Cookie flowers for the top of the cake

Karis's birthday cake.

Cruise Ship Port in Valletta, Malta

Our first stop is in Valletta, Malta. We didn’t schedule any tours ahead of time, however the ship’s “shopping guide” told us about a city bus that loops around the perimeter of the city and back up to the city center. From there, it is all downhill through the two main streets where the majority of the shops and museums are located.

After converting some Euros, we got on the city bus. Unexpectedly, there was a city employee on the bus acting as a tour guide, pointing out the various landmarks around the city as the bus followed its route. As sight-seeing goes, that may be the best city bus ride we’ve ever taken.

Fort Ricasoli

Fort Mancel

"INDIPENDENZA 21-1X-1964"

Restored 1950s Buses

We ended our ride at the main bus terminal, where we saw their fleet of restored buses from the 1950s. The seaside bus we were on was modern with air conditioning, unlike all of these. The main bus terminal is a giant circular driveway, with a few lights, clocks, and signposts scattered about. It looks like utter chaos to the unprepared day-tripping visitor.

The templar cross is displayed on the wall, below the umbrellas.

Proceeding through the city gates into Valletta, we crossed what looked like an old moat. As a sign of things to come, there was a Templar cross in the distance on the side of the wall. The legacy of the Knights Templar is everywhere in this city.

Side street

This side-street is pretty typical of all but the main road through Valletta. They have sidewalks on both sides and are wide enough for one car. The main road is at least two cars wide, but was generally a pedestrian area; only local traffic or deliveries tried to navigate through the sea of people. While tourists were the majority of the crowd, there were plenty of locals going about their business as well — it’s not exclusively a tourist area.

Gift shop

Figurines of the Knights Templar seem to be the obligatory souvenir item everywhere we looked. They also put the Templar cross on just about anything.

This flower stand was full of pretty arrangements for sale. On the back side was a collection of birds in cages, all chirping away trying to find new homes.

Valletta appears to be a fairly clean city. We saw little in the way of trash, although there was plenty of dust given the climate. Clearly, there’s some pride in the city, as we spotted this lady sweeping out her part of an alley past the main marketplace area.

We presume that a consequence of the repeated conquerings of Malta by various religions is the huge abundance of churches. We thought Alabama had a lot of churches, but that’s nothing compared to old world cities like Valletta. In the short time we walked around the city, we saw a number of churches, all pretty decent sizes. This picture is one of the larger ones. I don’t know which one it is, as we haven’t translated the signs. Note that this entrance is recessed in an alcove set back from the sidewalk; this is not a street corner, even though the corners of the building make it look that way in the panorama.

Piadina, a tiny little cafe

As we walked through the less busy areas, we found a corner where the occupants have started growing this pretty climbing flower up the corner of the building. Not far away was another side street where we found Piadina, this little cafe where we stopped for a light lunch. Piadina is actually an Italian flatbread, almost like a toasted tortilla. Our wrap had prosciutto, rocket, and a drizzle of strong balsamic vinegar. It was fabulous. The cafe has seating for five. Literally. There’s a bar on right side of the cafe where three people can sit, and we sat at a tiny little table for two on the left. There’s a tiny restroom left of the window. Like many of the places we saw, these people wasted no space.

Lunch

Lower Barracca Gardens

This is one little corner of the Lower Barracca Gardens. It is a formal garden on terraces overlooking the waterfront. Below is the view of the harbor. Through the opening to the left is the Mediterranean Sea. The channel continues a short distance to the right, where our ship is docked, as well as the industrial ports on the opposite bank.

View from the Lower Barracca Gardens

Because Valletta is a relatively small port of call, departure time was relatively early. This was one of the few days we left before our dinner seating.

A bunny!

Wide open seas from above the bridge (deck 11).

Today was a sea day en route from Barcelona to Malta. Seas were 4 to 8 feet according to the bridge report. At cruising speed, that translates into pretty darn rolly inside the ship.

On this itinerary, formal night is the first full day on the ship.

It's a regular circus on this ship!

Hillside cemetery in Barcelona

Category 9 stateroom on the Disney Magic

"No, it's not time to go home yet."

Barcelona, Spain

One last thing: Always be on the lookout for snakes on a cruise ship.

Salmon & couscous salad
Chicken & mushrooms with cream sauce, rice & vegetables
Baguette
Rice pudding
Cheese
Orange cranberry cake

It’s nothing too fancy; we were flying coach (err, “Tempo” class), but it was at least as good as any frozen meal at home. Afterwards, they basically left everyone alone for the night. About an hour and a half before landing in Paris, a light breakfast was served.

In Paris, we ran in to a small predicament, which made us very glad I had booked our flights so that there was one more flight after ours that would get us to the port on time: Apparently there was some kind of security incident right before we arrived, and at CDG, they shut down the incoming passport control station when that happens. As a result, the 400 of us who just came off our plane were stuck in a queue waiting for immigration to open up again. Fortunately, some of the French speakers in line started asking quesions of the airport employees tending the area and complaining about possibly missing connections. After the English speakers got in on the commotion, the supervisor-looking woman announced that anyone who wanted to could follow her on a 20-minute fast walk around to the terminal where our connections were. One big hussle later, against the flow of the directional signs, our agitated mob of 50 or so passengers arrived at a different, working immigration checkpoint. We made it to our gate just in time — we were the last ones on the plane.

This is some of the handiwork of the big arctic system that went through yesterday.

We scheduled a trip to Disney World this week, so we finally have a chance to see all the Christmas decorations in person. The crowds aren’t bad, but I think the staff is not at their best. I suppose that outside of summer, there must not be a lot of competition for Disney to choose from.

There was a pretty good lightning storm going on offshore tonight. Melissa’s shoulders had to make do as a tripod for getting any good shots of it.