Malta 3 of 9

We walked past some museums that were not yet open and over to a beautiful fountain with concentric circular carved limestone base. The huge green copper figurines held a massive disc through which dual fountains flowed. Spouting from the pool below another 18 waterspouts arced water into the lower pool. This landmark fountain, named the Triton Fountain,  represents unity and co-operation which is a great symbol for the city. Adjacent to the fountain is Malta's bus terminal, an important public transport hub for people to meet up and travel all over this tiny island. The fountain too is a meeting point for many as it is so accessible and an easy point to find. 

We sat and enjoyed watching locals meeting up, rushing  to catch a bus or just relaxing on the marble seating around the fountain.

We then wandered down some  brick paved  pedestrian-vehicle walkways between tall buildings. By now it was quite warm but the shadow cast by the tall buildings kept us cool. Our only danger was the fact that we shared this thoroughfare with vehicles and at 9.30 in the morning, delivery trucks and vans were constantly backing or arriving hurriedly and it was almost like pedestrians were invisible. I don't know how many times Ken "prevented" me from becoming a statistic but it seems he was vigilant in warning me about near disasters. 

We came across a chapel and entered through the solid 5 metre high doors, to take some respite from the delivery trucks. It was cool inside and peaceful so we sat in a pew and pondered the beauty of this gentle Baroque-style building. It's soft aqua-blue walls, high ceiling droned with massive gilt-edged religious paintings, many graceful columns, graceful arches all blended together in such harmony that we could not help but admire this architectural creation. The light-filled central dome filled the chapel with illuminating light that enhanced the architectural features and drew our eyes to the simple altar with its tall slender white candles. Not usually accustomed to worshipping in an elaborate building we found ourselves appreciating that the creator of this building had sought to create a quite space for people to ponder, worship and thank God for al his provision to Malta - a melting pot in the middle of the Mediterranean which had experienced so many different regimes of rulers over the centuries and still acknowledged God as as central to all of life. We found ourselves spending some time in thanksgiving and prayer to God for his amazing love, care and provision to us. We prayed for the needs of our family and our church family back in Australia. Being still, knowing God's presence within was edifying. 

Wandering outside we continued down several streets, enjoying seeing tourists relaxing outdoor cafes, photographing various buildings and monuments and taking selfies with local vendors. We stopped to view so me local pastries like apple turnovers, croissants, biscuits and sweet looking slices. They were resemble priced but we weren't hungry so we looked and admired only. We were heading for The National Museum of Archaeology which is in Republic Street and was marked on our tourist map. It is housed in a very stylish Baroque building with a grand column entrance, high ceilings, exotic shaped glassed windows, a wide staircase and wonderful paintings on the ceilings and walls.