VALLETTA MALTA

February 3

Today we arrive in the natural harbor of Valletta Malta. The skies were clear and the temperature was in the mid teens. Malta has been controlled by a number of different factions throughout the ages; one of the most out standing groups were the Knights of Saint John who built walls around the city for protection from invaders. During WWII Malta was controlled by the British. The island was under constant bombing by the Italian and German Air Forces but during this period Malta was never invaded by the enemy. Many of the historic site were destroyed by this bombing. One of the most interesting stories was of a church that had approx 300 people inside for protection when a bomb came thru the dome and buried it self in the floor with out exploding, non of the 300 injured. This church now has a replica of this bomb behind the alter.

Our tour took us around the island so that we could get a panoramic view of this self sustaining island country with countless terraces of scrub rocks and small garden plots. All the buildings are built of stone from the local quarries and the the local people live a laid back life in this idealic place in the Mediterranean.

We arrived back at the ship about an hour before sailing. Most of our time was spent on the bus.

It is now the following day and we are at sea cruising for Barcelona, we will have been on board for 21 day and look forward to 6 days to visit the city. I am going to phone the airline to see if we might get home a little sooner. Though as I sit here on our balcony with the sun shining on us and smooth seas I could change my mind.