Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory. - Day Two In Valletta (Part I)

Hello again one and all!

So today begins my new quest. Today, I have arranged to get a ticket. Thirty days, twenty-two sites and museums. As one person put it: "[That's] some Nicolas Cage shit right there".

Given that I am indeed planning on reaching all of these attractions, the updates are likely to be coming thick and fast - I don't want to run out of space on my camera (and I have been VERY snap-happy), so my best solution is to overload your ability to want to continue reading, by giving too many tales from my trip, and as such, I shall like so many before me, become irrelevant once again, my fifteen minutes of fame burned out in weeks.

But enough melodrama, back to the story.

Today's adventure took me to the Valletta Museum of Archaeology. I figured this was an appropriate place to start, as history is somewhat like a book, and it makes no sense whatsoever if we start in the middle. I'd prefer to think that I can keep people on the edge of their seats wondering only what happens next, not "how did this begin?"

The building is unassuming on the outside face. This is because everything else around it is of a similar architectural styling, meaning it is far from bland, it just doesn't stand out in this particular environment. This facade, however, gives way to a rather grand entrance hall, especially the ceiling. I'll have to return to the entrance and get a photograph of this, as it would seem that I hadn't copied it properly.

The museum is divided nicely enough into three primary wings - the ground floor encompasses Malta's neolithic history, highlighting the evolution of technology within the original stone-age inhabitants. The information is provided in small, easy to digest chunks, presented in almost a book-like fashion.

We have a very special menu prepared tonight, first we'll start with ancient cave man tools, followed by slightly less ancient cave man tools, before finishing up with a lovely serving of incredibly old-yet-not-so-old as the previous cave man tools, with a smattering of stone and bone jewellery. 

Allow me to be your guide through these phases:

Ghar Dalam phase

This is the original neolithic settlement within Malta. There are a couple of prominent theories as to how these people reached Malta, both of which involve that great cause for sudden human migration, climate change - in this instance, the last ice age. Given that sea levels were much lower, it is believed that the people would not have needed particularly modern sea-faring vessels. The Mediterranean is a fairly calm sea in this day and age, and one can safely assume that in the ice age it would have been more so. The other theory is the land bridge from southern Italy. I find this second to be less than likely, as the Mediterranean is roughly 100 metres in depth for the most part - while sea levels were significantly lower in that period, they were not that much lower.

But you aren't here for my conjecture. You're here for ancient treasures! Things taken by men in khaki with whips from temples which were protected with all manner of booby traps. Behold! The wonders of ancient Malta!

And if you look real close, you'll see that there is absolutely nothing which would have value to Spanish conquistadors.

As you'd expect from a stone age site, the majority of the items found are tools and weapons which could have been used by the people Ghar Dalam people. The above image shows a smorgasbord of stone arrow heads, smoothed stones to be used in slings, sharpened bones and fragments of some crudely made pottery. The Ghar Dalam site showed that the people who were living in this era  were able to make effective use of stone tools, however, the remainder of their technology was not particularly advanced. I'd imagine that going about mundane daily tasks, such as having a shave would have been quite painful or tricky with these tools, on the positive side though, getting a new blade is as easy as finding the next somewhat sharp pebble.

Skorba Phase

Following on from the Ghar Dalam period, there was the Grey/Red Skorba period. There were some minor differences between these two periods, however, there was not enough to entirely separate their artifacts into separate areas, as such, I shall be treating them as one.

Information showing the location of the Skorba period. I'll let you work out which colour represents which era.

The most significant difference which comes through in the Skorba period is the complexity of the pottery - not only do we have fully functional vases (which is pretty impressive for something over six thousand years old), but there are artifacts which serve no practical purpose - that is to say, there are ceramic decorations. The Skorba period Maltese were particularly interested in the female form - similar to so many other emerging societies (and lets be honest, nothing has really changed to this day). Again, like most early cultures, the belief is that the feminine form is most associated with fertility - hence, many of the features of the figurines were quite exaggerated.

Pottery fragments and whole examples. Though it may not be perfectly visible in this picture, another key feature of the Skorba period is the decorative nature of the pottery - many of these were inscribed with geometric patterns, thus showing that aesthetics were quite important to the people of this period.

