WINDY Day In Capital City Of Malta - Eating Rabbit Stew / Death Of Oliver Reed & Midnight Express
Valletta Malta Dec 2025
Transcript
0:03
Today's adventure begins as the
0:04
recording of this Saturday, December
0:06
6th,
0:08
2025. I am heading to the capital
0:12
of Malta, Valleta, I believe it is
0:15
pronounced, and I'm going to do some
0:17
things over in that particular area. I
0:19
just ordered a ride share vehicle, Bolt.
0:22
I'm heading over
0:36
I have arrived.
0:36
I did not come by a horsedrawn carriage.
0:40
Ended up taking the car obviously,
0:44
but the first stop of the day here at
0:46
the capital city is going to be this old
0:49
fort, Fort Elmo.
0:52
Lot of forts here.
0:58
And this one you can do a tour of.
0:58
Getting a Mary Poppins moment here
1:00
feeding the birds.
1:02
>> Tuppets a bag.
1:04
>> Speaking of forts, right across the way,
1:07
I'll talk about it momentarily. Is a
1:09
closed to the public fort that is used
1:12
for movie productions.
1:14
It is not accessible,
1:17
but it's right over there.
1:23
Welcome everyone.
1:23
Adam the Woo here and a friend here next
1:27
to me. I can't tell exactly who it is
1:29
because he's in a coat of armor, but I'm
1:31
inviting you to join me.
1:34
Are you ready?
1:40
>> Actually, he's going to stay here, shall
1:40
we? And before going into the Fort Elmo
1:43
that I am excited about popping into,
1:47
going to look across at the fort that is
1:49
no longer used for tourists, but used
1:52
for filming. from quite a few movies. A
1:54
Troy movie over there. I think they did
1:58
maybe a zombie film. Well, don't quote
1:59
me on that. But they did do Gladiator 1
2:02
and recently Gladiator 2. In fact, you
2:06
can still see some of the Gladiator 2
2:11
Roman
2:13
set pieces. They even built half of a
2:15
coliseum over there on that particular
2:18
spot. Fun fact,
2:21
there used to be a Malta
2:24
a Malta movie commission of some sort
2:26
behind it back there.
2:29
And for a long time, from what I was
2:30
reading online, there used to be a
2:32
Titanic scale model, but it was wasn't
2:34
full size, but it was like a third
2:36
replica size, maybe a quarter replica
2:39
size of the Titanic.
2:44
And it I don't really know where it is
2:44
now. There's a couple opinions online of
2:47
where it's been moved to, but I looked
2:48
at satellite images and couldn't find it
2:50
over there, but it was over there as
2:52
well. A movie that predated the James
2:55
Cameron film.
2:58
Gladiator 2, not as good as Gladiator 1,
3:00
but has some good moments. Gladiator 1
3:03
is just perfection. Gladiator 2, not so
3:06
much, but still worth a watch. Yeah, if
3:10
you zoom in, you can see some of the
3:11
pieces that are still over there. And if
3:13
you look at satellite image, the
3:14
coliseum that they built for Gladiator 2
3:16
has been destroyed. But pretty neat.
3:18
They build they use that old fort for
3:20
filming over there across the across the
3:21
bay.
3:24
Cost of admission to Fort Elmo, €10.
3:28
Not a bad price to walk through a little
3:30
history
3:32
and learn about Malta.
3:57
Great view of not only the bay but also
3:57
as it leads out to the Mediterranean Sea
4:00
out there.
4:01
It's got a lighthouse.
4:08
A better angle of the other fort used
4:08
for filming now. Right over there,
4:18
the Abberrombi battery in 1860, a
4:18
curtain was modified into a case
4:23
battery mounting overlooking the
4:24
entrance of the Grand Harbor.
4:42
Start here to go through Fort St. Elmo's
4:42
history.
