Tuesday 24 May.
The time for getting ashore this morning in Valetta, Malta was 8:00 am so there wasn't time for an early morning cup of tea in bed. I wakened about 6:15 am and had a shower straight away then Moira got up and had hers. After dressing we headed up top to the buffet for breakfast. As we crossed the deck by the pool we could see the town, the old city walls were visible on the other side of the dock and we were already coming in to tie up. The sky line was a series of steeple, towers and domes.
We had breakfast then had a look out at the view from the stern. The ship was thoroughly secured to the bollards and people were beginning to disembark. We hurried down to the cabin, packed the lunch that Moira had prepared in the buffet and quickly got down to the gangway. It was straight off this time, no queue to hold us up. As we got to the dockside we could see the road we wanted to take to the town centre on the other side of the fence but we had a long detour to the exit gate and then back again to the road. There was another MSC cruise liner tied up further along the dock and the passengers were coming off it for the day as well. Later we found that this was a 7 day cruise around Italy.
Along the roadside were buggies pulled by horses for the tourists and the open topped hop-on, hop-off buses waiting to tempt the passengers but we headed up the hill to the bus station to do our own thing, as usual. We remembered the route from last time and at the top of the hill we cut through the lovely gardens edged with bright red geraniums to the bus station. Our destination was Rabat and its old section Mdina, this was one of the places that the ship's tours were heading for. Moira enquired at the kiosk about tickets and she bought a 12 journey ticket that we could both use for €15. We could travel anywhere we wanted on the island, each single bus ride rated as one journey.
It was about 30 minutes on the bus to Rabat. It went through Valetta passing some lovely old buildings and churches. When clear of the houses the countryside looked quite desolate, almost semi-desert, it doesn't look like they get much rain here. We got off in Rabat with a lot of other people but we there weren't any from the cruise. As we started to look around there was a MSC tour bus discharging its passengers and they set off behind their guide who had a holding a pole with their tour number attached so they wouldn't get lost. We tagged on behind but they were from the other cruise ship and the guide's commentary was all in Italian. We soon overtook them and made our way through the narrow streets to St Paul's Cathedral. There was a plaque outside telling us that it had been visited by Pope Benedict in 2010. Inside there was a magnificent domed ceiling wiith crystal chandeliers hanging down. They had one of the chandeliers lowered to the ground for cleaning. While we were there the group we had seen earlier arrived and the church got quite full with everyone busy taking photographs.
When we left the cathedral we followed the group to see where they went next. They were stopped just around the corner and we thought it was at some attraction but it was the public toilets and we took advantage as well. After the break they seemed to be returning to the bus but we continued to explore the town. We came to St Paul and St Agatha's crypts and the catacombs but it cost money to go in, we satisfied ourselves by looking through the fence at the graveyard. We walked around the old town and admired the beautiful looking buildings and decorative lampposts. Soon we were back at the main road and the more modern section of the town. We decided to move on to the next place that was on the MSC tour's itinerary , Mosta. The problem was that we couldn't work out which bus to take, which direction to go in or basically how to get there. We met a couple at the bus stop who were Maltese but now lived in Canada, they were back for a holiday; they kept us right. They informed us that there was no direct bus service to Mosta, we could head back towards Valetta and halfway transfer to another bus or catch the express bus to Bugibba on the coast where we could get a connection back to Mosta. We waited to see what bus came first it was the X3 express to Bugibba, we jumped on it.
The express bus passed near to Mosta, the town was about 4-5 km off the main road that the X3 kept to. We could see in the distance the large round shape of the Rotunda, the main attraction of Mosta. The bus was busy and we had to stand the whole way as the route took us through more scrub land before the sea came into view as we entered the busy streets of Bugibba. This was the coastal resort we had visited the last time we were here and it was just as beautiful and delightful as we remembered. When the bus stopped at the sea front we got off and began to stroll along the prom. We stopped to watch what I thought was people playing boules, the French version of bowls but this was different. They first of all threw small balls up the court then each side tossed solid wooden cylinders. These either rolled if they landed on their sides but went in all direction if they hit the ground end on. I continued watching while Moira went to a nearby supermarket to buy some beers for lunch. The objective and scoring I just couldn't figure out but it seemed quite popular by the number of spectators who applauded when a good shot was played.*
Once Moira returned with the beer we continued along the front and lots of the views and scenes became familiar to us. It is a lovely resort and last time it made us want to come back for a longer stay which we didn't do. We resolved that we would do it soon. There were plenty of people offering sea trips from the island and one of them told us that a ferry operates between Sicily and Malta. The plan we have now worked out for a future adventure is to visit Italy, Florence and Pisa, travel down to Sicily and after a few weeks there cross over to Malta by the ferry for maybe a month. Hopefully we will do it soon.
The sea trips looked quite attractive, visiting the blue lagoon and caves along the coast but we had enough on cruising and the sea after two weeks and satisfied ourselves with the scenery while on foot. It was now a very warm day and a breeze coming off the sea helped keep us cool, there were lots of people on the beach sunbathing but nobody seemed daring enough to go in swimming. There were strange square shaped pools cut into the rock and a plaque told us these had been covered in sand before being excavated. It was thought that these pools were for safely bathing in the sea water and dated back to Roman times. We turned back when we reached a square fortification tower, we saw more of these along the coast later in the day, they were probably used as lookout posts and an early warning of invasion by sea.
