Sightseeing Malta

As it was Saturday I go out to meet my friend Diaz in Valletta at the Triton fountain, the meeting is happy and we had lunch in the Old city while catching up. I ate a Maltese dish that was rabbit stew. Although the restaurant was impressive with 15m high rooms I think the food left much wanting.

One of the many staircases in Malta

Msida church

Saint on top of church

The Triton fountain in Valletta

After lunch Diaz took me to see the Tarxien temples nearby (outside of Valletta though). The temple is a prehistoric ruin dating back 2800BC. It was not much than just stones and rubble but I was impressed how the stone walls had lasted so long thorough time and all kind of upheaval. I also tried to visit two other venues but one was closed for visitors and the other required pre-booking about a month in advance due to queues. 

Tarxien temple, in those days they apparently believed in feeding their women

Tarxien temple

Tarxien temple

Tarxien temple, well

Malta is also a place for old cars...

This site was closed to the public but I managed to have a peek

As I was done with my cultural education for this day we headed for Marsascala where Jasmond, Diaz husband, was at the time and I had a few beers while chatting and soon we headed back and I was dropped off at the Marina with an invitation for a beach BBQ the next day. 

Maltese flora

Maltese flora

In the evening I have dinner with Anil as it was his birthday and we celebrate it with all Indian crew at the Taj Mahal restaurant in Gzira. After dinner I head with Nick for Muddy Waters in Sliema to listen to some good music and a few drinks.

Birthday dinner with Anil & Co

Arrival Valletta

We arrived in front of Valletta around noon and we took onboard a compass adjuster before going alongside. After the swing we made ready to go alongside and started our approach.

Valletta

The walls of the Capital are still impressive, one can only imagine the thoughts of would be conquerors in olden times when they approached the Island in wooden sailing boats with cutlasses, muskets, cannons and their faith as their weapons. As we approached it appeared that the wall is solid but when you got even closer an aperture appeared and the extent of the port becomes evident. We did not go into the Grand Harbor but just next to it, to Manoel Island Marina. Slowly we glide in with engines doing a kick ahead to keep the speed at about 2-3 knots. At the jetty we do a port about turn and go astern while dropping the starboard anchor to put port side alongside the old hospital. The jetty is pretty much rudimentary with no frills. We can get freshwater but thats about it. The old hospital (as it was during WW II) is pretty worn down and cordoned off probably due to risk of collapsing walls etc.

View towards Valletta and T'ax'biex

Opposite us it T'ax'biex with its fancy villas and then Valletta with the imposing fortification walls. Not a bad place to stay in terms of the view. I went ashore and gor a SIM card and called an old friend I had met in Vietnam, my friend is now married and living with a Maltese but we'd kept in touch via social networks. It is a small world...

Castellammare di Stabia - Valletta

On the 7th early morning we hoisted anchor and set course for Valletta, Malta for a little downtime. More maintenance and jobs to be done as usual. My old Bosun once said: "the work is never completed on a ship" and he was right to his words, once you get to one end you can start anew from the other.

Last view of Capri 

Our route took us by Capri Island down South along the Italian boot in the Tyrrhenian Sea and through the Strait of Messina. We pass there during night time and there is a small "S" curve to do at the narrowest point. The whole Strait is VTS controlled and separated by a TSS so there is very little cowboys mixing the pack so to speak. However when we round the"S" we encounter some weird currents and we have to keep a close look at the autopilot lest it would lose the plot.

View over Valletta

After the Strait we are already in the Ionian Sea, we sail around around the boot, Sicily, and there we were at Malta. The ancient massive fortifications of Malta are still impressive to look at. We make the approach towards Manoel Island and it always looks to me like we are sailing into solid bedrock until the channel opening is discerned and one can see that there is more to it than the wall. This time though we make a compass swing before we enter.