresso coffee (Lavazza) and a sweet small moka pot just for two. It does make a pleasant change from the horrible taste of instant coffee. The fresh fruit, depending on the season give a local feel to the woven basket. The Maltese bread, wine and Galletti (biscuits) are a staple part of the welcome basket. It's not the first time that there is a final mad rush to soource one or another of the welcome pack contents especially if it's a Sunday or public holiday. Other basic groceries such as milk and mineral water are of course also taken care of.

And finally it's making sure I'm at Malta International Airport to welcome our guests personally. I keep an eye on the Arrivals page via my computer because it is not the first time that flights are not on time.
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Mingle with a medieval mob

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Mdina is a superb city. I've frequently compared it to Joan Collins - It's so well preserved it looks the same as it did in it's heyday, but without the smut. Most Valletta G-House guests love it (Mdina, not the smut), while some complain it is too immaculate, lacking in city colour.

This coming weekend Mdina becomes Medieval, with pageantry, jousting tournaments, medieval football (If that is anything like Florence's Calcio Storico, that'll be a feast for the eyes), human chess games, medieval knights, men in Medieval costumes and, best of all, traditional medieval food and an abundance of wine and beer.

There will also be guided tours and relics of the past (no more Joan jibes please) as well as attractions like Punch and Judy, jesters, jugglers and donkey rides.

If you want a respite from the primitive throng outside, I beg you to take a peek at the amazingly beautiful Palazzo Falson. Chances are it might also be crowded but with a rather more enlightened assemblage, one would imagine. If not to look at the historical artifacts on show, perhaps you could have tea in the highest place of all, upstairs.

Take bus number 80, 81, 82, 84, 86 to Rabat Bus Terminus from Valletta Gate


The table is set at Palazzo Falson
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Figolla toil and trouble

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I made the mistake of telling my sister about fellow blogger Gourmet Worrier's figolla project and I was lumbered with making the traditional Easter sweet with my nephews and niece! I thought I'd share the recipe with my blog readers so that you have no excuse but to toil for the whole of the Saturday before Easter.



Ingredients for the pastry:
350 grams caster sugar
800 grams plain flour
400 grams margarine
4 beaten egg yolks
Grated rind of 1 lemon (The lemons here are just so fragrant!)
Vanilla essence

Ingredients for the filling:
600 grams icing sugar
2 egg whites
Teaspoon of orange flower water
600 grams of ground almonds

Decoration:
Glacé icing
Any other sweets you can get hold of



The fun part is deciding what shape your pastry is going to have. You can find ready made shapes or you can just create a template by drawing a simple outline onto a piece of paper or cardboard and cut it to shape. I started off with some more ambitious designs that I thought would entertain the children - cute monster types - and ended up doing other smaller and simpler egg shapes.

Mix the sugar and the flour, then rub in the butter. Add the yolks and grated lemon rind and keep on kneading.

Two of the siblings were barred from this, one because of the suspiciously persistent dark remains under his nails and the other because we were not keen on finding any of her newly glued pretty nails ingrained in the sweet.

Place the dough in the fridge to chill for an hour.



In the meantime, place all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and mix well and then knead.

Roll out the pastry and cut two of each shape. Lay the first shape onto a baking tin that has been lightly buttered and then spread the filling to cover the first shape, leaving a margin all around. Be rather generous with the filling, otherwise you will only taste the pastry. Lay the second shape on top and press the edges together (wet your finger with water so as to have a better seal).

Bake at 200'C/400'F/gas 6 for 10 to 20 minutes. Check that they appear slightly brown. Leave to cool on the tray.



Add water sparingly to the icing sugar until it's spreadable. Add food colour and spread onto the surface of the pastry. I have used a mixture of Liquorish Allsorts and Hundreds and Thousands, as well as other cake decorations to create my figolli characters. Our glamorous and camp G-Man came with full bling necklace and pink lips. I'll need to pass by Valletta G-House this morning to present him to our guests. We'll keep you posted as to whether they survive the experience.

