Malta

Sunday 2 October

Depart Marzamemi 0930. Two gibes and a 5 hour Spinnaker run to Malta - then the wind drops and we motor for the last 20 miles so that we can get into Marsamxett Harbour before darkness falls



We are sure for a while that we are going to get caught in a storm on the way, but it eventually blows away to the west.




Then we sight land just as the sun starts to set....






There is plenty of shipping passing this way - up to 9 huge ships in view at any one time, laden with containers traversing east west or vice versa - a busy channel.




Fortunately there is still plenty of room for us to make passage southwards through the channel without getting in the way of these massive behemoths.


We time our arrival just on dark at 1915 hours - and it is a magnificent experience sailing into Malta at this hour.


We ohh and ahh our way in then search for a berth which is non existent. Eventually we anchor (which is better as is free... in Lazaretto Creek. Dinner on board is spiralled Syracusa sausage served with butter beans in tomato sauce... awful!




The lights of the city are all around us here. Its so magical! This is the view from our cockpit looking north east from Lazaretto Creek back out to sea, with Valetta on the right.

Obviously this is not the place to be caught in a North Easterly gale, so we are mindful of this for the duration of our stay here.

3 October 2011

We are close enough to take the dinghy across to Valetta, park it safely and explore the city.




But before we can do this, Richard is obliged to check us in so must locate customs and port police which are not where the pilot book says they are but he soon finds them in Msida Marina and completes the formalities without any problems. That done and some good provisioning by Nick and Karen and we are free to explore the city.

Suddenly conversing with shop assistants in English is not a problem and Pippy's first stop is for English Tetley tea bags - 200 of them, purchased at the English shop!


The Upper Barrakka Gardens are our first stop... From here we can look down on to Grand Harbour on the other side of Valetta.


It is a gobstopping view! This is just a tiny portion of it, showing the marina.



Then we are off to St John's Co-Cathedral, a magnificent monument to St John the Baptiste and the Knights of St John of the period 1577 when it was built straight after the Great Siege.



The seventeenth century and the new baroque style is typical of the lavish interior decorations of the Cathedral (by Italian artist Mattia Preti) which is mind boggling in its wealth and complexity. Magnificent paintings, statues in bronze and marble, golden walls of guilded angels and floral designs and floors containing hundreds of detailed marble inlaid tombstones.


We spend a long time in here, probably two hours, not sure. There is so much to see, including the famous painting by Caravaggio of the Beheading of St John.



Here is the altar:





Some cold beers are in order at the end of this afternoon of sightseeing:


Then we make our way back through the busy streets to SY Matelot....






4 October 2011

We are still anchored outside the RMYC despite having motored around a little to try to find something more tucked in.




Not to worry, we can swim here and it is very pleasant. By 0900 we are in the middle of an electrical storm with wind tailing us into the shore, with the wind settling down by 1130 when we go ashore again for some more exploring. The enclosed wooden balconies are typical of many buildings in Valetta.




Today we freewheel through the city and around the outer walls to Fort St Elmo, briefly stopping at the Grand Masters Palace,



The Carmelite Church...



St Paul's Cathedral with its stunning embroidered seats and kneelers....










We are keeping a close eye on the weather over the next few days and looking for the right opportunity to make the passage back to Sicily. It is partly because of this and also that we want to see some more of Sicily with Nick and Karen that we have planned only to be here for a few short days. We can see that Friday is going to be the day for us to sail back to Sicily before some rather unsettled fronts start moving in, so decide to spend the remainder of our time having a look at Gozo Island to the north west.

5 October Grand Harbour to Gozo via Comino and the Blue Lagoon

We take a spin around Grand Harbour after departing Marsamxett Harbour.



There is plenty to see...


The Grand Harbour Marina would be a lovely place to stay, but apart from the fact that it is full, it is also very expensive...


The reflections on this lovely still morning are very pretty...


We are chased along by a big ship and have to get out of the way as we exit the harbour...





We realise in hindsight that there is so very much to see in Malta, we will probably want to revisit this country if we can.