October 13, 2016

The ship arrived about 6 a.m. at the Grand Harbour dock in Valletta, Malta.  The Windstar Wind Surf (386 passengers) was already in port.  Temperature was 22 C, some wind and there some cloud in the sky as the sun rose.  We walked around the walking track for two miles before breakfast and were in the theatre to collect our excursion sicker before 8.  The group of 40 was in the bus and on our way five minutes early.  As the bus left the docks, we could see that the Costa Pacifica (3780 passengers) had arrived in port.  The tour started in Valletta, just up the hill.

 Valletta, known as the Fortress City, is located on the Sciberras peninsula, perched on a hill and has several fortresses in the area dating before the 16th century.  At the tip of the peninsula is the 1522 St Elmo fortress, located on the east side of Grand Harbour and on the west side is Fort St. Angelo and Fort St. Michael.  Valletta’s two harbours are both deep water ports.  There is an elevator a short distance from the ship which for one Euro you can ride to the hilltop from the harbour. The elevator gets you to the highest point in the city, the Upper Barrakka Gardens.  To return to the cruise terminal, using the elevator there is no charge.  On one side of the peninsula is the Grand Harbour and the other side is the Marsamxett Harbour, which we did not see.  The Maltese flag in half red and half white. It has the St. George’s Cross on the corner of the white side.  The white colour stands for peace, while the red colour stands for blood lost on the battlefield.  

Valletta was founded, after the Seige of 1565, by a Grand Master of the Knights of St. John (officially Order of Knights of the Hospitaller of Saint John of Jerusalem), Jean Parisot de la Valette.  The new city took only 15 years to construct.  The streets of Valletta are narrow but laid out on a grind, so they are easy to get around.

The history of knights goes back to the 11th century crusades; the order was established to provide medical support for crusaders and later pilgrims to Jerusalem.  It was made up of eight different nationality member kingdoms from Provence, Auvergne, France, Aragon, Castile, Italy, England, and Germany.  They created the eight pointed cross as their symbol, a point for each of the founding kingdoms.   Today, the knights’ Maltese Cross symbol is used as the symbol for St. John Ambulance.

When the Turks took Jerusalem in 1291, the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem were forced to depart and eventually settled on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes, off the southern shore of Turkey in 1309. They became a more militarized force, because of the threat of Barbary (North Africian) pirates carrying out raids in the Mediterranean. After another battle with the Turks in the late 15th century where the knights, again, were defeated, the Spanish King Charles 1, who was also king of Sicily and Malta, in 1530, gave the knights the islands of Malta and Gozo as well as Tripoli in North Africa.  After the Knights successfully defended Malta during the Ottoman siege in 1565, their Grand Master, Jean Parisot de la Valette decided to build a new city.  He laid the foundation stone of Valletta in 1566, but died before the buildings were completed.  Each of the eight member states of the order had its own palace to house its knights, who pledged celibacy, peace and poverty.  The palaces were financed by the knights’ wealthy noble families. The city was captured by Napolean’s navy in 1798 when the fleet asked to take on fresh water.  As some of the knights were French the fleet was allowed to enter the harbour, but they tricked the people and took control for two years until the British were asked to help rid the island of the French and it became a British protectorate for the next century and a half. Valletta was badly damaged by Nazi bombs during World War 2.  The city of Valletta became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

Our first stop was outside the old city walls, to leave the bus, and then we passed through the gate through the old city wall and saw the recently constructed new Parliament.  Limestone was used in the building, so that it blends in with the old limestone structures.  We continued and passed the Italian church of St. Catherine built in 1713. On the other side of the street was the 1566 Our Lady of Victory Church.  Next we walked to the Upper Barrakka Gardens with marvelous views of Malta’s natural harbors and across the Grand Harbour we could see the historic cities of Senglea, Cospicua, and Vittoriosa, near Fort St. Angelo.  We made our way to St. John’s Co-Cathedral, which shares the honours with the Cathedral of the Conversion of St. Paul in Mdina.  The exterior was designed by a military architect to have defensive qualities. The church is Roman Catholic. We entered the co-cathedral from the Republic Street entrance.  The interior of the church is pure baroque. It was built using the local limestone that was carved into beautiful altars and columns. The columns and relief carvings on the ceiling are covered in 24 karat gold leaf.  The main altar is carved from one piece of white Carrara marble. The floor is made of inlaid marble covering the tombs of knights. In a separate chamber is the famous Caravaggio painting of the beheading of John the Baptist (St. John) which measures five meters by three meters.  The exit from the co-cathedral was onto Merchant Street and we made our way down it to the Magisterial Palace, formerly the residence of the Grand Masters.  There was an earthquake in 1693 which damaged the cathedral and Magisterial Palace, the repairs were influenced by the baroque style.  Currently, the building is used for ceremonial state occasions.  We were able to view some of State Rooms.  Many rooms in the building are being refurbished for use in 2017 when Malta is the president of the European Union.  Then in 2018 Valetta will be the Culture Capital of Europe.  The rooms we saw were: Throne Room, Dining Room with two huge Bohemian crystal chandeliers, Pages Room and the red Ambassador’s Room.  The walls in the rooms and in the corridors are painted with murals of significant battles in which the knights fought. Then we walked back to the bus for a 20 minute drive to the old Maltese capital, Mdina.