More pottery and pottery fragments. The large black piece in the centre highlights the emergence of art within the Skorba society.

Pieces of what is believed to be fertility idols. This is also significant as it further emphasises the move away from traditional hunter-gatherer societies to an agrarian society.

The Skorba period also shows one more key importance of neolithic Maltese society - they had by this stage begun planning their settlements much more strategically - the Skorba location is protected from the elements and had soil which was fertile enough for planted crops - mostly a form of wheat - to grow.

Zebbug Phase

No society should be satisfied with only a single advancement in their technological and societal developments, and the neolithic Maltese were no different. Following on from Skorba is the Zebbug period. This period is not so drastically different from the previous, with the changes which occurred being much more subtle than the gargantuan leap between the last two phases, at least not on a first glance. The earthenware is primarily the same, adorned with geometric patterns - some of which was a bit more complex than that of their forebears, the same obsession with the feminine form and the same rudimentary artistic representations and tools. The social developments were much more significant, as there is clear signs of a religion emerging, specifically, the formation of an afterlife belief. There is evidence of the Zebbug era of ceremonies surrounding burial, as well as a large crypt cut into the stone - the Zebbug did not build, but rather hewed what they needed from the living rock.

Display of a typical Zebbug period burial chamber. While far from the grandeur we've all come to know and love of Egyptian burials, these more modest pits were for all members of Zebbugian society, not just the god-emperors. 

The most striking features of the burial chambers which show the theological development of the society are both the pottery and the figurines. Whilst there is no irrefutable proof of the belief in an afterlife, the placement of pottery in such a chamber is usually indicative of the belief in a need for these after death - material possessions to make the afterlife easier and more comfortable. The stylised figures are also important, as they provide an insight into the deities of the culture, or possibly act as guides for the spirit once the terminal breath has been drawn.

Zebbug period pottery and pottery shards. In terms of shape, the vessels are a bit more functional, as the tops have a smaller opening, thus making pouring easier. Beyond this, there are few differences between this and the Skorba period.

More pottery from Zebbug. We can see the further development of their pottery as many of the devices now have handles. Apparently this nifty little invention was over three thousand years in the making. Apparently, the people from Skorba had asbestos hands, and were totally immune to the scalding properties of hot liquids. A pity that the Zebbug people had lost this evolutionary advantage.

From this point onwards, there were very few changes which occurred in the development of neolithic technology or social constructs in the Maltese islands. The museum did, however, give a deeper insight into other aspects of neolithic living. Stay tuned for more tomorrow, when, armed with a thorough knowledge of the history as we are now, we will be able to find the gold that this ancient society so clearly had.

R&S

City? More like a Fortress! Day 1 in Valletta

Greetings again one and all!

Well, I'm all settled in now in Malta, adjusted to the time zone, adjusted to the weather (a slightly above my liking, 30 degrees, but it has been constant, so I no longer sweat merely by being awake, I actually need to do something which resembles exercise).

First on the agenda, working out how public transport works.

To little surprise, it was far superior to Australia's system of transport - there are plenty of buses every hour, all of which are air-conditioned and most importantly, all of which have run like clockwork. So a country of 400 000 people with a tiny budget manages to do something which Sydney cannot, that is, have a system in which not owning a car is not only encouraged, but viable.

I should also note that ticket prices are standardised - you can buy a one way ticket for a Euro, a day pass for one Euro fifty cents, or, if you plan on doing a lot of travel, a weekly for six Euros and fifty cents. This princely sum allows you to use any government bus to any destination as many times as you like. The buses, as you could imagine are always full, with some tourists, but also a healthy mix of local users as well - turns out that in terms of public transport, you do in fact catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

Staying on the topic of buses, Valletta, the capital is also the primary hub for all transport. Much in the same way that the Ancient Romans claimed that all roads lead to Rome, one can claim that all buses lead to Valletta. This is particularly handy for me, as I am living five minutes away from the city (by bus), which means that should when I decide to explore the island, I will have a particularly easy time going about it.

Okay, I've waxed lyrical about the fantastic transport here - I should probably fill you in on Valletta now, because quite frankly, I don't think any of you are particularly interested in my new found fascination with buses.

