Entering the harbor of Valletta Malta.
We arrived into Valletta around 7 am – nearly 2 hours earlier than the scheduled 9 am arrival. The timing was good as the port was about to get really crowded. The Costa Victoria was already docked, and just after we docked, Oceania’s Insignia arrived – docking at a slot at the very back of the port. Next, in sails the Royal Princess, which has to parallel park between the Victoria and the Prinsendam. It was quite a maneuvering feat. Later in the day, the P & O Arcadia arrived and was docked across the bay. Valletta is such a beautiful port, and one that is quite interesting to watch ships sail in and out of the fortifications in the Mediterranean.
Good memories from a prior visit.
We have visited this port before on a prior cruise in November 2005. During that visit, Queen Elizabeth was in Valletta for a Commonwealth Summit and security was quite tight (including the British aircraft carrier Arc Royal beside our ship). Regardless, we had a terrific visit walking and climbing of the city walls, exploring the Old Town. On this prior visit, we also went to the Tourist Information office and asked for a recommendation for a driver.
The woman at the Tourist office called someone at Wembley Motors (2137 4141). For about 50 Euros, we were given a fantastic tour, driving out to the fishing village of Marsalokk, where the brightly colored blue and yellow fishing boats bob in the harbor. Our driver was an older gentleman and a very proud Maltese who shared a great deal of history with us. He was excited that the Queen was visiting again, recalling that she lived there when her husband Phillip was stationed in Malta during his military service.
This time, a different kind of visitor experience.
For today’s visit, we wanted to try a different experience. We decided to explore the island of Malta outside of the Valletta via the bright yellow icons — the public bus.
The main terminal is just up the hill from the cruise ship terminal; there is now a bus stop right at the cruise terminal. From the driver, you can purchase an all-day bus ticket for 1.5 Maltese Lira or 3.5 euros. The drivers don’t have change — even for Maltese lira. One Maltese Lira equals about 3 US dollars. In 2008, Valletta will be converting to the Euro.
Back to the bus adventure. We wanted to visit Mdina, the Maltese capital until 1566. The bus “terminal” is a big circle of buses around a beautiful foundation. There is no master map, and it is quite chaotic. Finally we got on bus # 64 to Mdina and Rabat. It was a very old bus with torn curtains blocking the view, no air conditioning and a surly driver. We bounced along through the city, with no idea where to get off. We finally figure out to watch for blue directional signs on the street (lifting up the curtains). Finally we see Rabat and Mdina and get off.
Malta's bus terminal is somewhat chaotic, but bus rides are an inexpensive way to see the island.
It was about 10 am and the area was very quiet. The area has been recently restored – almost too perfectly. There are several “experiences” that you can pay to see – one was a movie, one was a “walk-through” and one was a dungeon and prison experience (with a warning that it wasn’t for impressionable children). Not our cup of tea. By the time we walked around, the cathedral, museums and other key sites were mobbed with tours from the 4 ships in port. Mdina is supposedly still home to some of the Maltese nobility, but besides the oblivious tour areas the locals weren’t very friendly to tourists. If we went again, we’d take a tour.
More riding around Malta.
Now we needed to figure out how to get a bus back to Valletta. We spent quite a bit of time wandering around small streets. In a small local grocery, we bought a bottle of water and asked for directions to the bus back to Valletta. Suddenly, three different people appeared, each giving different directions. Really confused, we wandered some more, found some posted maps to study, and eventually found our way back to the bus area where we got off.
For the return ride, we had a nice modern bus with great air conditioning. It seems it is just the luck of the draw as to which type of bus is coming next.
Back in Valletta, the crowds were still intense. We decided to give the bus another try and asked the tourist information office the best beaches to see by bus. She recommended St. John’s bay – which was supposed to be about a ½ hour ride. We really wanted to go to Golden Turtle Bay, on the northwest part of Malta, but we gave up that idea when we heard that it was an hour ride each. There was a huge line for bus 61 so we got on bus 66. This route took us through Valletta along the waterline to Selina (ferry terminals) and then to the Bay where many nice hotels complexes are located (Hilton, Westin, Radisson SAS and many more). This bus takes much longer than ½ hour, but it gives a picturesque tour of the various mariners and beaches, and restaurants and shops in this upscale area. On the return route, we stopped at Selina for lunch. The restaurant was featuring rabbit (as were many) but we stuck to fish & chips. It was easy to pick up the bus again and return to the Valletta terminal, where we transferred to the bus #198 which delivered us to the port.
All of that jarring bus riding must have worn us out; back on board the ship we slept for about 3.5 hours. Dinner onboard was a “Knights of Malta” dinner. All of the waiters wore Knight costumes (which looked great but really hot for the waiters. The dinner featured some Maltese dishes, such as Bagolini, a beef dish.