Republic Day Celebrations in Valletta

This past Sunday we got up early - well earlyish and set off to Valletta to the market. I thought I already knew where they held the market, so we got off the bus and went through the entrance gates to the city, heading for Republic Street which is where I 'knew' the market was. The first thing that became evident was the Pulizia presence. We hardly ever see police anywhere, but there were lots of police and then as we came up to St. George's Square there were crowds everywhere, a stage had been set up in the square and we asked what was about to happen. A parade. Great - we love pomp and circumstance, and the next couple of hours was filled with pomp. Having grown as a soldier's daughter I was well used to the parade that followed - and there is video attached. The Maltese Army, whose dress uniform is exactly the same as my father's, were out in force. They were lead by their marching band who were excellent, and then mounted soldiers on beautiful horses, followed by the foot soldiers, followed by a lovely old Rolls Royce Bentley carrying the President and his wife, who really looked the part wearing a lovely Ascot style hat. By the time we got to the Square it was pretty difficult to get a good look at the proceedings, but we could certainly hear the Company Sargeant Major directing his men to 'show off'their skills to the President and the people. The band played, the soldiers marched and the people, including us thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. I must say that I wasn't at all prepared for the sound when they removed their bayonets and fired a round of blanks into the air. The report reverberated all around the square, bouncing off the buildings; it made me almost jump out of my skin. And then of course everyone laughs nervously, and then they did it again, just a deafening, but not quite so shocking as we knew it was coming. It doesn't come through the mike on the camera quite as loud as it was, but you get the idea. We never did get to the market, it wasn't where I 'knew' it was. We walked back to the marina and joined in with a dock party which was very nice. A picture is attached of the group of liveaboards. Unfortunately Tony had gone to get more beer during the photo take, so he's not in it.

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