A Maltese Visit and Rough Seas!

Leaving Crete, we had a day "at sea" before we reached our next port of call which was Malta.  It was so nice to be able to sleep in a bit and not have to get up at 6:30. This is, after all, supposed to be a vacation!  Further, on the journey from Crete to Malta, we crossed a time zone so we gained an hour which meant we could sleep an extra hour. 

The most frustrating thing about the cruise so far is the lack of a robust, not to mention affordable, WiFi.  I purchased an Internet package for $85USD and blew through it in the first three days – and I was just doing email and checking Facebook!  It didn’t even have the capacity to upload photos or post a blog.  That was very, very annoying!

In Malta, we didn’t start our excursions until 9-ish which was another bonus.  Our excursion started with a 30 minute drive to the old capital of Malta called Mdina.  It was nicknamed “The Silent City” because there are few cars, although plenty of horse-drawn carriages, inside the city walls.  Crossing the “moat” and going through the big city gate was a very similar experience to entering Dubrovnik through the old gate there.  We strolled the winding streets stopping to admire the various churches, many in Baroque style.  The buildings were mostly of honey-coloured stone and there were many little narrow alleyways.  They reminded me a bit of San Gimiangno.  The views across the island from the ramparts were amazing.

Sunrise as we sailed into Valletta's harbour

 

Back on the bus, we drove through various villages eventually getting to Valletta, the capital of Malta.  The city was built by the Knights of St. John on a peninsula that is only 1 km by 600 m.  It retains its 16^thC elegance and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.  Because of its location in the centre of the Mediterranean, it has had strategic importance in history, most recently in WWII.  The guide told us that there were more bombs dropped on Malta during that war than on London during the blitz!  Who knew? 

Our walking tour here began in the Upper Barrakka Gardens which has a high vantage point offering spectacular views of the Grand Harbour below. 

Views from the gardens

We walked along the historic streets towards St. John’s Co-cathedral (the guide told us why it is called “co” but I can’t remember and don’t have Google to give me the answer!) and then along Merchant Street to the Grand Master’s Palace.  We paused to take a look at the growing memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia, the journalist who was murdered in a nearby village by a car bomb last week.  There is a lot of controversy about the government here and its potential corruption and money-laundering accusations.
 

Memorial to the murdered journalist

After our tour of the Grand Palace, we had free time until the ship was going to sail around 5.  Daphne and I had lunch with Jane and Mick at a little restaurant on a side street.  She and I shared a platter of Maltese specialties – olives, goat’s cheese, Maltese sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, and some sort of spread made from beans.  We also had an Aperol Spritz, my first of the trip.  While we were there, Jane spotted a man named Bob Bailey who is a famous British comedian.  He quite graciously let us all have our picture taken with him although I took one of him before she asked. 
 

After lunch, we just headed back to the ship.  The weather was warm and I think for all of us, our feet were hurting.  There was a big police presence as there was a big demonstration planned against the government because of the journalist’s assassination.  I saw later on the news that thousands had attended.  It seemed to us to be a good plan to get back on the ship and away from any controversy that might cause.

Later, we all got ready to celebrate Pat and Martin’s 40^th wedding anniversary.  We starting by gathering in Phil and Lek’s stateroom (this one has a bath tub and a walk-in closet!) for wine and canapes.  At 7, we headed down to the Marco Polo restaurant for dinner which included champagne and a lovely cake.  Dinner was excellent – again!  I had a little mushroom and chicken tart following by perch.  It was delicious and, of course, accompanied by the ever-flowing white wine.  Then, we went to the Ambassador Lounge to hear a selection of 50s music.  I had planned to go to bed at that point but was talked into going to the Charleston Lounge for a liqueur:  Amaretto over ice.  Not sure I would have had that if I had known what the upcoming night was going to be like! 

During the night, on our way to Sicily, we ran into some very rough seas.  By 9 a.m., it was truly awful.  I have never been seasick before but, lying in my bed, I felt like I was on the world’s largest, most twisty, winding and never-ending rollercoaster!  I could barely walk across my cabin!  I did manage to take a couple of photos of the rough seas, however.  It is difficult to tell from them that the swells were around 3-4 metres.  I sure think the ship could use more stabilizers!

 

 

I skipped breakfast and stayed in bed until we docked in Palermo.  Finally, I managed to get up and went for some lunch but I decided against taking the afternoon excursion to a cathedral called Monreale.  I gather the mosaics there were spectacular - and someone told me its organ has over 10,000 pipes - but I simply felt like a wet dishrag (not that I actually know what a wet dishrag feels like!) and didn't want to expend the little energy that I had.  It was much easier spending the afternoon sitting on the Lido Deck and reading.  I was not alone in terms of feeling nauseous.  I spoke to lots of people who had had a very rough night – no pun intended! 

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day very quietly and went to be early.  Besides, we had a second day in Palermo so I didn't feel that I needed to do the first excursion.