Blogs from Valletta, Malta, Malta, Europe

As it was our last morning in Malta, we decided that we would get up and go for an early morning swim in the sea before breakfast. There's a little marked-off section of the inlet for hotel guests to swim in. I think the markers is to stop the guests from swimming too far out, rather than to stop sharks or other sea monsters coming to get us. According to my wife, the sea was a lot cooler than it was when she had previously gone for a swim, but it was still warm enough for me to get in - I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to cold water. After the sea, we also went for a swim in the pool. It was reassuring to see that only a few people had ... read more

I did my usual and got up early for the sunrise. I had checked in advance and there doesn’t seem to be an iconic sunrise view in Valleta, so I walked along the east side of the city looking over towards the three cities on the other side of the bay. I couldn't find a good view, which wasn't helped as some of the locations I thought might work were not accessible. I couldn't get one view I had seen of the Siege Bell War Memorial from the Lower Barrakka Gardens as the gardens themselves were closed. I relaxed by the bell to wait for the sunrise, but that was also a disappointment as it was almost totally obscured by the hazy sky. The east side of Valletta seems to be mainly made up of huge ... read more

World Cruise 9 Posted Thursday 6th April. Due in Malta tomorrow, Good Friday. Thursday 16th March Port Klang for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia is half on the Peninsula and part on the island of Borneo. Port Klang is the 7th largest container port in the world. The port is 8 miles from Klang town and 25 miles from Kuala Lumpur on the Malaysian peninsula. Klang is on the Klang River in the Klang valley with a small Palace, industrial and commercial. Kuala Lumpur is the political and commercial capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya is the administrative capital. On 31st August 1957 the British Flag came down and the Malaysian flag was flown in Independence Square to signal Independence. Sights in KL are the King’s Palace, the National Mosque, one of the minarets is 240feet tall, the Railway ... read more

Well over the do nothing day...so we caught a bus into Valletta today, Sunday here & seemed like everyone decided to do the same. Spent 5 hours out & about...the cloud helped no end! The iconic Maltese homes are in abundance... every street we turn. Some of the limestone is really worn, however this is over quite a significant time. The harsh salt air comes from all coast directions being an island of 27km x 14km. We even notice swimming is easily buoyant & many people with sun hat/glasses tread water for hours. Notice on windy days a little plastic coming ashore...but not much. The sea water appears very clean....& extremely good for the skin. So far at least one swim a day. Simply enjoy the 2min beach we are still dripping by the time we ... read more

As mentioned in the last blog entry we decided to leave Gozo and head over to the island of Malta. We had been told by friends of ours where there was a good place to anchor that was close to chandleries (boat supply stores), a grocery store that has everything and the bus stop so we headed to Marsamxett Harbour and then to the head of Msida Creek to the anchorage. We were surprised to see SV Grateful anchored there as we had been in touch with them and learned they were leaving today. Soon after we put our anchor down and got settled in a dinghy came by with Niki and Jamie from Grateful in it. They were just coming back from the customs/port office as they needed to check out first. They stopped by ... read more