5:33
Look at this. Sometimes we get so caught
5:33
up in our own, you know, our own time
5:36
frame and what we're dealing with to
5:37
even think about
5:40
all the stuff that happens in a place
5:41
that is basically just a tourist
5:44
attraction at this point. Got
6:00
a little more current. In the recent
6:00
past going from 56 until 10 years ago,
6:03
2015,
6:06
this board shows a few things. Back in '
6:08
64,
6:10
Prime Minister
6:12
George Borg waving the document of
6:15
independence.
6:16
Malta gains independence from the United
6:19
Kingdom.
6:26
Lash British forces leave Malta
6:26
in 79.
6:36
And in 2004, the signing of Malta's
6:36
accession into the European Union.
6:40
There's George Bush, George Bush and
6:42
Gorbachov in Malta. Signing of the
6:44
agreement end of the Cold War.
6:54
These are impressively big. They're
6:54
probably
6:56
9 ft tall.
7:06
Our south of St. An St. An's Chapel was
7:06
already in existence in 1488
7:09
and was incorporated when the
7:10
construction of Fort St. Elmo in 1552
7:19
happened and the chapel remained. It was
7:19
just built into
8:25
good view of the capital over there.
8:26
Another added thing that's really
8:29
kind of an added bonus to this fort. You
8:32
cannot go down into it.
8:40
But down below, this stood in for a
8:40
Turkish prison in the movie Midnight
8:44
Express.
8:46
A great jailbreak. Well, not really
8:48
necessarily a jailbreak movie.
9:00
true story of a guy who was imprisoned
9:00
in a Turkish prison, 1978 Academy
9:03
Award-winning film, and they filmed a
9:06
good portion of the entire movie right
9:09
down in this area that guests are not
9:12
allowed to go to.
9:15
So many scenes that happened just I mean
9:17
right down there. the main courtyard. A
9:20
lot of the characters
9:23
walking along those railings in their
9:25
rooms, out of their rooms.
9:28
And when you watch the film, you have
9:30
really no idea that the bay, the
9:31
Mediterranean Sea Bay is like right
9:33
there.
9:39
Great cast, great acting, based on a
9:39
true story,
9:41
really dramatic, intense movie.
9:44
The actor that played Bluto and Popeye
9:46
was in it. This is a few years before
9:47
Popeye came out. a couple years before.
9:50
And also, if you watch the film, keep an
9:52
eye out for a young Randy Quay, cousin
9:54
Eddie, who plays a very, very intense
9:58
character.
10:00
And the ramp here, one of the final
10:02
scenes, the ramp at the warden drags the
10:05
main character up is still there.
10:13
Yeah, give it a watch. It was nominated
10:13
for best best picture and won a couple
10:15
Academy Awards as well. Midnight
10:18
Express. And Midnight Express is like a
10:21
prison slang for a jailbreak. I'm doing
10:24
my best to cut my hand around the mic
10:26
with the wind. Very, very breezy day
10:30
here in Malta. And in the movie, this
10:33
stood in for Turkey. It was a Turkish
10:35
prison. But with the water right there,
10:37
I've kind of stepped away by around the
10:39
side of the wall. But when I'm on the
10:42
other side of the wall trying to point
10:43
down into the the prison area, very very
10:47
windy. So my apologies for the wind
10:49
noise
10:59
here where
10:59
this little ramp is that end that ending
11:02
scene and the warden drags up. And that
11:05
is kind of interesting too because it
11:07
really correlates to reality
11:09
when what happens I don't want to give
11:11
any spoilers but what happens to the
11:12
warden and then they dump out onto the
11:15
main road and that main road actually is
11:17
at the top of the ramp. So I'm guessing
11:18
that build that last room the climactic
11:21
ending took place was right over there.
11:24
When I leave out of here I'll go over to
11:25
where that door is and where the end
11:27
scene took place. But it all it all
11:30
matches up.
11:32
Get a more elevated higher view now.
12:04
Really quite the amount of wind up
12:06
Get that seab breeze.
12:15
More of a historical history of this.
12:15
The site was formed by the construction
12:16
of the Karatha in in 1689. Technically
12:21
does not form part of the fort.