So after arriving at the city's entrance, I am struck by how different it is from any other city I've been to. The bus (last mention in this post, I promise!) stopped out the front of it and will not enter. I can't explain why, it would not do the place any justice. Instead, I'll show you. Behold! The city gates:

The Entrance to Valletta - this has been recently redesigned as a smaller entrance, to continue with the fortress look. You may also notice that you need to cross a bridge to enter here - this city could isolate itself from the rest of the country within seconds.

Less of a city, more of a fortress. In my travels thus far, I have not seen a city walled in such as this. The walls are absolutely gigantic - they're a good twenty metres tall, and at least six metres thick. Basically, this is an impregnable fortress - if the Maltese don't want you entering Valletta, chances are quite high that you will not get in.

The city walls, as seen from the outside. They are a combination of the original stone upon which Valletta was built, as well as extra masonry on top of that.

Another section of city wall taken from a lower angle this time. All I can imagine the designers of these fortifications was thinking during the building process was "How can we make this more imposing?"

"I know, lets make it even taller!"

Back to the main entrance - the tower in the centre would have been bristling with cannon. Although you cannot see it in this picture, the land steeply declines around Valletta, in many places, it is a sheer cliff. So as your eternal reward for travelling across the Mediterranean, dragging your siege weaponry form a ship, bringing it all uphill to get it closer to the city, you will receive your imminent death. 

As impressive as these fortifications are, they are a stark contrast to the artisan level of architecture within the city walls. Whilst the walls and towers are large, solid and bleak looking structures, the same cannot be said, fortunately for the city itself. As this was my first day within the city, I spent most of my time there exploring, finding the hidden back alleys which wind their way through the city, a criss-crossing set of warrens which all lead to a main road. Stay tuned for more photographs of the city itself, as I will be going into greater depth with these in an upcoming post. In the meantime, I do want to keep focusing on the more military aspects of the design.

As noted earlier, the walls completely envelope the city from all directions - towards the sea as well as inland. The city was not built to be the front line defence however, especially from the sea. There are a series of fortifications which point out directly into the Mediterranean, such as Fort St. Elmo (shockingly, not named after a particularly ticklish Sesame Street character), as well as the Main Battery which overlooks Valletta harbour.

Fort St. Elmo - a thorough exploration of this battlement will be seen in an upcoming post. 

Another closer shot of Fort St. Elmo. Whilst we can see cannons pointed toward Valletta from within the fortifications, a direction they would never have been fired in, they do provide a good idea of the depth of the walls - it would have taken serious firepower to have damaged, let alone blow a hole in these walls.

The main gun battery overlooking Valletta harbour. These are fired twice a day in the same fashion as they were to welcome the Knights of St. John when their ships were arriving from Europe.

All in all, Valletta was designed and built with the purpose of being a fortress. The city is incredibly defensible, any who would desire to capture this in the days before (and indeed, even during) flight would have had a seriously difficult time doing so. It is evident from the locations and designs of these structures that the city, and island, were deemed to be of extreme strategic significance to the Knights of St. John, as it provided a staging ground from Europe to reach any point within the Mediterranean Sea. Controlling this island would allow a great deal of control over the surrounding waters, and thus, a very strong advantage in terms of trade in the region.

That's all for now - stay tuned in for the next update!

R&S

You Clearly Want to Murder Your Father and Marry Your Mother. The Oedipal Odyssey in Vienna.

Greetings again fans!

So after a long flight from Beijing, I found myself in...Frankfurt? But I thought my trip was going to Vienna? Well, such is the ways of the modern traveler, because I bought a ticket to Vienna, my carrier decided it was IMPERATIVE that I land there, even though I had not planned on spending the day there at all. But all was not lost. I was in Germany, a new country, even if I was only there by technicality - legally, I never left international space. But I digress, whilst there, it was pretty important for me to immerse myself in local culture in the best way that I could.

It was the only culture I could think of on short notice.

No schnitzels to be found, no castles sitting in the middle of the international terminal, but there was beer. So it was that I had my first taste of German beer. I'm not much of one for beers or alcohol in general, but this one was quite nice, I actually found myself enjoying it. I did garner some odd looks from the occasional traveler - it was then that I realised that I was drinking at 8 o'clock in the morning, Frankfurt time. Having spent the entire time in transit between Beijing and Frankfurt, my body thought it was a much later hour in the day, so to hell with it - they can think I'm an alcoholic.

