April 29, Sunday, a group of 10 of our fellow travelers
had decided the evening prior to meet on
the dock in the morning and then do something as a group in Valletta, Malta,
where the ship was docked for the day.
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| Entrance to Valletta, Malta Harbor |
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| Pier in Valletta, Malta |
The decision was to take a sightseeing hop on/hop off bus.
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| Hop On Hop Off Tour Bus The Best Way to Tour Malta |
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| On the Hop On Hop Off Tour Bus and a Typical Street in Malta |
We all climbed on the bus going up top which
was open air. Ear buds were given to us
as we boarded so we could access the narrative pointing out the sights. Travels took us through Valletta (the Capital
City), the Three Cities, Marsaxlokk Fishing Village, by caves and the Blue
Grotto and temples and other points.
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| Golden Statue |
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| Collegiate Church St. Lawrence's Church in Birgu, Malta |
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| Norte Dame Gate Main Entrance to the Cottonera Lines in Bigru, Malta |
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| Stone Walled Fields Everywhere |
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| Blue Grotto |
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| Blue Grotto |
It
was a cool, overcast day and at one point had a few raindrops. All the construction that we saw was stone
and concrete blocks. Most housing units
were condominiums or apartments, very few stand alone single houses.
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| Rare Single Family House |
Open areas where some gardening/farming was
done had small parcels of land fenced in with stone fencing which prevented
erosion but still allowed water to pass through.
The city of Valletta had a stone fortress
surrounding the harbor.
Many buildings
were centuries old. We all remained on
the bus the full circuit without hopping off.
The tour was almost 3 hours, cost was 15 Euros/person, much more
reasonable than the ships tours and according to some other passengers probably
more enjoyable. Once off the bus we beat
footed it back to the ship in need of restroom facilities.
Malta Photos
More Malta Photos
The entertainment for the evening was a UK
entertainer, Jayne Curry, who had a beautiful singing voice and a real comedic
stage presence.
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| Jayne Curry |
After that show we then
stayed to see the Liars’ Club, where 3 cruise personnel (Jayne Curry from
previous show, the cruise director and the activity director) define words and
then the audience judged who were liars and who spoke the truth. Fun day and evening!