12:25
In 1978, it served as the set for the
12:27
film Midnight Express. At present, the
12:29
site is not under responsibility of
12:30
Heritage Malta.
12:41
I just can't get over how cool this
12:41
looks. Look at this place. Right on the
12:44
water.
12:44
>> I was looking at a photo I took at the
12:45
one from where Gladiator 2 was filmed
12:47
and Gladiator 1, the Gladiator 1 sets
12:50
were removed and then rebuilt for
12:52
Gladiator 2. But you know what? Maybe
12:54
part of the coliseum they built for
12:56
Gladiator 2 is still over there cuz I'm
12:58
definitely seeing
13:00
definitely seeing a lot of stuff. Look
13:02
at the archway here.
13:09
Yeah, there's still a lot left over
13:10
That's That's pretty cool. And I'm going
13:12
to walk over to a place that one of the
13:14
main actors in the first gladiator, he
13:16
was so great in it playing Brook Simma,
13:19
passed away here in Malta while the
13:22
movie, the first gladiator was being
13:25
filmed in May of 1999.
13:28
And because he was such an intricral and
13:30
main focal point of the movie, they had
13:33
to do some workaround stuff, do some CGI
13:36
and
13:39
have another actor that looked very
13:42
similar, do some of the far away angles
13:44
and things after he passed on.
13:48
But during the filming of Gladiator, he
13:49
was at a local bar
13:53
and had a drinking contest with some
13:55
locals and passed away while they were
13:58
filming
13:59
right over there.
14:02
He one of the best characters in the
14:03
first gladiator. Honestly, the casting
14:04
in the first gladiator is just great.
14:08
Walk Phoenix, Russell Crowe,
14:11
Oliver Reed,
14:14
and I'll go to where Oliver Reed passed
14:15
away.
14:17
It's just down the road from here.
14:54
And as I'm walking over to where the
14:54
very end scene from Midnight Express
14:56
took place outside the gates of the
14:58
fort, take a look at this.
15:04
The movie trail, a selection of
15:04
productions in the lower St. Elmo.
15:09
Of course, the one I've been talking
15:10
about,
15:12
Midnight Express 78, but also in 2013,
15:16
World War Z right there. And how about
15:20
Murder on the Orient Express 2017,
15:24
the 1981 Clash of the Titans. I should
15:27
probably rewatch that. I don't think
15:29
that's the Clash of the Titans I'm
15:30
thinking of. I think there was an older
15:32
Clash of the Titans that had a lot of
15:34
claimation and stuff in it. Also 2016
15:38
13 hours and American Assassin 2017
15:47
all filmed
15:47
at the fort and the very very ending
15:50
scene of Midnight Express happened right
15:52
here at these at this right here. This
15:54
pivotal
15:56
exciting ending happened right there.
15:58
All right. This is wild. The character
16:00
of Billy Hayes again based on a true
16:02
story. Billy Hayes wrote about his time
16:05
at the Turkish prison at this
16:09
place here in Malta was based on it was
16:11
a fictional Turkish prison. But the end
16:14
scene
16:16
where Brad Davis who played Billy Hayes
16:18
goes out of the door, walks right along
16:21
here. So if you watch that scene, just
16:24
look up ending scene of Midnight
16:28
Walks past these windows. These gates
16:30
were not here. These gates were removed
16:32
when they were filming it. Walks past
16:34
this very pillar.
16:37
There was some posters and paraphernelia
16:39
right here along the side of this. He's
16:43
walking very slowly.
16:46
He turns this corner. Can match up all
16:49
these
16:52
the little
16:54
size of the corner pieces, etc. as he
16:58
turns out of there, passes by both of
17:01
these windows.
