Greetings family and friends,
Yes, quite literally a midnight run to Malta, the island nation just south of Sicily in the Mediterranean. The flight from Madrid was scheduled to land in Malta at 11:55 pm just shy of the midnight hour, but an hour and half delay put me into my bed in Swieqi (near St Julian’s) after luggage collection, taxi, and check-in, at 3:00 in the AM. Talk about arriving under the cover of darkness – even a bit much for a night owl like me.
A week and half later, I am pretty much settled in at the short-term let apartment. As you can tell, from my greeting, English is one of the official languages of Malta along with Maltese. The local Maltese switch easily between the two, with Maltese naturally being the preferred choice between themselves, but have yet to run across a local who doesn’t speak English. Which is good as I am still at level zero with the language.
The use of English comes from its 150 years as a British colony which followed a brief stint under the French courtesy of one Napoleon Bonaparte. Prior to that, Malta was under the governance of the Knights Hospitaller for some 250 years plus – a military order of monks in the same vein as the Knights Templar. The Knights Hospitaller are responsible for much of what you see in the photos on this page – the various fortifications and associated buildings.
The photos on this page and in the gallery are from the “2 Harbours Cruise” I took last weekend. And yes, the spelling of harbour is correct. The boat takes one to all the inlets within the Grand Harbour and the Marsamxett Harbour, which together surround the peninsula upon which Valletta, the capital of Malta, presides. In the gallery, look for the colorful window frames, sometimes portruding, against the yellow stone.
That’s it for now. As always, please feel free to share this link with anyone who expresses an interest. Please have a look at the gallery below for full-size versions of the photos above as well as additional photos of Malta. Oh, and by the way, the weather has been delightful – 60s to just into the low 70s during the day. Back in the short pants!
See you soon,
Papi
Hi Mike.. been of of touch lately and .I just learned of your retirement.. congratulations and thanks for including me in exploits.
Thank you Norm and good to hear from you!
Beautiful photos. I’m glad you are enjoying the warmth. It’s cold here.
Thanks Anne and, yes, the weather is a nice benefit to someone like me who is not fond of the cold and snow.
The perspective from the water is so different from seeing things from the land. Beautiful photos! Only a little bit of weather jealousy!! Enjoy
Thanks Jolene. Some of the best pictures I have seen of Valletta look as if taken from a bit of altitude. Unfortunately, a helicopter tour is probably not in my budget, at least at this time
Beautiful! But I need trees! Glad you’re enjoying shorts weather. Beats CO, WA and even San Diego weather.
Thanks Christy but yes, trees are not all that common in Malta especially in metro Valletta.