Travel Report: EPT13 Malta, Day 5 -- Back to Valletta

Today on the European Poker Tour I moved over onto the EPT Malta Main Event to help cover Day 1b of that one. Had the late shift, though, and so had a chance early in the day to truck back over to Valletta with my friend and colleague Howard to explore a little more.

On my first day here I only walked a short way into Valletta proper, only really grabbing a bit to eat with Gareth and not exploring the area too greatly. So it was very nice to get back over and to do so with Howard who not only has been here before but has done some actual travel writing about Malta and so provided lots of information about everything we saw.

We took a cab over that let us off at the Upper Barrakka Gardens, and we initially stepped over to the Saluting Battery that looks out over the Grand Harbour. We were there a little early for the midday salute, but greatly enjoyed the view looking back across the water into the city. Howard explained some of the history surrounding the building of the battery by the Order of St. John back in the 16th century and the story of the “Great Siege” of 1565 when the Ottomans were famously held back there.

From there we took the short walk through the very crowded streets (especially for a Monday, we thought) to St. John’s Co-Cathedral where we joined hundreds of other tourists going inside for a look.

Built in the 1570s by the Order of St. John and dedicated to John the Baptist, the exterior doesn’t seem all that immediately striking, featuring a somewhat plain style. It kind of looks like the battery, really, and I’m reading that “fortress”-like appearance might have been intended somewhat as it was built just after the Great Siege. Step inside, though, and the interior’s dazzling decoration is quite stunning, with every inch of the carved stone walls, marble floors, and painted ceilings filled with artistic expression full of symbolism and/or contributing to various narratives.

The audio guide helped explain the certain aspects such as the painted vaulted ceilings, the tombstones in the floor, and the intricate tapestries hung all about. I took a few photos, though none are particularly great (that’s one of mine up above from the battery, which you can click to embiggen). Better to watch this short video that more or less replicates much of what I saw (with a soundtrack added and minus the huge crowd):

The highlight, though, were the paintings by Caravaggio, in particular the famous oil painting of The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist depicting his execution. (No photo/video allowed where those were, so they aren’t in the video.) It occupies the far end of the Oratory, taking up the entire wall and inviting the close study it deserves. Indeed, after a lengthy time looking upon it and discussing it, it was almost difficult to leave and look at other Caravaggios on the adjoining walls, it casts such a gripping spell.

We did leave, however, and after exiting the cathedral did some more walking. As we did I recalled how Caravaggio had also painted at least one work depicting card players, called The Cardsharps. I had that in mind because of having recently gone back over some of the history of Cassius M. Coolidge’s “Dogs Playing Poker” paintings for an installment of Poker & Pop Culture, for which some have suggested Coolidge modeled the canines and their holding of cards after Caravaggio (and some other artists).

Not far from the cathedral is the Casa del Commun Tesoro where Malta’s first post office was once located. In the early 19th century the British used the building for certain governmental administrative work, and as a plaque on the outside explained the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge worked there as the Acting Public Secretary from 1804-1805. That led me to discuss having in the past taught “Xanadu,” “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” some of the Biographia Literaria and other STC works, and studying still more like “Christabel” and “Frost at Midnight.”

If I’m retracing our steps correctly, from there we circled back through more busy streets in search of a lunch spot Howard remembered, but unfortunately was closed on Mondays, then proceeded back around to the Lower Barrakka Gardens and then walked back up the coastline to where we originally began. I may get one more chance to get out and about (have one other late shift coming up, I believe), but regardless it was a fantastic opportunity to get a look around and absorb even just a small bit of Malta’s rich history.

By the time we were in the cab heading back over to the Portomaso Casino we were already talking poker again, and the day provided some interesting battles as well, the most significant of which you can read about over on the PokerStars blog. No “Great Siege” mind you, but some spirited defenses and attacks nonetheless.

That City That Never Sleeps

Had big fun yesterday goofing around Manhattan with Vera. We were staying Newark, and so it was a simple enough matter to take the train over and spend the day.

We arrived at Penn Station around noonish, then decided to hoof it up to the Museum of Modern Art (perhaps a one-and-a-half mile walk). Was a relatively warm day, with the winds that had been whipping pretty hard all week having died down a bit, which made for a pleasant journey. And of course there was no shortage of things to look at along the way.

I mentioned how we’d visited NYC a few times before. There was even one brief moment way back in there somewhere when we had contemplated a grad-school related move to New York, but we never did. As much as we like NYC, we ain’t really made for living in such a place. (Not that there are such places like it anywhere else.)

As we walked up 7th Avenue I thought occasionally about my novel, Same Difference, which I set in NYC back during the 1970s. Some of the story takes my detective into the old grindhouse scene of Times Square, an area which has obviously changed considerably since then.

Indeed, there are barely any vestiges of that era anymore. Am reading this morning about the passing of Ed Koch during the night, another incentive to think back to that time. Koch became mayor of NYC in ’78, just a little after when my novel is set. Thus he came in when all the bars, sex shops, and the theaters still dominated the landscape there at Broadway and 7th. Really wasn’t until Giuliani and the ’90s that it all began to disappear.

We’d been to the MoMA before, but nonetheless enjoyed the return trip to see The Starry Night, The False Mirror, Three Musicians, The Scream, Campbell’s Soup Cans, and more. Again, I couldn’t help but think about writing novels and being creative, as it’s impossible to wander about and look upon such things without being inspired.

We enjoyed a late lunch the cafe on the fifth floor, then made our way back down 7th to Penn.

By then the temps had dropped and the wind had picked up, making the return trip a bit more arduous. But we still enjoyed ourselves, including when we took a moment to stop in front of the interactive billboard at Forever 21 (near 45th and 7th). That’s us in the lower left corner. Vera is waving. (Click to enlarge.)

Now, of course, I’m heading right back out the door as my trip to France begins later today. Will be flying to Paris overnight, and then will be at EPT Deauville for the entire week, with the tourney going from Sunday through Saturday.

Am already thinking about Sunday’s Day 1a and how when play concludes I’ll most certainly be finding some way to watch the Super Bowl which will be kicking off after midnight there. This will be the second time I’ve followed the Super Bowl from France, actually, the last time coming during the year Vera and I lived in Lille. Listened to Denver beat Green Bay on Armed Forces Radio in the wee hours in our tiny apartment, I remember.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, me and the others who write over at Ocelot Sports did a fun little roundtable in which we weighed in on 20 prop bets (from the hundreds) for Super Bowl XLVII. Click here and check out whether we think there will be a safety, whether or not LeBron James will outscore the 49ers on Sunday, and our studious opinions on the coin toss.

While I’m linking out, let me also point you to a contribution I made over at All Vegas Poker detailing “Nevada Taking the Lead for Legal Online Poker.” Kind of an exciting moment for Nevada and online poker, with licenses having been approved for several operators and technology providers, and games likely to launch within a few months.

Meanwhile, I’ll start checking in again here on Sunday once I’m in France to share a few poker pensées from my visit. Definitely looking forward to the trip. Ought to be a scream.