Mdina has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage medieval town, no cars are allowed in the medieval city. It was a Norman fortified town with bastions as well as the capital of the island, until Valletta was built.  You have a good view of the ocean from the city’s walls since it is the highest elevation on the island of Malta. There was a Phoenician town here around 700 BC and it has been inhabited ever since. It was known as Melita during almost 500 years of Roman rule starting in 218 BC. The name changed to Mdina when the town was ruled by Arabs. The apostle Paul is said to have lived a short time near Mdina after he was shipwrecked.  Many Christian religious orders established convents and monasteries here.  Mdina’s old city of narrow twisting streets lies within the ancient wall, some parts survive from the 9th century. The gate where we entered was built in 1724. The 17th century Cathedral of the Conversion of St. Paul, with its dome, occupies the main square where once was located a 4th century church which was destroyed in the earthquake of 1693.  The group walked through an inner courtyard which had a tower with two clocks.  One clock was for the date and the other for the time.  The cross above the entrance to the church has a second horizontal baton on it to show that this church is the seat of the bishop.   A name for Mdina in medieval times was Citta Notabile, which means the noble city, since many old noble families built houses in the walled city. Interspersed in the old city streets are convents and monasteries of many Catholic religious orders.  We passed the 13th century Palace of Santa Sofia which is a convent, as well as a Carmelite church and convert further along Villegagnon Street on the way to Bastion Square.  The view from the edge of Bastion Square allowed you to see to Valletta and the Mediterranean Sea beyond it.  The area is known for its hand blown glass.  On the way back to the bus, the group stopped at a shop for a demonstration by a craftsman of the art of making Sterling Silver jewelry from threads of sterling silver.  He was shaping tiny leaves for a bracelet.   Roman ruins in the vicinity indicate that Mdina was an important place in the Roman era. The city outside the walls is called Rabat.  It is where most of the population of the area live, since only 250 people have residences within the ancient walls.  We had 30 minutes of free time to wander or find cafés or shops of interest.  There were lovely horse drawn carriages to carry two or three people giving rides through the old walled city. We had walked 4.7 kilometers this morning.  Then it was back to the cruise terminal where people could either: go back to the ship, go back to Valletta only a quick elevator ride away, or pause and browse the terminal shops.  We found a bookstore to get a book for the flight back to Canada.  There were several cafés and restaurants.  We chose one to sample a local Maltese beer and sip a Sangria wine, before boarding the ship for a light late lunch and cappuccino.

The sail away was at 4 p.m.  People lined the rails on Decks 12, 14 and 15 and probably a lot were watching from their balconies and verandas on Decks 6 through 12.  The sun was shining as the passengers waved goodbye to Valletta and the waving passengers on the Windstar Wind Surf and Costa Pacifica.

Dinner was started with Greek Salads followed by entrées of either Crab crusted Flounder and mashed potatoes or herbed chicken and mashed potatoes.  Dessert was either Crème Brulé or Apple Pie and ice cream.

When we returned to the stateroom, we found a surprise bottle of champagne.  We thought of friends back home with whom we could have shared the bubbly.

The singers “Tenors of Rock” from Britain were the entertainers in the Equinox Theater tonight.

We finished the evening with our usual nightcaps – cold coffee frappes.

Total distance walked today was 7.93 miles or 12.75 kilometers.

Tomorrow is a Sea Day to cover the distance of 667 nautical miles between Valetta, Malta and Barcelona, Spain.   There could be several hours of rough seas shortly after midnight.