17:13
I was just re-watching the scene. So for
17:13
anybody that knows the movie and watch
17:15
or could find that in scene, he walks
17:17
past this and I thought it was like a
17:21
thought was like a drainage pipe and in
17:22
fact it's like a metal pole that is all
17:24
bent out of shape but in 78 it was a lot
17:27
straighter and I think it was maybe to
17:30
hold this gate open but they removed the
17:31
gates and again he walks right past this
17:35
past all the post past all the posters
17:40
and around the corner.
17:49
Very iconic. Very, very iconic.
17:49
Academy Award-winning. Iconic to be
17:52
exact.
17:57
It's one of those movies that sticks
17:57
with you. You watch it and then you
18:00
think about it afterwards.
18:03
Sticks with you.
18:06
It's worth a watch. It's a It's intense,
18:07
but it's worth a watch.
18:10
Just to give an example, there's that
18:11
metal pole there that is now completely
18:14
bent out of shape. That's when he walks
18:17
right past there. And you can see I was
18:20
saying all the posters that were on the
18:21
side of the wall. Metal pole there.
18:24
Walks down this way. Dirty alleyway now
18:28
blocked off. Non- entry into the fort.
18:32
There you go. for all the movie nerds
18:53
All right, now walking up the steep
18:53
hill. Lot of hills here in Malta.
18:57
Look at the retro 7Up sign. Like a
19:00
cherry 7up sign.
19:09
Walking up to the bar. All right, there
19:09
it is. The pub. The last place Oliver
19:11
Reed ever stepped foot inside of. He had
19:15
a big bar tab, never paid the bar tab,
19:17
and passed away right inside of there
19:19
while filming Gladiator. It's a very,
19:21
very small, very small little area.
19:25
There was a sign on the side of the wall
19:27
that said amount of people that could
19:29
fit in here was 24 people. I think
19:30
there's more people sitting in the
19:31
tables outside than there were inside.
19:34
And the place has basically become an
19:36
homage
19:38
to Oliver as well.
19:42
Really are promoting the fact that he
19:44
passed away here. In fact, they have
19:46
shirts that had his bar tab on it as
19:49
well and lots of other different items
19:51
and photographs. And they really do show
19:55
the fact that this is the last place
19:57
that that he was at before he passed
19:59
away. And I'm noticing all along the
20:01
streets here, there are hundreds of bars
20:03
like this size. I wonder why he chose
20:05
that one in particular. But yeah,
20:07
stopped in, checked it out within
20:10
walking distance to where they were
20:11
filming the first gladiator. So maybe
20:14
that was kind of his watering hole
20:16
during all of it. I think I'm going to
20:18
walk over to a basilica that's over in
20:20
this area. Kind of a little tiein to
20:24
yesterday's episode. Oh, this is a
20:26
Universal store, not affiliated with the
20:29
movie company and/or theme park, I would
20:31
imagine. Just to show how how hilly
20:36
Malta is, the capital city of Malta.
20:38
Look at that going straight. It kind of
20:40
reminds me of San Francisco a little
20:41
bit.
21:13
very steep.
21:13
They even have these little steps off to
21:15
the side where you can walk in the road.
21:44
This is St. Paul's Pro Cathedral.
21:44
Again, as yesterday I said, there's
21:47
a lot of St. Paul represent represented
21:51
all around Malta. And this is no
21:54
exception. Let's hop inside here and
21:55
check it out. See what it looks like
21:56
inside.
22:08
This cathedral was built by a queen in
22:08
1839.
22:11
The construction cost being financed
22:14
from her own purse.
23:45
a lot of really fascinating carvings
23:46
through town here.
23:48
You see this guy with the big beard and
23:50
he's holding a looks like a sword of
23:53
some sort.
23:59
Here's some specifics.
23:59
Eliah St. Sallaya
24:01
could be incorrect on that. But yeah,
24:04
big shopping district, a lot of
24:06
restaurants, bars, places to purchase
24:09
things. Lot going on, especially since
24:12
it's the weekend right now. There's a
24:13
lot of people out walking around as I'm
24:15
filming this. It's a Saturday. There are
24:17
restaurants set up all the way down the
24:18
side of the stairs in the hill here.