Whatever was in that beer, it was potent - while I wasn't drunk, I certainly was buzzed by the end of it - this caused the transit flight out from there to Vienna to be quite interesting - I was certainly happy to be off on the next leg of my journey, especially now that the flight to Malta had been delayed until the end of the day - I had a full day to spend in Vienna. Fate was on my side, it was time to do something interesting.

One of the very handy things which occurs at Vienna airport's exit terminal is the maps they provide you with - actually, they were more akin to miniature travel brochures with events and locations in the city. Given that I only had a few hours, I decided it would be best if I pursued one of these things. Ladies and gentlemen, it is high time I explained the title of this post:

Foreground: My first ever attempt at a self-taken photograph, more commonly referred to as a "selfie". I am one damn good looking man.
Background: The semi-obscured sign of the Freud museum.

So I was in Vienna, I had about 5 hours til my next flight. What better way to spend my time than to visit the old apartment of the father of modern psychology? The Freud museum is located deep within the heart of the cultural centre of Vienna - the architecture here is absolutely breathtaking (which I will go into some detail with at a later point). The museum itself, while not incredibly large, does contain a significant number of artifacts, many of which belonged to Freud and his family. Upon entering the building, I ascended a flight of stairs which took me to his second floor apartment. The apartment is well preserved, and it is clear that this is a significant historical site in Vienna, not just for the foreign tourist economy, but also for the local citizens. For a nominal entry fee, I was provided with a map of the site, as well as a recorded guided tour of Freud's apartment. From here, I entered the main room of Bergasse 19 (his apartment's address). Within were many items from Freud's travels - he was an avid traveler with an especial love of Italy.

Freud was also an avid reader - pictured here is part of his personal collection, some artifacts from his holidays, as well as some books which he himself had authored.

The room also contained original correspondence between Freud and his family, mostly his brother and wife, both of whom were occasional travel companions of his, however, they were on many occasions also left behind. The original documents were kept behind glass, this did not obscure the fact that Freud was destined to be a doctor, as his handwriting was atrocious. Behold:

Proof that some people are born to be doctors. Legible, but barely.

Yet even more evidence.

The room detailed much about Freud's personal life and hobbies. As noted above, he was quite an avid traveler. Also of note, he had a penchant for world history, particularly the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.  There were a few artifacts from his collection scattered about the place, with a few small items in the bookcase here.

The artifact collection in the sitting room. From what was available, Freud seemed fascinated with stone carvings in particular, especially those from the Ancient Egyptian civilisation.

The right hand side of the same display shows less decorative, and more useful items, with various vases and carafes.
The top row of this display showed a few of Freud's personal items which have survived the Nazi Anschluss.

The room's walls had also been creatively used as an information canvas in places. For a man with such a reputation as Freud has, being the father of modern day psychology, one would expect him to be a fairly stern and studious man. While he was certainly studious, stern couldn't possibly be further from the truth. Freud is known to have had a rather playful streak in him, often engaging in playing various games with his children and others. It also seems he wasn't above the odd prank, however, this aspect seemed to be a bit more downplayed compared to his love of games.

Information detailing Freud's love of game. Perhaps not all too shockingly, the man also had a rather competitive nature.

The best photo of the holiday so far. I call this masterpiece "The Blur". A truly inspirational photograph which delves deep into the darkest recesses of a person's mind, rooting out their innermost fears and their darkest thoughts. If one pays especially close attention, or treats this as a Rorschach test, one may see some familiar words which detail the antiques which Freud has on display. If this is the case, you should immediately turn yourself in to the nearest psychiatric institution. If, however, you saw a goat eating a pickle, carry on your merry way, my perfectly sane friend!

Next room across was the bedroom of Freud's sister-in-law. The room overlooked the street as well, which, with Viennese architectural styling, meant that decent views were to be had at all times - although I do suppose that it would have seemed rather old hat to a seasoned Austrian, as opposed to a visiting Australian. There were not any real items of interest from the sister-in-law, however, there were some items from Freud himself:

Freud's glasses and fountain pen. To be honest, I'm surprised that either of these two have survived, especially the pen, it doesn't seem like an item which would be considered of great significance.

This room was fairly empty. The walls themselves had some more information on them, however, it was a much more sparse room when compared to the impressive lounge.

