Malta

Honestly before our cruise we had never heard of Malta but now we would be excited for a chance to go back. Malta is an small island country with an active cruise port in Valletta. It is a walled city from the port you have two choices to get into the city pay a small fee for the elevator or take a walk around the walls. We choose the elevator for the unique experience. We excited the elevator in to the Upper Barrakka Gardens. We walked around the city to St. John’s co cathedral. It was very ornately decorated apparently the knights had lots of money to spend and used it to lavishly decorate the co-cathedral. We added the tour of the belfry to our tickets with only 99 steps to the top it seemed a lot easier then some of the others we had visited. They only take 10 people up every hour with a dedicated guide. There were hundreds of people at the co-cathedral and most were in tours which do not include the belfry. For us this was a highlight of the co-cathedral and we would recommend it highly. Our guide stopped at the different rooms as we went and explained what everything was used for and how they were built. We also got an exclusive look from the walkway above which we thought was the best view of the alter and room. The clock system was designed in the 1800’s and still works today by using cannon balls to change the time. It keeps track of the month, the day of the month, and the time all working on a 6 hour system with chimes every 15 minutes. If you learn the simple pattern you will always know what time it is inn Valletta by listening to the chimes. It was super interesting to learn about and the guide was very passionate about the clock system. After we walked down the 99 steps back into the cathedral we continued our audio tour. There was a ton to see and learn about but the belfry was our favorite.

The boys were not done learning about the history of the knights in Malta. So after we left the co-cathedral they went on to visit the Grand Master’s Palace and specifically the Armory. The collection of knight armor and weapons is vast and full of information. C loved it this is what he had been waiting for rooms and rooms of shinny weapons and armor.  

The girls had their fill of knight history and decided to walk through the small town to shop. Every street had clothing, jewelry, lace, and souvenir shops. The Malta is famous for their lace and filigree jewelry and metal pieces. We found shops filled with both.

Once we all met up again it was time for a snack. Mom and dad enjoyed a take away Bajtra spritz while the kids had rolled ice cream. Although B makes rolled ice cream at home finding it in the wild was fun and the kids loved every bite. The Bajtra liqueur is a Malta specialty made from prickly pear.

After taking in a little more of the town we headed back to the ship for the evening. The view of the city from our balcony was wonderful as we backed out of port. We had another beautiful sunset as we set off to our next destination.