DGĦAJSA

I have copied and pasted the title it is pronounced, I’m told, dice or dye-sa and it is a traditional passenger boat in Malta, roughly the equivalent to an Italian Gondola.

This was our mode of transport this morning on a tour of Valetta harbour and the Three Cities. In my blip we are just about to pass the headland of Birgu (Vittoriosa) on which is situated Fort St Angelo. The fort is out main view so we felt we should give it a closer look. (Beyond the fort you can see Valetta, the arches of the Upper Barrakka Gardens and just below it the street where out appt is situated. I have seen these boats being used for rowing practice in the harbour so maybe they have races.

We spent about two hours wandering around the fort. It was worth a visit having been the seat of the Knights of St John in the early 16th century, though it’s origins are much older. It is much older than Valletta as are the other 2 cities, Cospicua and Senglea. The Knights won victory after a siege by the Ottomans and named Birgu Vittoriosa in celebration, they then started to build Valetta and moved their headquarters there in the late 16th century.
In the early 20th century the fort was taken over by the British and it became the land hub of the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet the whole of which could be moored inside the Grand Harbour. They didn’t leave until 1979.

After struggling to find a table on the harbour front for lunch (it was a feast day) and eating more than planned as there were no snacks on the menu, we walked to Senglea. No fort at the end of this peninsula but a nice little garden with a watch tower adorned by an eye. This tower also had an ear!
(Just read that the symbols on the watch tower represent vigilance, an eye, an ear and a crane.)