This cache is a letterbox cache. It means that inside the container you will find a (self inking) rubber stamp to stamp your own records and that it is essential to bring your own rubber stamp and stamp pad along to sign the logbook! The rubber stamp inside the container is part of the cache and NO trade item!
The walk is about 3 km and will last about 1,5 hours if you find all answers in the first attempt. Except the final location all stages are easy to access although I doubt that they are suitable for handicapped persons. The final location may be visited with a pushchair but that is something you have to decide yourself.
For these reasons the terrain is rated 2,5 stars, the difficulty 2 stars for the tricky answer/s inbetween.
Update 24th of August 2012: it seems that it is necessary to raise the difficulty rating to 3,5 stars as the task to find the right way is more challenging than I thought it to be.
We start our walk in the Upper Barraka Gardens with a fantastic view of the historic Grand Harbour. Look out over the creeks and the three cities of Vittoriosa, Senglea & Cospicua (also known as Birgu, L-Isla and Bormla) and imagine what they must have looked like crammed with British warships and merchantmen.
In the closing years of the 19th Century, Britain had an Empire and, believe it or not, the tiny island of Malta had a railway! It ran from Valletta to Mdina and was known locally as Xmundifer (a delicious corruption of Chemin de Fer – in Maltese the letter X is pronounced SH).
The Malta railway is going to provide the loose theme for this cache.
Directly below you as you look out over the harbour is the Saluting Battery. If you are here at noon you will be treated to a salvo from the ceremonial canon. How many canon can you see?
Answer A: There are ____ canon on the saluting battery.
Update 5th of May, 2013: For unknown reasons it seems that the number of canons is not the same every day. To avoid the frustation of wrong numbers I will give you a kind of checker for this question.
On your way till the last stage you will come across the statue of a former prime minister. His name has the same number of letters as there have been canons at the time I wrote the listing.
Once you have had your fill of views of the Grand Harbour (will you ever have enough?), leave the Upper Barraka Gardens, and cross the road so that you are in front of the „Auberge de Castille“. There are two canons on the steps of the Auberge. Directly in front of the building is a roundabout. The roundabout is a miniature botanical garden with seasonal plants scattered amongst date palms. The second question concerns the number of palm trees that are planted around the circumference of the roundabout.
Answer B: There are ____ palm trees planted around the circumference of the roundabout.
Walk down the street until you cross Republic Street. At this corner you will find yourself next building that was destroyed by AXIS bombers during the second world war. It is now undergoing a transformation and will be an openair theatre in the future. The (former) ruins reminded us of the dark days when the area around the Grand Harbour was the most heavily bombed place on earth. What has this building been before the war?
If you don't have an idea – just ask one of the locals. They are quite friendly and will probably know the answer before you have finished your question.
If you think that the building was an indoor market, then answer C = 1 If you think that the building was the Opera House, then answer C = 2 If you think that the building was an The Malta Stock Exchange, then answer C = 3
The railway station where the journey to Mdina began is now burried under the new parliament building. Rumour says that the old station will be transformed into a Café but if it will be open to the public I do not know. Leave Valletta through what once has been the City Gate and look out across the place in front of you. In the center is the famous Triton Fountain which may or may not be working when you visit. Count the number of figures supporting the massive bowl.
Answer D: There are ____ figures supporting the bowl
On the other side of the roundabout you will see the shining gold top of the Royal Airforce Memorial. Make your way towards it but be very careful of the buses! A few meters past the memorial is a huge underground car park which I believe bisects the original railway tunnel. In front of you now you can see the church of St Publius, named after the Roman Governor of Malta who was converted to Christianity in AD60 by none other than St Paul following his well documented shipwreck. In front of the church is a large square which covers a network of underground granaries (more of this later). To the right of the church from your viewpoint, is a long garden – the Maglio Gardens also called ‘The Mall’. Make your way to the „Indipenza“ statue just outside and to the north of The Mall. Check the inscription on the statue and make a note of all three parts of the date that Malta became independent.
Answer E is the day: ____ Answer F is the month: ____ Answer G is the year: ____
The railway tunnel runs somewhere under the garden. Works started from Valletta as well as from the Floriana station. During the excavation the railway tunnellers found an ancient reservoir built by the Knights and had to divert around it but even without hightech equipment the tunnel tubes met exactly where they should. Various prominent Maltese citizens are commemorated along the central area of the garden. Look for the bust of Sir Hannibal Scicluna, one of Malta’s most emminent (and probably oldest) Historians. Subtract his year of birth from his year of death (which may or may not equal his age) to arrive at the answer for the next question. The inscription on the plinth is a little faint so please look carefully.
Answer H: Death year ____ minus birth year ____ = ____
Leave the Mall by one of the side exits and cross over into the square in front of St Publius’. The large stone blocks that you see are actually the covers to the grain stores. Traditionally, and up to the year 1962, the Granaries were used to store grain. They last showed their importance during WW II, when Malta was occupied for several years. How many covers are there in all? Count very carefully because not all rows contain equal numbers of covers! I had to count them several times before coming up with a consistent answer! And beleave me you have to count as the answer only lies in your ability to really count all of them!
Answer I: There are ____ stone blocks covering the grain stores.
Now for the final section of our journey, it is a bit of a walk so gather your strength and walk down Sarria Street till you arrive at the little Sarria Church just behind St. Publius. Across the street you will see what has been the Wesleyan Methodist Church and right hand side the Wignacourt Water Tower. Inbetween you will find the entrance to the very impressive Argotti Botanical Gardens and left of it the remains of the Floriana ticket booth. The Argotti Garden definitely is worth a visit if you are at all horticulturally inclined. There is also a reasonably presentable public toilet. For the purposes of our little adventure, let’s assume you don’t need the toilet and that you will visit the gardens another time. Sarria Street makes a 90 degree turn to the left. Follow it downhill to where it meets the very busy main road. Turn right and walk for a few more minutes until you see the „Porte de Bombes“ straddling the road. Traffic in and out of Floriana passes under or around this gate. How many arches does it have where the traffic can flow through?
Answer J: The Porte de Bombes has ____ arches.
Congratulations, you have answered all of the questions! Now you need to turn the answers to the questions into GPS coordinates to be able to find the cache ….
N 35° [I - E - D] . [G - 1960] [F - D + C] [B - A - C/2]
E 14° [H - I + F - D] . [F + J - A] [C + D] [C]