Valletta, Malta

We ticked another country ticked off our list today!  I got up at about 7 and walked around the jogging track. We then had a quick breakfast at The Marquee before going out to meet our tour bus at 9 am.

Arriving in Valletta

On our way into Valletta

We had a very short drive and sat while our tour guide talked and talked! We then walked along the main thoroughfare of Valletta, past the Parliament House to St John’s co-Cathedral. Yet another obscenely ornate church, but this one is special as it was built by the Knights of St John and Ian was especially interested in it given his St John past. It has eight chapels, each belonging to the Knights from Britain, Germany, France, etc. It does contain over 300 kg of gold in the decorations and has a significant artwork by Caravaggio called “The beheading of St John”. The floors are filled with ornate marble decorations commemorating past St John Masters.

Each panel commemorates a notable
Master of the Order and is made of
intricate marble mosaic.

A master tradesman working on the preservation
of a marble mosaic. In the 10 minutes we were in
that chapel he was shaping one tiny piece of marble.

Caravaggio’s “The Be-heading of Saint John”

Ian (Member of the Order of St John)

We then walked to the Casa Rocco Piccola, a private house occupied by the Marquis and Marchioness de Piro. We had a tour of the house and then had tea and cannoli in the courtyard.

The final stop was meant to be a brief visit to the archeological museum, but we decided not to bother. We made it back to the bus with only three other passengers. our guide was useless and everybody had left to make their own way back to the ship. We had left our water bottle on the bus, so had to go back that way. We complained to the shore team about the guide and the day.

We had one win in bingo, but no good in trivia tonight. We watched sail away at 6 with drinks and chips!

We had dinner at La Terrazza. Charcuterie plate and breads came first. Ian had a prawn dish for entree, then tagliata. I had pommodoro and rigatoni. Then Ian had affogato and I had tiramisu (very pretty but not tiramisu).

"Tiramisu"