January 17th - Malta

I was up early to watch the sail into the harbor of Valleta, Malta – it was worth it – even in the dark. Valleta was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980.

 

I took a tour arranged by Ronald & Suzanne of Amsterdam. They did a magnificent job finding our wonderful guide (Amy Place) and coordinating the itinerary. It was like two or three ship day tours all in one day.

 

Our first stop was the main fishing village of Marsaxiokk. The brightly colored boats glistened in the water basking in the  sunlight. Each village has their own unique colors for their boats and they paint an eye on them to ward off evil.

 

We then headed to the Tarxien Temples. It is believed that the first megalithic structure was built around 3600BC. The remains were discovered in 1913 by a local farmer.

 

We then drove through Attard, Balzan and Lija, three quaint little villages nestled below the walled city of Mdina. These were built when the inhabitants of Mdina stopped feeling the need for living behind the walls.

 

We stopped and walked around Mdina, which was formerly the capital city. The walled city is perched on a hilltop with narrow winding streets which were intended to confuse the enemy. Today there are about 200 residents in this gorgeous city. If not for the thousands of tourists that visit each day, it would be a great place to live.

 

Next stop was a drive to the more rural and undeveloped Mellieha where one could see Malta’a sister islands. This was a surprise – this island is not large and with a population of over 420,000, elsewhere on the island they seem to make use of every inch of space.

 

Our route then continued along scenic St. Paul’s Bay and then on to Sliema and St. Julian’s to enjoy a light lunch at Wigis with a view of the harbor.

 

After lunch we started heading toward Valleta stopping at the Upper Barrakka Gardens before driving through Ta’Xbeix, a prestigious residential area with 20^th century homes overlooking a yacht marina and views  of the Valletta bastions.

 

Our last tour was to  St. Paul’s Cathedral – I think per square mile they have more churches here than in Italy.

 

Great day!