Valletta 08/04/2014

Today we docked in the most beautiful place.  We were blown away at the beauty of the place.  Firstly, the port of Valletta was easily the most visually pleasing port we have pulled into so far.  This is a little paradise in the middle of the Mediterranean.  The entire country of Malta is 17 miles at it's longest point and 9 miles across.

So we pretty muck drove the whole country in a few hours.  We took a taxi on the advice of our friends, Chris and Jen who disembarked at Malaga.  They were here a few days ago and put us onto a small business called Platinum Cabs.  I highly recommend their service should you ever visit Malta.
I sent them an email while we were docking and within 30 minutes, Andre was there to pick us up in his Peugot wagon and chauffeured us around all day.  Well what a contrast to our trip in Naples!!!  Super courteous and obliging - dressed in a suit and opening the doors for us every stop.  WiFi on board.  An all round good bloke.
We took in the sights of Valletta (the capital) then drove all the way through another city to a third city called Mdina.  Mdina (not a typo) is known as the 'silent city' as they don't allow any motorised traffic through the gates except for the residents of which there are are not many.  The tradition in Mdina is that you don't seel anything that is inherited.  So the housing here is passed down through the generations.

Pizza delivery van

Typical alley in Mdiena

The entire city is constructed from Sandstone as is most of Malta.  So the architecture is very distinct and consistent all over.
Oh - and they sit on the right side of the car and drive on the correct side of the road here!!  Because Andre got out and opened the door for me, I didn't even notice until we had taken off and Lesley had pointed it out.

Valletta skyline

Malta was a place, for me, that we visited because it happened to be on the itinerary of stops.  The Maltese are very lay back which is refreshing.  We could come back here - very impressed!!!

We departed at about 1900 - 0ur next stop is Athens which is about 520 nautical miles so tomorrow is an 'At Sea' day.  The weather is perfect over here since we got into the Eastern Mediterranean waters.  Water is like a mill pond, light breezes and temperatures between 15 and 23.

PS - I'll post some photos when I get time tomorrow.