Malta day 1

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Today our 21-person group toured Valletta, the capital city of Malta. We walked down the main street which has been pedestrianized (see picture). This is good because there were a lot of tourists in town today, many off a large cruise ship (see picture) that we saw in the harbor. From a viewpoint overlooking the Grand Harbor we could see Fort St. Angelo on the opposite bank (see picture). The fort was built by the Knights of St. John and it withstood the siege of 1565 when the Ottomans attempted to take over Malta. The cannons in the foreground of the picture are 19th century English. The Maltese have been independent since 1964 but they still fire noon gun every day from this site. The English were still in control of the island during the second great siege of Malta. This occurred during WWII when the Germans and the Italian air forces attempted to bomb Malta into surrender. Many buildings were destroyed, including the main opera house. To this day, the ruined columns of the opera house remain in place as a memorial (see picture). We took a boat tour around the harbor and it was interesting to see the sights from that viewpoint, but I have to admit that I actually got a better feel for the city from the land side.

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