At Sea
Friday 2 November
When
I wakened I went up to the buffet and filled our insulated mugs wth
coffee and we had them in bed while we read for an hour. After breakfast
we lay on loungers on the pool deck. It was a beautiful day but the
cloudless sky was spoiled by a cold breeze that kept us covered up, so
no sunbathing yet.
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The walking/jogging track above the pool deck |
I
went to the gym mid- morning while Moira exercised by walking round the
jogging circuit above the pool deck. The gym was fairly well stocked
with treadmills, cycles, exercise machines and free weights. All the
equipment was in excellent conditions and it was quite busy, there seems
to be a lot of people keeping fit on this cruise. I cycled for ten
minutes then did some upper body exercises before going to find Moira.
She
had found a nice spot above the pool area that was sheltered from the
chilly breeze. We sat there and read for most of the morning. Below at the
pool the cruise staff were organising silly games, followed by line
dancing instruction and finally bingo.
For
lunch we made ourselves another lovely salad from the various choices
of vegetables and meats on offer. From the buffet we went to the theatre
where a guy was giving a talk on the history and delights of Malta
where we will spend the day tomorrow. The next hour was spent relaxing
and reading then once my lunch was digested I had another session in the
gym. This time I had 15 minutes on the treadmill and more work on my
upper body. The sun set at 4:30 and I had a wonderful view of it
dropping below the horizon from the gym which is at the bow of the ship
with a semi-circle of windows that gives a wonderful panorama as you jog
on the treadmill.
After
dinner in the buffet we sat in the bar and listened to the couple
singing that we enjoyed last night. In the restaurant it was a 'Gala'
evening, meaning people dressed in their finest. They were wandering
about in dinner suits, tuxedos and the woman in long dresses. We don't
bother with this sort of thing and are happy just having our meals in
the informal buffet.
We
went to the theatre again which was packed. Before the variety show the
compere presented all the heads of departments for the cruise and we
were all to dutifully applaud. We didn't, the cruise costs enough and
there is a compulsory charge to cover tips, that's enough without giving
them a clap at the beginning before they have even done anything. The
show once it eventually started wasn't very good and we didn't stay
long, preferring to return to our cabin and read before turning in.
Valletta, Malta
Saturday 3 November
We
both got up at 6am this morning and went up to the 'track' above the
pool deck for some exercise. I ran round the 200m circuit while Moira
walked. I say Moira walked but she has begun to try running and she
jogged down one of the straights where she had the benefit of the breeze
behind her. We carried on round and round for 30 minutes. The weather
was nice, warmer than yesterday and another cloudless sky. We were also
able to watch the sun come up, like a great ball of fire appearing on
the horizon.
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Entering Valletti, Malta |
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Tying up Valletti |
After
showering and breakfast we were up on deck again to watch the ship
approaching Malta and entering the cruise terminal at Valletta. The deck
was crowded with eager spectators taking photographs of the city built
on a hill with strong walls and battlements that had defied invaders
through the centuries. The houses looked Spanish in style probably the
Moorish influence, all painted a cream colour and flat roofed.
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Horse and carriage for sightseeing |
At
breakfast Moira had made cheese sandwiches while I filled a flask with
coffee at the machine. With our lunch in the daypack we were all ready
for sightseeing on Malta. After watching as the ship was carefully
manoeuvred to the quay side and tied up, we went ashore heading towards
the city centre by 10am, half an hour earlier than scheduled. On the way
we picked up a brochure for Arriva buses that also operate in the UK.
They had a day ticket to use all over Malta for E2.60. This was much
cheaper than the city hopper tourist buses that were lined up waiting
for people coming off the liner, their price was E15 or there were horse
and carriages also eager for business but also much more expensive. As
we climbed the hill to the city centre we came to bus station and
decided to take advantage of the Arriva deal and use the bus to see some of
the island then have a look at Valletta when we returned in the
afternoon.
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Bugibba Bay |
There
was a bus heading for a resort, Bugibba Bay, about an hour from
Valletta, which we jumped on after purchasing the day ticket. The route
took us into towards the centre of the island to the town of Mosta
before heading back out for the coast. It was a tortuous journey through
very narrow streets jammed solid in places with traffic. It was
interesting and we were able to see how and where the Maltese people
lived away from the tourist places. The buildings were still the flat
roofed Spanish style but there were some magnificent old forts and
church's with tall steeples and bell towers. When we reached Bugibba Bay
it was a typical holiday resort with plenty of hotels, apartments and
restaurants. We left the bus at the terminus and had a walk along the
sea front.
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Add captionA refreshing beer |
The
shore was fairly rocky with little patches of sand in coves. There was a
few people in swimming and we saw a couple floating about on the
surface with snorkels. Lots of English tourists seemed attracted to the
place, and the newsagents had a supply of all the English papers while
the pubs were advertising the day's major games on the Premier league
via satellite. We stopped at a bar and had a beer, the weather was now
very hot and we needed a cooling drink. The price of the beer was
reasonable E1.50, compared with E5 for the same drink on board the ship.
We continued our stroll and later found a bench on the water's side to
sit and have lunch. There was a beautiful view across the bay with
sandstone cliffs towering above the far coast.
On
our way back to the bus terminus we stopped at a MacDonald's and bought
an ice cream, primarily to make use of their free Wi-fi. I managed to
get most of my blog posted but it doesn't work too well using the iPad, I
will have to find an Internet cafe on our next port of call and work on
it there. Moira tried to download her 'Good Housekeeping' magazine but
it was very slow and gave up when she only had 20%. When we reached the
terminus we found a different bus going to Valletta, this one sticking
to a more coastal route. It was a long 'bendy' bus so we assumed that
there wouldn't be any narrow busy streets for it to negotiate.
It
was a much more scenic route and we had great views all along the
coast. We went through places with names like Pembroke, St George's Bay,
Paceville, St Julian's etc very English sounding. It was still very
touristy with plenty of hotels all the way. The bays and large coves
were full of yachts and pleasure launches, some very big and expensive
looking. It took much the same time to return to Valletta on this route,
just over an hour.
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St Paulista church |
The
bus station we arrived at looked different to the one we left earlier
in the morning. It took us a while and a lot of wandering about to
re-orientate ourselves and find the cruise terminal. This we saw from
the top of the hill and the ship was still there not having left without
us. We were able to relax now we knew where we were and had a walk
around. There was a lovely old church, St Paulista in some nice gardens
but it was closed and we couldn't see inside. The place was full of war
memorials and exhibitions and displays on the defence the island put up
against continuous air attacks by the Germans in the last war. There
were some fascinating narrow streets with balconies at all the window
rising many stories above. Unfortunately we were soon out of time and we
had to make it back to the ship. We just had time at the waterfront to
have a glass of wine at a much lower price than on board.
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A narrow street in Valletta |
One
final thing about Malta and a big plus was the loos. There were lots of
them in Valletta and Bugibba Bay. Some were just porta-loos but that
was better than nothing, and they were all clean and free. Compare that
with Venice where when you did manage to find one it cost a small
fortune. In the period of Jane Austin's novels young ladies couldn't
venture to far from home because there were no toilet facilities. We are
returning to that situation in some supposedly first world countries.
Back
on board we settled down in the lounge with a cup of coffee beside one
of the big windows and watched as we sailed away from Valletta. It was
now dark and all we could see were the lights all along the coast that
we had earlier travelled by bus. Once clear of Malta we had our meal in
he buffet, listened to some music in the various bars before getting off
to bed.
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Valletta's old fortifications |
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