Malta

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The ship docked at Valletta, the capital city. Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean. It lies 80 km south of Italy 284 km east of Tunisia and 333 km north of Libya. Malta is one of the world's smallest and most densely populated countries. Its capital,Valletta, is the smallest national capital in the EU by area. Its largest town is Birkirkaka, while its chief economic centre is Sliema. The official languages are Maltese and English, with Maltese officially recognized as the national language and the only Semitic Language in the EU.

As we had loads of on board credit (due to a cancelled Antarctica Cruise - another story) we decided to take a ship's tour to Mdina (yes it is spelled correctly). This is the old capital of Malta. On the edge of the settlement we first visited a Roman Villa with an excellent example of a mosaic floor in a number of distinctive styles (I know, very boring!) but we enjoyed it. Mdina was a very compact settlement, mostly given over to ecclesiastical use (St Paul's Cathedral) and older town houses predating the arrival of the Knights of St John.

We followed this with a trip to a glass factory - where we were 'up-close' to the furnaces and manufacturing process (who said "Health and Safety"?! - these guys used sun glasses for goggles) and then on to Mosta which is a town in the North of the Island. This is the the third most populous town in Malta. The most famous building in Mosta is The Rotunda - a large church (aka The Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady) with the third largest unsupported dome in the world. By unsupported this means that there are no columns - it is the walls that support the dome.

Once back in Valletta, we went to an internet cafe where we posted some blogs and also booked some flights from Darwin to Cairns. Yes flights on a cruise! We had been to reception to see if we could avoid the days at sea between Darwin and Cairns in Australia. This meant that we will disembark the ship at Darwin and fly to Cairns thereby gaining four days in Australia that would otherwise have been lost cruising at sea. The pictures that you see are Glass Making at Valletta Glass-works, the The Rotunda Church and Valletta from the ship as we left.

Back on board the Sail Away from Valletta was spectacular with a magnificent sunset. This was followed by another lovely dinner with our lovely tablemates.

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Photos

The Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady
AKA The Rotunda of Mosta