Number 43 Qala

... locally produced. We walked along the water, admiring the little fishing boats, all painted bright blue and yellow and green, each having a pair of eyes painted on the bow.
We made it back to the ship in plenty of time to dress for dinner. As we left the port after dark, the forts and walls were lit up. Simply magical.
Will try to send some pics with this.
Tomorrow a sea day. home Thursday.

I've just popped over to Malta for a day & a bit (as you do!) to say a quick hello / goodbye to my parents (and bring them lots of goodies over for the last time in a while).

The weather is a little warmer than the UK, but not as warm as it's going to be in a week's time (ha ha ha).

Anyway, I'll keep this blog short so ciao for now!

Anita x

... br>We really felt like we went back through the centuries to discover the exceptionally rich cultural heritage of the Tunisian capital Tunis. For years this place was the most important Mediterranean port until the Romans destroyed it in 146BC, we thought about a trip to archaeological excavations but didn’t fancy munity by the kids so gave it a miss. We employed a local guide to take us to all the good spots, but having paid the ...

... to begin disembarkation. Our tour is almost the last one to be called and we walk out the door to the fourth floor deck, put on the stickers with our bus and tour number, swipe our cruise ID cards and board the bus. From the ship it’s hard to tell how to enter the walled city but once we are sitting inside the bus we can see a ramp that enters the city. A lot of people are walking on the paved sidewalk beside the road and I ...

... Pinu, waiting while we visited, and then taking us all the way back to the ferry. Gail and Bessie left the next day after spending some time in Valletta and stopping by the residence to check out my humble abode and the nearby bakery. We tried to go to Smart, but I forgot it was a public holiday - there are almost too many to keep track of. I spent the rest of Tuesday packing for my 16-day travel bonanza.

... rozrywki. Jedna mala dziewczynka podbviegla do "Mikolaja" i ucalowala go, mowiac: dziekuje ci, Mikolaju, za ten prezent [nie pamietam, co to bylo]. Skad wiedziales, ze wlasnie tego pragnelam? :o) Reakcje dzieci na widok Swietego byly rozne. Niektore z przerazenia niemal plakaly, inne sie na niego rzucaly i same siadaly mu na kolana. Ogolnie dzien minal zaskakujaco dobrze. Wczorajszy kryzys wieczorny juz mi minal. Nikomu jednak nie polecam Swiat bez ...

... waters and the stunning views. We got there at 11:30am and were the early visitors to the place as by the time we left at 2:30pm, this place was buzzing and people were cramped for room. Apparently, we got here before the peak season had started so I don't quite know what this place is like in July/August. There were just 2 areas with beach-like sand entrance to the lagoon - each measuring about 10 meters! The lagoon though was enclosed from the sea with stunning ...

In my first 10 days on the main island of Malta I had managed to tick off many of the places that I had pencilled in when planning the trip thumbing through my trusty Lonely Planet guide back home. It is a surreal process spending hours reading, researching and exploring maps of a country, and then actually treading the paths that take you to all these wondrous places that were merely dots and callouts on a map. I guess the reason I have enjoyed myself so much on this trip is ...

Made it to Malta! yesssss!!!!!!!!! I tell you what it'll be hard to leave here. Everything is ridiculously closer in real life than on the maps, so it is very easy to get around to see different things...My friend Martha's been driving me around showing me different things. Best part is we're staying in her parents summer flat basically on the water front. If it was any closer, we'd be wet. It is fantastic. There are these salt bins, I ...

... time. We walked to the movie theater, stood in line with our backpacks, bought 2 tickets to Memoirs of a Geisha (I have now added Japan to my countries-to-visit list), bought popcorn, handed the men selling the snacks our backpacks and proceeded into the theater. When the movie was over we walked back out, reclaimed our luggage under the puzzled stares of other movie-goers, and I said to Bonnie, "Feel like flying to Egypt tonight?" "Sure. Why not? I don't have to work tomorrow." And so we did...