ascending into the city

ascending into the city

A

I embark on a ferry towards valletta, crossing the marsamxett harbour drifting away from the commercial capital, _________towards an ostensibly introverted city all walled up as if it were intended to be disengaged from the rest.

as the ferry births, I can feel the waves moving towards the shore. the walk through the ruins of a space which had so much life ____but now finds its charm in decay.

I now experience an unprecedented encounter with the sea; the sea rash spraying my skin; the sound of movement just beneath my feet.

B

C

as I rise through the ruins, a very delicate puncture emerges. it appears to be a gate to a more veiled space_____engulfed by this cold steel plate I enter a passage, getting glimpses of what lies on the other side.

I can still hear the sea and the ferry leaving the pier as I walk through the tunnel in front of me, which seems to be getting smaller and smaller.

I burst out between bastion walls and counter-guards so steep and tall ___________I am suddenly dwarfed. emerging through the other end, the city and the authority it was made to convey unfold right before me. still in awe, I realise that this is only the start of a doorway leading to the city.

I can feel a forthcoming energy pulling me to the top _____________at the end of this gate must lie something more.

D

E

moving up the ramp another view unravels to my left. at the end of it, I spot a tram venting out an army of people ___________all coming towards me, populating the path adjacent to the st. andrew’s tenaille.

I continue to make my way up between the tall stoned walls. as I get closer I can hear people talking and rails moving. above me now lies a flybridge which connects the two sides. right in front of me I can start to make out the end of a gate______________ and the beginning of so much more.

F

G

at the top of the incline I find a lobby of negotiation a crisp tension between transition and interaction; commuters distracted and deviated by the haggling of the winding market. people allured to the shelter offered by the stalls; in search of disguise from the blistering sun. an almost serpentine route takes me towards an elevated access into the bastion walls.

Taking this route, I find myself transiting through the city walls; Floating past those sitting in the alcoves which seem to be one with the carven limestone.

Now conscious that I stand in a threshold between the two dimensions.

-

ascending into a city of which my perception has now changed.

H

alexandra abela miguel petrovic daniel xuereb elena zammit