Thursday, 16 May 2013

OUR WINTER CRUISE: DAYS 2 and 3

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.

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.

Entering Valletti, Malta

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Valletta's old fortifications



No comments:

Post a Comment