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT
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Good (Friday) Olde Violence

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Birgu Exhibit

I have got a few bones to pick.

Is it me or is the ritual side to Catholisism increasingly visible on this island? Back in the UK, a friend of mine once invited me to a High Church mass in London and I could not help thinking my friend was more interested in the ceremonial vestiture and the trimmings rather than the spiritual side of it. Could it be that the increase in the ceremonial is a deliberate attempt at blinding the people into submission, the same way that Baroque was used in churches in the past to dazzle the faithful poor into obedience? This is a great dilemma for me. I have been promoting this side of tradition through my blog as I find it a fascinating subject anthropologically. It is a well known fact that it is also a crowd puller, regardless of one's beliefs. But is it a harmless pursuit or does it have a slightly more sinister agenda?

I was not sure I wanted to go see any of the great number of the exhibits that litter the island on Good Friday. The blood and gore on show can be rather disconcerting to someone like myself who could not deal with watching the whole of Apocalypse Now. Mr man and I decided to visit the exhibit under the walls of Vittoriosa. The statues representing the Passion of Christ were rather realistic and looked great beneath the olive trees in the moat. There were a lot of children present and this triggered off a discussion between us. Violence in films is usually kept away from children via cinema ratings. Is the violence in the story of a man who lived 2000 years ago any different? Should children be shielded from violence and suffering in general?


Birgu Exhibit


Violence in public Good Friday Pageants

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Malta Times - editing or censorship?

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Since the Times of Malta online introduced the facility for instant comment, we're now able to get the word on the streets. At times, glancing through some of the comments gives me a sense of nausea. Grammar and spelling are bad enough but it is the hatred and prejudice of some of the comments that is most upsetting.

The comments under a recent news article on the Greens' proposals were from the usual holier than thou who would seem to have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo at all costs.

I decided to send my comment. Only half of it appeared so I complained. They then took it out altogether. As a matter of principle, I publish my comment in full here. You'll need to read the article and comments to follow:

Oh my gawd, all the Mary Whitehouses on the island have turned up to shout in their Pidgin English - The world's end is nigh. It is sadder still when you consider that AD's half baked proposal is actually an insult to all those whose monogamous relationships have been dumped in with old kinsfolk and mates who's only motive for co-habitation is purely practical. We're stuck with the best of a bad lot politically, I suppose. I don't see the other two amateur parties sticking out their necks for lurve either. If you lot of island pansies want anything to change, you need to think about choosing to be there next Pride (and I don't mean exclusively for the party after).

Too posh to sleep together

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We have always provided one bed at Valletta G-House and we were convinced we were offering the ultimate luxurious bed to aspire to. You can imagine our disappointment at finding out through none other than sleep researcher at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital - Neil Stanley - that posh people have never slept together. Only us mere middle class mortals, it seems, do so.

“Sharing a bed is just a cultural norm, with no science behind it,” Stanley says. “Posh people have never done it. It’s a mark of wealth to sleep separately — it should be aspirational.” In Britain, bed-sharing is a relatively recent development, entering the mainstream in the late 19th century. Sensible Victorians are said to have wailed about the intolerable cruelty of having to share a bed. As late as the 1970s, twin beds outsold doubles (remember George and Mildred?). It’s only in the past 30 years that adults have been expected to sleep in a bed that provides 9in less space per person, when divided between two, than a child’s single.

Stanley sums it up succinctly. “Sleep is the most selfish thing you can do, and you can’t share it.”

Read the rest of Neil Stanley's article on The Sunday Times

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Square

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I can safely say that last Friday's exhibition opening at 68 St Lucy Street was a hit. Square is a collective exhibition of works, the common theme of which is the 10 x 10 inches size of each work. I usually find that the absence of a brief results in chaos, but if that were the case this was one pleasant chaos. The Valletta town house that has been converted into a space for creativity a few months ago keeps on providing us with outstanding stimulation for the brain and for the heart. Square will be open until 19 April. 68 is an 8 minute walk from Valletta G-House.
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