Valletta, Malta as seen from our cruise ship.
The first stop on our taxi tour was the gardens of the San Anton Palace. These gardens were once private gardens for the royalty but are now open to the public. They were beautifully kept and smelled fabulous thanks to all the citrus trees.
There was a museum within the garden with a display of moving figures showing what life was like in Malta before electricity and other conveniences of modern times. You could tell someone had worked very hard on this display and it was fun to see all the figures moving and going about their daily tasks.
One of the fabulously huge trees in the garden.
The next stop on our tour was the city of Mdina. Mdina is a medieval walled town situated on a hill in the center of the island. It still retains its medieval charm with narrow streets and stone walkways.
The church of St. Paul's in Mdina
A cute courtyard in Mdina. All the buildings are made from limestone that they get from the island so they are all the same basic color.
After walking around the old city of Mdina we were taken to Mosta where we got to explore the Rotunda (Church of St. Mary.) This church is famous for two reasons. First, it is the 3rd largest dome after St. Peters in Rome and Hagia Sofia in Istanbul...
...Second it is the site of a miracle! In 1942 the church took a direct hit from a German bomb while more than 300 people were congregated inside. The 200 kg bomb pierced the dome and fell to the floor with a bounce, but failed to explode. The Army took the bomb outside and diffused it and no one was hurt during the event. This photo shows a replica of the bomb.
After our taxi tour we were dropped back in Valletta to explore a little of that city before we had to get back on the ship. My Dad decided he was done with walking around and went back to the ship but my Mom and I enjoyed a taste of Valletta.
The one site I wanted to see while in Valletta was the co Cathedral of St. John. This is what it looks like from the outside...
...and THIS is what it looks like on the inside! Every inch of this place was covered in marble or gilded with gold.
This is a shot of the floor of the Cathedral. The knights of St. John were instrumental in founding Malta and each of these rectangles is a tomb to a knight. The knights of St. John were also victorious during the crusades so many of the treasures in this Cathedral come from the wealth they plundered during the crusades.
A museum in the Cathedral is home to Caravaggio's "Beheading of St. John" Oh, how I love to see art in the space for which it was designed.
Back on the ship there wasn't much to do so we borrowed Scrabble from the library to help pass the time. Other than our Scrabble tournaments we did a lot of reading and relaxing.
Every morning and night we had our beds made by our steward. He kept that place so tidy, I was almost tempted to steal him and take him home with me:)
Beautiful! I loved Malta too, but failed to get into St. John's Cathedral because it closed early on Saturday. It was great to see the pictures of it from your trip! I miss the adventure!
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