In Guardia

We had been waiting all week to see the In Guardia (or "on guard") re-enactment at St. Elmo's in Valletta.  We got up early, got the bus to Valletta, and walked over to the fort.  It seemed strangely empty, but we had arrived an hour early, so I thought it was ok.   

We walked around the fort looking for an entrance, but couldn't find one.  A few other tourists showed up, presumably for the re-enactment, and were just milling around.  Something didn't seem right to me.

It was now 10:20, the re-enactment was supposed to begin at 11:00.  I went to a cafe near the fort and asked about it.  The guy there said that the fort is under reconstruction and is closed.  He thought there was a parade going on in Birgu though.  CRAP!

Birgu is on the other side of the harbor!  It doesn't look far- by boat anyway.  Thomas thought we could walk around the harbor in 30 minutes, but when we turned a corner and saw how deep into the city the harbor actually goes, I knew we couldn't get there in even 2 hours!

I started cursing my head off.  @#! I will NOT miss this show! I planned it all week! Suddenly, I remembered from our stroll through Valletta the other day, that there were taxis at the Upper Barrakka Gardens near the Saluting Battery.  RUN!  We ran as fast as we could to the gardens.  I'm so badly out of shape, that it was tough for me and I was cursing under my breath the whole way.  It took us almost 15 minutes to get there.  I ran over to a taxi and told the guy that we wanted to go to Birgu, but not just anywhere in Birgu, we wanted to see the In Guardia parade.  I said, "We have 20 minutes to get to this parade, if you can't get us there by 11:00, then it isn't worth it for us to go at all. Another guy in the passenger seat ran and asked someone to confirm it was in Birgu, because they thought it was in nearby Kalkara.  The taxi driver promised we would find it.  How much?  I asked.  "Around 25 euros" he replied.  Ugh.  Fine. 

We sped off; careening around the corners and me feeling car sick.  The clock was ticking.  We got to Birgu, and our taxi driver stopped and asked, in Maltese, where the re-enactment was.  They pointed us off in some direction and when we got there - not it.  Our driver asked some one else, "Aiwa" (yes) they guy replied and pointed us off somewhere else.  Our taxi driver turned around and laughingly said, "They all say they know where it is, but they keep sending us to different places."

Finally!  At 10:55!  We made it!

One thing that is really interesting about the Maltese language, is that it is this weird mix of Arabic and Italian.  Words like, "aiwa & le" (yes & no) are basically Arabic.  But "fine thank you" is "tayeb grazzi". "Tayeb" - "fine" in Arabic.  "Grazzi"- "Thank you" in Italian.  I know a bit of both languages, so it was perfect for me!

The drummers' entrance.

The In Guardia parade is an re-enactment portraying the inspection of the fort and its garrison by the Grand Bailiff of  the Order of the Knights of St. John.  These inspections regularly took place inside important military fortifications in Malta and Gozo.  During the inspections, the soldiers and knights perform a military drill demonstrating to the Grand Bailiff the garrison's state of readiness in the event of a military threat.

Who exactly were the Knights of St. John?  Also knows as The Hospitallers, the Knights were a group of individuals associated with the Amalfitan hospital in Jerusalem, which was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and was founded around 1023 by Blessed Gerard to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land.

The organization became a religious and military order after the Western Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.  They were charged with care and defense of the Holy Land until its conquest by Islamic forces, after which time they shifted their headquarters to Rhodes, and later to Malta.

Thomas got this nice shot of the rifle thingy while I cowered against the wall.

"En guard!"

A split second before the cannon went off! Scared the crap out of me again!  Thanks Thomas for this photo.

Entrance of the guard.

The shooting of the guns!

En guard!

Great show!

My mom told me that her father belonged to the Knight's of St. John, which, today is a fraternal Catholic organization dedicated to helping people. She said he was very proud of it, and was even buried in his uniform. I thought she was wrong and probably meant the Knights of Columbus.  She insisted I was wrong.  I told her I was sure I remembered seeing a picture of him in the uniform and asked her if she could find it and scan it.  Sure enough she was right.

My mother's father in his Knight's of St. John Uniform.

After the show, we took a walk around Birgu before heading over to the Archaeology Museum back in Valletta.

Often described as a "sleeping mother goddess" or Sleeping Lady, the figure is thought to represent Death or eternal sleep.

This figurine known as the Venus of Malta was probably used in religious fertility cults.

That was our last day in Malta.  On New Year's Eve, we headed back to Munich and on to Salzburg for the festivities.