Valletta, Malta

Thursday 29th November

I somehow managed to sleep through the Captain’s announcement that we had berthed in Valletta and woke at 9.30! I was feeling quite tired (about the level that I used to call normal!!!) but fortunately managed to gain energy during the day. At breakfast another solo traveller sat beside me and kindly offered to show me Valletta. I knew there was no way I would have the energy to cope with a stranger, especially one who would be hard work (walking at a different pace from me, talking softly so I had to concentrate, etc.) so I politely refused. Very difficult. (He was obviously not too dismayed, as he sat with Peggy, Chris and me at afternoon tea later – though did make a couple of comments about me having refused.)

I was off the ship by 11.00. From the docks it’s a 20-minute walk to the centre, or a public bus ride (I would have had to wait 25 minutes for the next one) or a taxi ride. I chose to walk. It allowed me to admire the scenery.

Valletta is built from a beautiful golden limestone. It positively glows in the sun. I would class it as the most stunning city I have seen. I believe the quarry is running out of stone, and new buildings are only faced with it. There is a ban on export of the limestone. The only problem is that it is very porous, so the rock is crumbling badly. There is a lot of renovation work going on. At one stage a lot of the buildings were rendered over, and often painted. (I saw one patch of bright green, next to a patch of render, next to crumbling limestone.) I don’t know if this render protected the stone or added to the decay when it was removed this century. When I sat in an internet centre I found dust galore on the benches, and had to wipe a space clear for the mouse. It was the limestone, crumbling down from the bare ceilings onto the computers and keyboards and desks.

Valletta is also built on a hill so there are a lot of steps to climb. The roads are wider than in Korcula but I was reminded of all those steps. It seemed that there were roads for cars across the slope, but stepped roads up the slope. There were only a few roads going up/down for cars to change directions. It must take a while to learn to navigate.

My first port of call was to St Paul’s Shipwreck church. I was fascinated by a varnished wooden board with the sign saying ‘St Paul’s Shipwreck. Worth seeing ...’ and directions to it. Such blatant advertising on such a professional board. Actually, I found the church too dark for my taste.

The next visit was to St John’s Co-Cathedral. This was the church of the Knights of St John. It glittered on every wall. It was truly impressive. The floor was of marble in many colours, a succession of tombstones, now mainly covered in carpet to protect them.

Inside the museum of the cathedral were two huge paintings by Caravaggio (St Jerome, and beheading of John the Baptist), who used to be one of the knights but was defrocked in the very chapel that now shows off his paintings with pride.

I wandered the streets, allowing myself to just get lost, fascinated by the vistas through alleyways. These were made more intriguing by the fact that you were generally looking down or up. Oh, for greater skills as a photographer!

I chose not to stop for coffee because, although the sun was shining for the first day on the voyage, it did not reach between the buildings. I thought it might be too cold to just sit.

After time in an internet cafe I wandered to the Upper Barracka Gardens, just above the Battery. It was quite a climb.

From there I had a view of the harbour in all directions. There is a lot of Valletta that we did not get to see. Our ship was in another section to the right of this part of the harbour. Imagine glowing golden buildings situated around nearly 300 degrees of a harbour. (Surely in ancient times the golden stone of Malta must have given rise to legends of houses built of gold!)

I was back on the ship by 3, almost first in line for the 3.30 afternoon tea!

After dinner Chris and I practised dancing to the recorded music while Peggy (Chris’s mother) and Trevor saved our seats for the all-singing all-dancing show. (A new entertainment crew came on board for our show and had been practising and preparing up till now.) After that, of course, we danced the night away! I have told the hosts that I want them to help me learn to follow. Woody (the best dancer there) was getting very strict with me: ‘Turn your head to the other shoulder’, ‘Look up; every time you look down I tread on your feet’, ‘I lead’, ‘Don’t think about what you’re doing; my body will tell you.’ I couldn’t believe the improvement in a couple of days. I did a few tangos (haven’t danced that socially for years) and a wonderful quickstep when very few people were around, really travelling across the floor. Once again we continued dancing until after midnight.

For those who are still trying to work out the ‘cast’ on board ship with me, here are Chris and Trevor dancing (in the centre) while the other two men are gentlemen hosts, the two still learning their roles.