Malta: Take One, Day Two

Day one can be found here.

My second day in Malta was a bit rushed. My flight was scheduled to take off around two so I figured I'd try to squeeze in Valletta in the morning. I spent most of the morning running around Valletta so I don't have as many pictures as I do of Gozo.

First up, walk/run from the hotel to the ferry to take the boat over to Valletta. I made it.

Next up, wander around Valletta.

I had some time to see the sights until the movie I wanted to see, The Malta Experience opened for the day. It was obvious to me that there was a massive amount of history in Malta from only one day on the island. So I definitely wanted to see this movie to get a better handle on it all. Unfortunately it didn't start until 11am so I had some time to get lost in Valletta.

I finally found my way to St John's Cathedral.

Mass was going on so I decided to join in. When in, uh, Malta, right?

Well, this church was just gorgeous. I'm glad I stayed for mass, it really gave me a sense for the cathedral. Minus the men completing restoration work in the church. No tourists during mass but work is okay?

But back to the church. The lighting sucked so pictures were hard to get. You get the idea though.

And the detail?

Amazing.

I found my way to St Paul's Shipwreck Church. St Paul is widely considered to have brought Catholicism to the islands and is the patron saint of Malta. The church is home to St Paul's right wrist-bone and part of the column on which St Paul was beheaded. No pictures allowed, so you'll have to live with this.

Fort St Elmo was next on my list of stops for the day. I walked all the way there only to be told that it was closed; the police academy now use the fort for training.

So I walked down to the Lower Barracca Gardens to enjoy the views and relax a bit.



Finally it was time to see the movie. Worth it as I learned a ton about the island. I'm sure I could have learned all of it from Wikipedia or a quick Google search, but it was nice to not have to squeeze Googling in on my vacation.

However, I needed to book it back to the hotel after the movie in order to catch my flight back to Switzerland. So as soon as the movie was over I ran out of the theatre outside. No cabs, but there were some guys with horsedrawn carriages who I thought might be able to get me to my ferry (located on the other side of the island) quickly.

So I, with a baby strapped to my front, ran across the road and ask them, "How much to get me to the ferry, fast?"

"Miss, would you like to take a tour of the island?"

"No. I need to catch the ferry, now. Can you take me there quickly?"

"Sure. 50 euros."

"Ha! Are you crazy? No. I'll run." I turned around and started to leave.

At this point I was chased by a younger guy, looking to make a deal.

"Miss, how much were you thinking?"

I told him 10 euros, tops.

He responded with, "How about 20?"

This people obviously did not get the urgency of the matter so I laughed, said no for a last time, and started to book it to the ferry. And while I walked away, I could hear behind me, "15????"

I missed my ferry and had to wait for the next one. However, I ended up making my flight. And that's all that matters!

It was a good trip and I expected Brian home from his short business trip to Malta the following week. Little did we know that was not going to be the case and we would be coming back to Malta for a second time to visit Brian almost six weeks later.