24:21
Look at this. Of the cathedral andor
24:24
basilica here. I probably should at some
24:27
point get some quintessential Maltes
24:30
food, right? In fact, I don't think I've
24:32
had any quintessential Maltese food
24:35
since I've been here.
24:38
Now would probably be a good day to do
24:39
that. A lot of eating establishments
24:41
through here. There's a sculpture right
24:43
here of Enrico Mizy. Passed away in
24:48
1950,
24:49
148 born in 1885.
24:52
He overlooks the basilica or he's
24:54
looking at the basilica
24:56
and appears as if over here in front of
25:00
the cathedral
25:02
is a nice manger scene. I love a good
25:04
manger scene. There's one right over
25:05
here. Oh, there you go. You got little
25:06
baby Jesus down here, Mary, Joseph,
25:09
three wise men, etc. Very nice. Very
25:12
nice soup of the day, which I think has
25:14
to do with rabbits. Here's the special
25:17
local pork, traditional rabbits,
25:19
skillets, maltes, fras. Those would be
25:22
like fries, I think, maybe. Right there.
25:24
So, I guess they're they're one of the
25:26
big things they have here is a rabbit
25:28
soup. Got some Roman-esque architecture
25:32
right over here. And then you pan around
25:34
past the different restaurants and
25:36
gelato stands,
25:38
etc. And they have their Christmas
25:40
market going on down here. So, there's a
25:42
big Christmas tree. And here are the
25:45
city gates. the gates to the city,
25:48
capital city of Malta right there. Those
25:51
are the city gates.
25:54
There's a big ferris wheel over there.
25:57
The hustle and bustle of the capital
25:58
city of Malta and a big Christmas tree.
26:02
>> All right, I'm going to go in on the
26:04
rabbit stew, which is right down here.
26:06
And there's a special Maltese bread.
26:07
These are the two Maltese dishes. So,
26:09
that's what I'm going to get over here
26:11
at Emanuel Delicata. Yeah, I don't know
26:13
if a lot of this stuff would be my go-to
26:15
right up my alley type of stuff. Snails
26:18
and sauce, rabbit liver, beef liver,
26:22
tripe and tomato sauce, horse meat stew,
26:27
pig trotters,
26:29
rabbit spray. I mean, I'm going with the
26:30
stew. Hoping there's enough other stuff
26:32
in there to kind of I don't know. Some
26:34
of the stuff's a little too much for me.
26:36
I ended up ordering rabbit stew and I
26:39
ended up ordering some Maltese bread and
26:42
Coca-Cola right here. See how it is.
26:45
Rabbit stew soon to be delivered. All
26:48
right. Evidently, this is the Maltese
26:50
bread. I was thinking it was going to
26:51
have It almost looks like pizza. It's
26:53
got all kind of stuff on it right here.
26:54
This is Maltese bread. It's like thinly
26:58
thin pieces of bread and it's just got
27:00
all kind of stuff on it. It's almost
27:02
like a cavalcade of like salsa and
27:05
greens and all kind of stuff. I was just
27:08
thinking it was going to be regular
27:09
bread that I could soop up the stew
27:11
with, but hey, this looks pretty dang
27:13
good. This looks really good. It's
27:15
almost like you could just a little bit
27:17
of everything with the kitchen sink is
27:18
on this bad boy. All right, it has
27:20
arrived. This is the rabbit stew.
27:25
Looks like it's more rabbit than it is
27:26
stew with the stew stuff over the top of
27:28
it. Also, some fries came in here. I was
27:31
expecting more of a pot of stew with
27:33
little pieces of rabbit meat, but it's
27:34
like it's a it's a good chunk of it.
27:36
It's got some curry down in there, some
27:37
peas, some potatoes,
27:41
lots of curry curry, but it definitely
27:42
got some curry flavoring down in there.
