drron29

The front of the cathedral with it's different clock. So I can tell you we exited the cathedral just before 11am on wednesday 25th September. I wonder how well this organisation is doing. This street leads us to our next stop. So at the end of the street you go through a passageway. And come out at the main square where Queen Victoria is looking at a dinosaur.

The last of the Cathedral. And a different door handle on exiting.

There is a link between our last port in Sicily and Malta. The artist Caravaggio. He was born in milan but had to leave after several brawls and wounding a policeman. He moved to Rome where his career took off. However he continued brawling and finally in a duel killed a man. He was sentenced to death by beheading but he escaped. Anyone who recognised him however was allowed to carry out the sentence. He then fled to Naples and on to Malta where he was welcomed and even made a knight of the order of St. John. However he continued brawling,was thrown in jail but escaped to Syracuse,Sicily. he was Thrown out of the Knights as a"foul and rotten member". In the Cathedral is his painting of the beheading of John the Baptist. Another painting of note by Caravaggio -St.Jerome writing but it is famous for a different reason. It was tracked down and recovered after a sting operation by a monk who was director of Museums in Malta. Badly damaged though.

And now to the highlight of the day St. Johns Co-Cathedral. Spectacular but a bit OTT.

Outside and some light relief.

Some interesting things in these narrow streets. next visit I might try a couple of pies. We were now headed to the museum. We had to wait a few minutes in the book shop as our tickets were sorted. Seems like the knights were sometimes naughty little boys. Now for the museum and the ancient history of Malta.

Napoleon was here.

An interesting use for old cannon And into the garden full of memorials but where the war room was in WW2. And Winston and the stairs to the war room. And some great views.

They have built a new Parliament building. I don't think it fits wonderfully well into it's surrounds but an impressive structure. First the building opposite. I wonder though if the politicians use the airline with an office opposite the Parliament. It truly is an amazing place no matter which way you look.

And I wonder how much Crystal prices would have risen if they hadn't gone bankrupt. I don't see Manfredi being ultra generous.

Finally talking about a language I can speak. Pig latin! Though after our first trip to Japan I did go back to Uni and did 2 years of Japanese. I really wasn't much good speaking it but became proficient writing it which really did impress the Japanese folk. Sadly with little practice I have forgotten more than I remember.

They were preparing for a food festival. Beers seemed well represented. And we reach the walls. sadly the gate has gone. But they do have an elevator to take you down or up a level.

We begin our walk to the walls of the city.

Really good views from our suite. And a famous gun A Gozo ferry returns. A large neighbour has arrived. We now set off in the bus to the town. his is where we were dropped off. Those are for grain storage.

Finally approaching our dock.

Next is Malta. Has been on my bucket list for some time. Great sailing in with the morning sun.

So to dinner and the day's menu. We both had our entree from that menu. Rojaan the beef tataki and I the curried cauliflower. I followed up again with the tomato soup. All very nice. For mains Mrsdrron had the lamb cutlets and I a steak cooked as I wanted. And we finished with a lemon meringue tart.

Now it was time to walk back to the bus. some interesting sights. And an election coming up. It was getting dark. I was on the right side of the bus so basically saw heavy industry all the way.

The policeman was right. But the real treasure was out the back.

We wouldn't book with anyone else but our Virtuoso agents. Knows the ins and outs of SS and always gets a price we are happy with. Plus fantastic if anything goes wrong.

A hospice with it's Saint. And for the tourists. I stopped at this building which turned out to be the Town Hall. An older policeman walked by who had good English and told me I should go inside so I did.

I was looking at this building- when I noticed a queue down the street so I went to investigate. It was a hole in the wall cannoli joint -Cannoli Del Re. And the queue was right it was delicious. So here am I about to devour a pistachio cannoli. The woman serving asked if I was English and I said no Australian. She replied I have a lot of family in Australia to which I said Griffith. Indeed that's where they were. Having worked in Griffith it has a large Italian population and most are Sicilian so it was an educated guess. We had free time now so I walked around a rather large block. And this sign meant nothing.

The street widens into the Piazza Duomo. The Cathedral is here and surrounded by lovely buildings and tourist restaurants.