Valletta, Malta

Valletta: View As We Arrived

What a great looking old (and new) city. We didn’t dock until 10am so after sleeping in – again – we had a leisurely breakfast then went to the top deck to watch the ship going into port. The pilot boat came out to meet us and drop off a pilot so we knew we were in good hands. While there we took part in the “Marina Links” golf (putting) contest. If you get a good enough score they give you “Big O” dollars you can spend on memorabilia.
The city of Valetta is the capital of the small independent nation of Malta, 92 km south of Sicily. Valetta is Malta’s largest city developed by the Knights of the Order of St John. St.  John’s ambulance – Maltese cross – are you making a connection??? The Maltese people are a mixture of many Mediterranean cultures but the proximity to Italy shows its influence as many speak Italian.

The old city is walled with limestone. The dock is lined with taxis, buses and horse drawn carriages to take people to the city. We chose to walk the 20 minutes UP to the city in the 90C heat (whew).  We then visited the Archeological Museum, St. John’s Co-cathedral (being Sunday it was, however, otherwise occupied- so we could only have a quick peek in) and the Royal Palace Armory. The palace sentries were standing very still – saw slight movements – tickle, tickle! The Archeological Museum is built on an actual dig site and they left old staircases when they built the building. They have these visible with glass over so you can get the idea and see the actual structures below.  

The Sleeping Lady of Malta

Malta has an interesting history – both archaeological and modern. Many war memorials are evident. In case you are unfamiliar with WW2 history, Malta played a major role in the European war theatre. In fact, the George Cross was awarded to the collective people of Malta. It is the civilian equivalent to the Victoria Cross. This medal is awarded only for acts of the greatest heroism or the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger.

The Armory

We walked down some side streets – very narrow with many having the household laundry airing on lines suspended outside a window. 

Narrow Street in Valletta

After exploring some narrow side streets in Valetta we then headed back to the air conditioned ship for lunch and another round of golf (we now have 5 Big O points!). On our way back we purchased a bottle of the Malta soft drink “Kinnie”.  As it was warm we have it in the fridge cooling for a later trial. It is supposed to be bitter sweet and made from herbs. We will let you all know once we try it. It has been lovely sitting out on our deck, we are on the street side in the shade, watching the activities on the dock and surrounding area.

Later. The soft drink was indeed bitter-sweet with an orange peel flavour -not bad actually.