Malta
April 14, 2025
We dodged all the ship traffic and pulled into Valletta, the capital of Malta at about noon on a sunny but breezy day. It certainly was an impressive sight, sailing into the very protected harbor. I had done a lot of research and found that not only is it a very historical site but somewhat mystical as well. Rumors about a giant race of people that once occupied the island, temples made of 50 ton stones, the stashed arc of the covenant and Jason’s golden fleece abound. For a place that is merely the size of Manhattan (only round) there are enough creepy stories from the last 7000 years and before to keep anybody up at night. Even Hitler had a particular fascination with the Island, beyond the strategic significance. He dropped more bombs here than anywhere else and lost over 150 planes on a place that’s hard to even find on the map.
Supposedly, at one point in time you could walk the length of the island through the underground tunnels that have existed since prehistoric times. Very odd sized bones have also been found. This is where the locals held out during the bombing. But the creepiest thing to me was that after WWII a group of school kids and a teacher went down to explore the catacombs, got lost and were never found so they have sealed off most of the passageways forever (cue Twilight Zone music).
I also got the story on the Maltese falcon. Back in the 1500’s when the Ottoman Empire was about to take over Europe for the Arabs, they knew that in order to do that, they would need to control Malta. So they attacked from where Libya is today, but the Knights Templar and the Maltese Knights were ready for them and there was a big, gruesome battle with the Knights coming out on top. The Ottomans had to go home with their tails between their legs. Europe was so happy these guys had saved them from the Arabs that Charles V of Spain said the Knights Templar could have the island and stay there if they gave him a bunch of gold and a falcon every year. I never did find out or see what the story was with the dog (Maltese).
We boarded a bus for a “panoramic tour” which actually was a big disappointment. It started with a one-hour movie of all the stuff I had already read about and had explained to Tod. The rest was eating some local food and a quick drive out and back to the other side of the island which is very densely populated so it all looked the same. The tour guide wasn’t very good and either spent time complaining about her grandchildren, or locals that had left the Island after the War. She thought it was highly unfair that they didn’t hang around to rebuild but ended up making a bunch of money in US, Canada or Australia and now they’re coming back to build big fancy houses and jack up rents. I suppose I can see her point, but it wasn’t something we had paid to hear.
Mercifully we were able to jump off the bus before we got back to the ship, and we had a wonderful couple of hours wandering around the middle of town. If I thought Cartegena was uber Catholic, Malta made it look like a den of iniquity. I just looked it up – there are 350 Catholic churches on the Island, and I mean cathedral sized. There is literally one on every corner. Neon crosses on people’s balconies was a common sight.
It was crawling with tourists, but it seemed more capable of handling the throngs than Gibraltar and the locals were very pleasant. Remarkably, a good percentage of visitors seemed to be American, the most we’ve seen anywhere on this trip and they were all around college age. We surmised that they were probably having a semester abroad and came to Malta on their Easter break. Also of note, there was kind of this brown haze in the air and both of us had to pop allergy pills to get our noses to stop running. I thought maybe it was pollution but since it was a breezy day, and it sits alone in the Mediterranean that couldn’t have been it. Later, we found out from Captain Frank that it was Sahara sand.
Despite the failed tour we loved our time here, although they say the “really hot” weather will hit in a couple of weeks. I’m glad we weren’t facing the crowd with uncomfortable heat and humidity to boot!
Sea day tomorrow then on to the Sahara sand up-close and personal.
Coming into port - see all the ships in the background
Kind of a tight fit!
Tons of flags flying because of holy week
City of Mdina which we could only see from afar
Valletta definitely giving off SF vibes
It’s such an odd language with characters I’ve never seen before - all a result of their storied past I’m assuming
View from our balcony, you can see the layers of civilizations in the rock wall