A day in Valletta. Tuesday 13th May

Arriving in Valletta in the early morning

The fishing boats at Marsaxlokk are all painted like this

Limestone houses and fences. See the prickly pear?

Bougainvillea adds some colour

The guards stand in front of the Parliamentary building. The medal commendation from the King is on the wall. There is one from the US president too but further along the wall

Inside the Grand Master's Palace. Knights don't seem to be much more than 5'4"

The floor in the co cathedral

This is the Azamara Quest's home port

The balconies add a touch of colour in town

HMAS ANZAC was in port today too

Gun number 4 did the job today

Red shutters and balconies, offsetting the old phone box

Funny thing, just as I was feeling my most congested and headachy yesterday thanks to my cold, we were traversing the roughest seas of our journey so far.   There was quite  nasty swell in the instep part of the Italian peninsula. I wanted to take to my bed to ease the pain in my sinuses, but the rocking of the boat made me feel utterly bilious.   In the end being horizontal worked out for the best - and I pretty much stayed in bed all day and dosed myself up.  By the time we were moving parallel to the sole of the Italian 'foot', the seas settled back down again and sleep was possible.

I should also mention that we've had three changes in key personnel here on the ship since our last stop off.  Captain Carl (from Isle of Man), Philip, the manager of hotel services and Russ, the US Cruise Director were all relieved in Venice.  It must be difficult for any new crew to come aboard a ship that is already half way through a cruise but hard to avoid with a long cruise such as ours. Our new captain is Portuguese and has a more formal style than Carl and the new cruise director is from the UK. 

Anyway, we arrived in Malta, which is just off the southern coast of Sicily, shortly after dawn this morning.  Valletta is known as a fortress town and it was light enough to see its high, pale limestone walls as we sailed into port.  It was clearly a very busy port.  An Australian Navy frigate, HMAS ANZAC is berthed next door to us, and shortly after our arrival, the massive Costa Fortuna  carrying 3.5k passengers, docked behind the ANZAC.    The ANZAC has been doing calls around  the Mediterranean all month for the 100th Anniversary of Gallipoli.  It was at ANZAC Cove with us, so this is the second time our paths have crossed.

As I write this at around 7pm, sailors in civvies and Azamara staff and passengers are wandering back to port.  The Costa Fortuna only had a short stay, pulling out at 5:30pm.  Our own departure won't be until 10.00pm but we were back on board long before then.

But back to our day in Valletta.  We bought tickets for the Hop on, Hop off bus, and enjoyed a two hour scenic drive around the southern part of the island:  the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, famous for its brightly coloured boats, the Blue Grotto near Iz Zurrieq and the archeological dig at Mnajdra before we returned to Valletta.

What struck me about the landscape is the monochrome palette- rather like Jerusalem's.  As with Jerusalem, exclusive use of local stone gives the towns a certain homogeneity in style and colour.   I was glad to see some bright pink bouganvillea on the walls, breaking up the monotony.
In Valletta, they use painted doors and balconies, often in red, blue or green, to add a bit of interest too.

After leaving the bus, we entered the town through Republic Street and followed it to the palace built for the Grand Master of the Knights of St John.
We seem to have been following the Knights around the Mediterranean from Jerusalem to Rhodes and now Malta.  Malta was granted to them by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1530 after they were forced out of Rhodes by the Ottomans in 1522.  They remained a force majeur in Malta, building up its defences until the early part of the 19th Century, when they were finally expelled by Napoleon in 1802.  These days they only have an official presence in Rome.

The elaborately decorated barrel arches, massive tapestries and beautifully preserved suits of armour (Knights must have been about my size back then.) in the palace give a fascinating glimpse into how a military order becomes a religious one.

We also visited the 'plain on the outside, fully baroque on the inside' co-cathedral of St John the Baptist.  What an over-the-top church that is. 
Inside there is a famous painting by Caravaggio of The beheading of John the Baptist, some gloriously illuminated music books and elaborately tiled sections of marbled floor in the church and the chapels, tombs of many of the Knights who died during the 16th and 17th Centuries.  They were full of allegory including skull and crossbones, trumpeting angels and images of war and make a fascinating and colourful sight.

Speaking of war, the entire population of Malta was awarded the George Cross by King George VI for its valour during prolonged (154 days I think) and sustained enemy bombardment during the war.  Caves were dug out of the limestone and people sheltered there - safely but not very comfortably from all accounts.
These days there is an elevator taking people from the upper levels of the fortifications (where a cannon is fired every after noon at 4pm) down to the Waterfront shopping precinct.

We were back on board by 5pm, finished dining by 8:30 and getting ready for our next port, Syracuse (Sicily) tomorrow.  Since Vaughan seems to be getting my cold, another early night seems to be called for.