Halfway back we found some benches in a pleasant square just off the front. There we had our picnic lunch with the beers Moira had bought, they were still cold and went down a treat. When we continued after our break we were looking for a MacDonald's, that was here last time, to make use of their WiFi but found out it had closed down. Instead we found the bus station and soon we were on the way to Mosta. The route was the same as we came along into Bugibba earlier but this time the bus cut off the main road into the town. We got off at the Rotunda.
The Rotunda, also the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, was consecrated in 1871 and claims one of the World's largest unsupported domes. We walked round the outside of the circular structure then came to the front that was a series of large columns with statues of all the important saints. It was a magnificent building but it turned out that it was all that Mosta had to offer, or all that we could find. We walked about the nearby streets but there wasn't anything else of interest that we could see. It was then decision time about where to go next. The buses either went to Valetta or Bugibba, in the end we settled on returning to Bugibba and taking a bus from there along the coast to Valetta. Fortunately the buses run very frequently and we were soon heading back to the coast. The buses are very popular and even though they are plentiful they are busy and we had to stand again.
We asked a local lady on the bus about how to get to Valetta by the coastal route. There wasn't a direst bus to the capital but she recommended one to Silema where we could get a connecting bus or take a ferry across the stretch of water to Valetta centre, just a 5 minute trip. There was a bus just leaving and we jumped on but it was standing room only again. The route more or less followed the coast line and there were lovely views of the different resorts, like Bahar and Pembroke, built around inlets and all having marinas with lots of yachts and motor cruisers. Moira managed to get a seat and woman,not much younger than me, offered me her seat. I felt a bit insulted, I know I was 75 yesterday but I didn't think I look as if I couldn't stand. Moira was busy chatting to the woman she was seated beside and she told her that it was better to get off at St George's Bay rather than going to the end of the line and taking the ferry. We could walk into Valetta from there and if we got tired there were plenty of buses going into Valetta.
Moira signalled me and we got off where instructed. As we left the bus I noticed a MacDonald's on the other side of the road. We went in and had an iced cream. I downloaded the newspaper and uploaded photographs to my blog. Moira downloaded some more maps to her GPS app, one for France to use when we pick up the motorhome. We left to walk to Valetta at 3:30 pm and the woman said to just keep beside the water all the way. There were lots of buses running along the route and they were seemed to be following the shore line as well. It was a lovely walk and with the sun shining it was very warm. There some old buildings and a lovely old church at St Julian's, one of the resorts built around an inlet. This was the main tourist and holiday areas and the beaches were busy but still we didn't see anyone in swimming. Just after 4:00 pm the road was still winding in and out the meandering coast with no sign of the skyline of Valetta so we decided play it safe and take a bus, we didn't want to be late for the boat. The first bus to come was full but the next one we managed to get seats. It was fortunate that we took the bus as it was still a long distance to the city centre, we would never have covered it in time on foot.
Like the last time when we were here the bus arrived at a different part of the terminus than where we started and we were a bit disorientated. We walked in the wrong direction into a pedestrian precinct with lots of lovely buildings, long stairways and old Roman columns that were being excavated. When Moira asked directions we were pointed the other way, luckily we weren't too far adrift and soon we reached the top of the hill overlooking the docks and the Sinfonia was still below waiting.
When we got to the bottom and just before the dock gates there was a souvenir shop and they also sold beer. I bought two large cans to take away but there were tables and the guy poured the beers into glasses for us. We now relaxed and enjoyed the drink, we were only a few minutes from the boat. Even at that we cut it fine and were the last ones on at 5:30 pm exactly.
After dropping the day pack in the cabin I picked up our mugs which I filled with coffee on the way to the stern to watch our departure. There was no delay tonight and the water at the stern began churning as the engines pushed us away from the dock at 6:00 pm. We had loungers and lay back and enjoyed the beautiful island of Malta as it gradually faded into the distance. It had been a wonderful day and it is a place that we mist definitely return to for a longer stay.
We weren't in a hurry to go for dinner, the show in the theatre didn't start until 7:45 pm and we wanted to wait until the initial rush in the buffet cleared. As we were relaxing on the loungers the deck crew came round and wanted to start stacking away the loungers. I told them that the other night they said that the loungers were stacked at 7:00 pm, he reluctantly left us with them. I noticed another couple on the other side refused to move as well.
We eventually left for our dinner then afterwards to the theatre. It was Ian and Vivienne von Memerty again. They were just as good as their first show and its was thoroughly entertaining. She just seems to dance only but he is an accomplished all round performer, an excellent singer and what a dancer! He said at the end that if we enjoyed it to write to MSC to have them back, I said to Moira I'll write to the BBC to get them on 'Strictly....'.
After the show I was feeling tired after our long day out and my throat was beginning to get sore again. We went back to the cabin for an early night. I read my book for about an hour then got off to sleep. During the night my throat was extremely sore but I managed to sleep all right.
I checked the Maltese boules game on Google when I got internet , it is called Bocci
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