Some more information detailing Freud's hobbies. So far, we have the fact that he loves travelling, enjoys collecting artifacts from the ancient world, played a lot of games, and was an avid reader.
This all sounds a little too familiar - time to quit teaching and start psycho-analysing instead.

A noticeboard full of clippings of various sightings of the elusive Freud. While it is not clear here, he had been found in many countries - evidenced by the multitude of languages in which the texts were written. This is where the Freud was quite different to his elusive counterparts, the Loch Ness Monster and the Abominable Snowman - those evasive beings are content to play hide-and-seek in small contained areas. 

The next room was also quite small - another bedroom, Freud's in this instance. This one primarily detailed the problems that Freud faced with Hitler's policy of Anschluss (that is, the reclamation of Austria as a part of Germany during the late 1930s). Given Freud's Jewish heritage, this was not particularly good news for him, as the Third Reich did not have a particularly good track record with its treatment of foreigners, Jewish foreigners in particular. Unfortunately, many of the documents were behind glass and under bright lights - it made good photographs of these impossible to attain. I did, however, manage to get a good shot of the "Escaping the Third Reich" Fee. Freud's family was only able to pay for this due to the help of some members of the British royal family, thus proving that in order to get something in life, it is not only a case of what you know, but also, who you know, as this same offer of clemency was offered to precious few others.

Dear Sigmund, it would do me a great service if you were to pay me exactly One Million Deustchmarks before you flee my wrath. With the greatest respect, Adolf Hitler.

"But R&S!", you exclaim, "Surely you didn't spend the entire time in Vienna looking at a man's house?" To which I reply "certainly not". Allow me, ladies and gentlemen, to begin detailing the second part, and certainly more professionally focused part of the museum. Freud's office. This was located in the same building, even on the same floor, however, it dominated the entire back half of the apartment. While the front half was somewhat changed to accommodate the Freudian artifacts, the back half was a perfect replica of Freud's sitting room, office and study, complete with original furniture.

The entrance hall allowed Freud's patients to enter the premises without going through the private living quarters of the apartment - he had a small entryway, a little brass plaque bearing his name and his doctoral title, and a small sitting room with some chairs for those who were waiting to have their brains prodded and probed, all whilst a bearded man in glasses worked out ways in which he could proclaim that all of the male clients hated their fathers and loved their mothers a bit too much. But I digress, on with the show!

Professor Doctor: A title for when you really want to rub your degrees in people's faces.

The entryway to the hall of undiscovered nightmares.

Another portion of Freud's small artifact collection. While most of the items are from Egypt, there are some things from other ancient cultures, including Mesopotamia, Greece and some Chinese pieces too.

A cabinet. One of Freud's. Not much more to say about it, but I've got it, why not include it?

Another cabinet, this one was used as a bookcase to keep the various volumes of texts that Freud engaged with.

Freud's sitting room. This area was cordoned off from the public, as these are all original pieces of furniture. The lounge in the background is *the* lounge of fame - the one in which people would lay and talk to Freud in a purely conversational manner until some conclusions could be reached.
The glass cabinet in the centre contains an original of one of Freud's works. That or it is the Necronomicon from Army of Darkness

Crossing the threshold and delving one layer deeper into the Freudian lair, I entered Freud's office - If the other rooms had some information, this was a veritable library of all things Sigmund Freud. The walls were covered in books, correspondence and images of Freud's life and life's work. The room, by contrast to the sitting room, was strangely bare - not much was in here, save for a single pedestal in the centre of the room:

Freud's Microtome - Don't ask me what a psychologist has need of this for, but apparently they do, especially as this is one of the least physically invasive of all medical professions.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything else of particular interest in here - there was one poster showing cocaine, and a quick explanation that Freud had experimented with it - surprisingly, not in a misspent youth, but as a part of research to see if it would help patients find clarity. One of his friends was a rather heavy opiate user, and Sigmund Freud helped ween him off of the drug with cocaine. Surprisingly, it worked, and the friend was able to kick the habit. Freud himself tried some of it, and didn't like the effects. 

