City Breaks

This episode gives a little history on the Knights of Malta and explains where to 'find' them in Valletta today.    In fact they’re everywhere, not least in the Maltese Cross you'll keep seeing, on information panels everywhere and in the beautiful buildings they left behind. In fact, they founded the city of Valletta and built it from scratch - Europe's very first planned city. Reading Suggestions The Knights of Malta by Joseph Attard The Shield and the Sword by Ernie Bradford Links for this Episode The Malta Experience and the Holy Infirmary  The Grand Master’s Palace    The Armoury   St John’s Cathedral      City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Valletta series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at [email protected] And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!    

Valletta is a very walkable city and this episode offers three walking routes for exploring it.  They could be done in a day if you want to see all the main sights quickly, or you could spread them out over a few days, linger a little, go into some of the places we pass by and build up an in-depth knowledge of Malta's capital city.  Take a street map with you and you should be able to follow the routes easily.  Reading Suggestions  The History of Malta by Nuria Rehn Fortress Island Malta by Peter Jacobs Ladies of Lascaris by Paul McDonald A Death in Malta by Paul Caruana Galizia Links for this post Our Lady of Victories Church   The Grand Master’s Palace   The Armoury    St John’s Co-Cathedral    Fort St Elmo National War Museum    City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Valletta series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at [email protected] And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!   

Merħba il-Valletta: welcome to Valletta, the capital of Malta.  Valletta is a World Heritage Site, small in scale, easy to explore and known for its stunning coastal views and gorgeous architecture.  Here you can 'meet' such varied characters from history as St Paul, Caravaggio and the Knights of St John and learn some of the island's most inspiring stories: how Malta triumphed during the Great Siege of 1565 and why the island was awarded the George Cross during World War II.     This is the introduction to our Valletta series and the remaining 7 episodes will bring you all the background history and culture you need to really understand the city.  In short, here is all the research you’d do yourself if only you had the time!  See below for reading ideas and useful links. Two useful websites for tourists Visit Malta    Malta Uncovered    3 Guide Books Pocket Rough Guide to Malta and Gozo   Lonely Planet Malta and Gozo Eyewitness Top 10 Malta and Gozo 4 History Books The History of Malta by Nuria Rehn Fortress Island Malta by Peter Jacobs Ladies of Lascaris by Paul McDonald A Death in Malta by Paul Caruana Galizia Maltese Cooking Taste of Malta by Anton B Dougall 2 Novels set in Malta The Kappillan of Malta by Nicholas Monserrat Secrets of Malta by Cecily Blench City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Valletta series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at [email protected] And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated

Our Marseille Anthology includes some travel writing, plus a range of fiction pieces set in the city.  Extracts include Simone de Beauvoir hiking in the surrounding countryside and Jean-Claude Izzo's description of the Italian immigrant community in Le Panier in the 1930s.  The Count of Monte Cristo's daring escape from the Château d'If is here, as are a meal of boullabaisse in a waterside restaurant and a visit to the underwater caves where prehistoric man left artwork behind.  There are even two passages which help explain why Marseille has sometimes been called 'the wicked city'.   Reading Suggestions Wicked City by Nicholas Hewitt Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo Chourmo by Jean-Claude Izzo Solea by Jean-Claude Izzo Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas First Fingerprint, by Xavier-Marie Bonnot The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayl City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had the time! Check our website to find more episodes from our Marseille series or to browse our back catalogue of other cities which are well worth visiting: https://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk We love to receive your comments and suggestions!  You can e mail us at [email protected] And if you like what you hear, please do post comments or a review wherever you downloaded this episode.  That would be very much appreciated!