Malta ~ Where are the Jays

Malta was the last stop on the cruise. Go find it on a map - it is in the Mediterranean Sea. Even knowing where it was, because of its small size I had trouble finding it on a map. Hint if you are still looking, it is just south of Sardinia off of Italy. Unfortunately, it was a very short stop for us so Jeff and I elected to just explore the area around the port on our own. We enjoyed ourselves and definitely want to go back and spend some time in Malta. Again, those crusading Knights of St John built things here so there are temples/halls/forts and churches to see and explore. Also, since it is an island nation (well 3 main islands) it has lots of ports and beaches to explore too.

We were docked in the town of Valletta which is the capital city. We headed out of the port and into a 16th century city, but with a nice new modern elevator to take you up the steep hill to the main town. We quickly found ourselves in what had been a fort at one time and where there were now small merchants setting up booths. It was officially called the Upper Barrakka Garden it had some old cannons on a level. At noonish, one of those cannons were fired. We heard cannons a couple of minutes before and after being fired from across the water, but did not see the smoke.

Top Left - Commemoration from FDR
Top Right - Maltese Falcon is a high tech sailing vessel

As I said we wandered around for a couple of hours, so we have miscellaneous pictures. We did see their New Parliament Building which was quite unique. We also saw signs for Lascaris War Rooms which are underground tunnels that Malta used to house its WWII defenses and where several key Mediterranean Sea battles were plotted such as the invasion of Sicily. Well, we may have seen a little of it since it is partially old tunnels which we were wandering in for a while.

Top - Entrance to old walled city
Bottom - New Parliament building just inside Entrance above

I also did a little shopping while we were there - they are known for silver and gold filigree work some of which was quite impressive. I think jewelry when you say filigree, but they had bowls and plates and little sculptures too. We ended our time with lunch at a restaurant on the docks known for their American style food - Brown's Diner (or something like that). As soon as we finished lunch, it was time to back on the ship - like I said short shore day.