This was one of the nicest ports we have visited. The cruise people had suggested we get up early to see our arrival in the spectacular harbor of Valetta. They were not wrong. The very narrow harbor entrance is surrounded by Napoleonic-era (and earlier) stone walls and fortifications. Since the entrance is so narrow, we sailed close enough to see what the people at the waterfront cafes were having for breakfast.
After our breakfast (can’t miss those meals!) we took a taxi to the center of town – actually, we went to the old city gates. Although it was a relatively short distance, the town is at the crest of a steep hill and surrounded by the massive city walls. The taxis all took advantage of us tourists to charge €10 for a five-minute ride to the city gates. Valetta is quite unusual (at least in our experience) in that the town is still bounded by the original city walls. There is probably not much point in tearing them down since they are built on cliffs and the city would not gain much real estate.
Adele went her way (shopping) and I went mine (getting lost). I was trying to find a couple of major historical sites, but misread the map and walked the wrong direction. After a stop at a luxury hotel where the concierge set me straight, I retraced my steps back into town and found the “St. John’s Co-Cathedral” - my first stop. I don’t know what a “co-cathedral” is, but it’s a must-see in Valetta. The decorations were very rich and impressive. The featured attractions were some very large paintings by Caravaggio. They were particularly gory although the lighting was poor and it was hard to see the details.
My next stop was the “Grand Master’s Palace” of the Knights of Malta. Some of it was closed, since the building is also used for meetings of the Maltese Parliament which was in session. However, I was able to tour the Armory which had an impressive display of arms and armor. It was arranged in chronological order and clearly showed the changing standards in the designs for suits of armor with many, many examples at each stage. The armor section ended with the first gunpowder weapons. The next section showed the evolution of firearms. I hadn’t realized there were so many truly bizarre gun designs, each trying to improve on the previous design. They included some very early breechloaders as well as huge shoulder-fired guns. As usual, I ran out of time and had to go meet my bride.
Adele was waiting at the appointed time and place. Her trip was quite successful. First off, she hadn’t gotten lost. Secondly she found some special things she had been looking for on the whole trip. She was content, but in need of refreshment. While she sat for a bit to have some banana gelato (not good) I walked the streets to see some of the street scenes I had missed.
Valetta is a very attractive and somewhat unusual small city. Since its size is constrained by geography and city walls, a lot of activity is crammed into a very small place. It is a prime vacation destination for much of Europe and England, so it is very prosperous. Older buildings still dominate the town and are very well maintained and preserved. At the same time there is a lot of energy in the streets and interesting shops at every turn.
It was getting time to return to the ship (lunch and trivia - what else), so we coughed up another €10 for a ride back to the ship.
The Valetta sail-away at 5:00 PM set a new standard for cool for this trip (or any trip!). Not only did they have a brass band on the dock to send us off, we had an eight-gun cannon salute from the ramparts as we got under way.