Masterpiece for Valletta (4)

So the Opera House ruins, though not ancient like Verona or Caracalla, are going to remain ruins to remind us of what enemy bombers did over 60 years ago - not that we are likely to forget it, or that other nations rebuilt their theatres ages...

So the Opera House ruins, though not ancient like Verona or Caracalla, are going to remain ruins to remind us of what enemy bombers did over 60 years ago - not that we are likely to forget it, or that other nations rebuilt their theatres ages ago.

However, when you eventually go to see La Bohême or La Traviata there, don't forget to wear a thick coat and to take an umbrella with you - you might need it.

Should you, perhaps, while shivering in the open, start to get slightly distracted, you could always glance across the way to the magnificently imposing new building which our parliamentarians will have erected for themselves and think, enviously, "I bet they have central heating."

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