27:45
Yeah, it's not bad. And I wasn't
27:47
expecting these, but little potato
27:50
chips. Potato
27:52
fried potatoes. Almost like almost like
27:54
fries, but they're more in a circle. All
27:56
right, I did it. I had my first Maltese
27:59
meal. a meal from the country of Malta,
28:03
a rabbit stew, which it was. I don't
28:06
know if I'd ever get it again. I like
28:07
the flavoring of it, but I don't know
28:08
about the whole full rabbit in front of
28:11
me. But yeah, I did it. And I can say I
28:13
finally had some Maltese delicacies. All
28:16
right, going to continue strolling
28:18
around looking at the tree here from
28:19
this other angle. And the restaurant I
28:21
ate at was right there.
28:24
Arrived now over here at St. John's Co.
28:27
cathedral, which I want to step inside
28:29
of. €15 [music] to enter.
28:34
There's a piece of art in here I really
28:36
want to see. Beheading
28:39
of John the Baptist. Very famous
28:48
piece of Christian art.
28:48
Look at the ground.
28:51
Look at the graves down here.
29:13
Yeah, this is very
29:13
very beautiful.
30:03
And just like the Sistine Chapel,
30:03
there are paintings along the roof or
30:05
the ceiling I should say.
30:39
Going into the oratory now, which is all
30:40
where all the paintings are.
30:59
Famous painting. The beheading of John
30:59
the Baptist.
31:55
Lot of hills in Malta, especially in the
31:55
capital city.
31:57
Lot of hills, a lot of stairs.
32:07
In fact, one of the most famous poems
32:07
about the country of Malta is about
32:10
stairs.
32:13
And I can see why by Lord Byron.
32:17
Call Farewell to Malta.
32:20
Adue you cursed streets of stairs.
32:24
How surely he who mounts you swears.
32:40
So that's that's level. That's the
32:40
that's Look at this car going down the
32:42
slurp side there. Motorcycle going down
32:45
sideways. Very San Franc San Francisco.
33:05
I mean, look at this.
33:06
Look at this.
33:08
How awesome is that?
33:11
Ah,
33:13
that is picturesque. I
33:22
>> think it's missing some missing some
33:22
numbers here.
33:31
>> This really is a beautiful place. Very
33:31
very beautiful. And the sun will be
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setting soon. You can see dusk right
33:36
around the corner. A little bit of the
33:38
glaze of the sun peeking up about or
33:41
down I should say behind that fort over
33:46
I assume it'll be over the horizon. One
33:47
thing that's good about sunsets
33:51
when it bounces off clouds, it's really
33:53
nice. Kind of adds to the sunset a
33:55
little bit than if there was a non
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cloudy day. I'm really happy it didn't
34:00
didn't rain today even though it's wind.
34:02
Very windy. Very windy. There's another
34:04
fort over here. A lot of forts.
34:07
A lot of forts here in Malta.
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Ah, beautiful. Beautiful place. Think
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I'm going to grab a ride share, go back
34:16
to my hotel, and relax.
34:39
Definitely filed this episode under.
34:39
Wow, there was a lot of wind.
34:46
If that is a category that you can file
34:46
things underneath, that could be where
34:49
this one could be filed underneath.
34:52
Wow.
34:53
Sure is a lot of wind in that there
34:56
video. That could be what this
34:59
particular episode could be categorized
35:00
under if you're filing it under
35:02
something. Isn't that interesting? Look
35:05
at these. Look at these the windows up
35:07
there. That is kind of unusual to see
35:09
that that high up. that style of
35:12
architecture. I like that.
35:14
And there's a playground. All right, I
35:16
made the commute back over to Milha.
35:24
Had the Bolt driver drop me off just
35:24
down the way from my hotel. I like this
35:26
little spot here. This is where the
35:28
prime minister lived from 1911 to 1980.
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Or at least the prime minister building
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right here amongst
35:36
all the new buildings in Millie.
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Look at this relic. Beautiful.
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And that's going to do it for today
35:48
from Malta.
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I'll see you in the next video. The
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vlog. Oo, it's windy. The vlog
36:04
is over.