Moving into the final room, I found my favourite item from the museum - Freud's reading chair. Freud had the seated posture of a five year old - that is to say, if he found a piece of furniture, he did not sit in it as the construction of the piece was intended. Freud would often sit with a leg flung over one of the arms of the seat (mind you, I am not talking about a big padded sofa arm, I'm talking about a hard, wooden arm-rest - this would have been a hard position to be comfortable in for very long due to a cut in circulation). He would also tip his head back, hold his arms at a high angle and read, apparently maintaining this position for ages at a time. Rather ironically, a good friend of Freud questioned his sanity for this particular seating arrangement, and had the following seat commissioned for him:

This is Freud's reading chair. The sign be damned, I wanted to sit in it! It does look rather comfortable.

Having reached the end of the museum and with a couple of hours to spare, I ventured out into the blazing summer warmth, ready to continue exploring the city, her architecture and her culture. About 500 metres off in the distance, I saw what can only be described as magnificent. I made my way towards the structure, inching my way, closer and closer. It was about half way toward it that I was struck by a though. I was on the streets, alone, a stranger in a strange land, and yet...

I had no fear of the drivers.

The rules seemed to be re-implemented. The lights were red, people stopped. Speed limits were obeyed, as were the usual conventions about sticking in your lane, and more importantly, driving in such a manner that would make colliding into oncoming traffic impossible. Everyone, from the personal cars, commercial vehicles and public transport. Not a single one did anything contrary to the rules. It was an odd feeling of freedom. I made significant use of this to explore as far and wide as I could in Vienna. With a new-found spring in my step, I made my way to the building off in the distance. Behold:

Long distance shot of the building in question. The ordinary (if they can be called such) buildings in town were also immaculately maintained. It really felt like walking though a piece of history itself.

Another long distance shit, but getting closer. It is already incredibly apparent just how large this building is.

The front entrance to the cathedral. Perhaps this gives a better idea of the scale?

I spoke too soon. This thing was enormous!

And so intricately carved. This craftsmanship is what all true artisans strive for!

I couldn't get enough of this cathedral. Unfortunately, it was closed to the public, so I couldn't go inside. I also ran out of batteries after this shot, so you'll have to take the rest of my account at face value. Ultimately, it took me a good ten minutes to walk around the outside of it, spending a good bit of time look at all of the steeples, windows and care which had gone into its creation. The stones were in the process of being washed to bring it back to its original off-white gleam. The Viennese are very proud of their city's architectural history, and it really shone through. There were others similar to this, and the city itself is magnificent, however, the stopover in China had really drained much of the life from my phone. I will return here at some point and finish what I'd started, there is far too much to see and do in this city to finish up in one day. Realising that time was getting short, I began to make my way to a taxi rank. That's when I stopped. I was in Vienna! What sort of a tourist would I be if I didn't stop in a coffee house? I had time to rectify that problem, so in I went to one of the establishments. The art was a bit gaudy for my taste, but I wasn't about to condemn them for that. The coffee was nice, I spent a good fifteen minutes just sitting in the al fresco dining, sipping on a coffee, looking at all of the city, absorbing it all in to memory.

Following this, I went back to the airport. There was a minor delay on the road as it turns out Putin was visiting Austria. Just Putin it out there, did he really need six police vans and two helicopters as a part of his security detail (in the very least, the security detail that I did see)? It does seem a bit excessive at any event. 

Back at the airport, I prepared myself for the worst. And thank goodness I did. As it turns out, Air China's ineptitude carried through to the next leg of my journey, as they had somehow failed to update these tickets as well. I was three hours early, just in time to collect my ticket and relax, so I thought. Just as well that I didn't rock up at the last second, or it would have been another long, boring night in Vienna. You see, Air Malta (the carrier for the final leg) can't organise things at one desk - they have ticket organisation at one desk, and baggage check in at another. Naturally, with all the problems I'd been having, they wouldn't let me leave my baggage at the check in (despite being adamant that I was getting on that plane, by hook or by crook), so I was shifted back and forth, delivering messages regarding my flights. About two hours later, the mess was cleared, and I was allowed into the international flights lounge. Finally! No more stuff ups! No more planes! Freedom was two hours away.

I took the opportunity to check the duty free section for a camera - Vienna didn't stock any unfortunately, so this is something that I will rectify soon in Malta. 

That's all for now, I'll have another update about my Maltese shenanigans soon enough.