When Eve was here she purchased tickets for a harbor cruise and gave them to us – lucky us! Today, we decided to go on the 2 harbor cruise, the harbors being Marsamxett and Grand Harbor (thanks, Eve!).
Valletta is the peninsula that separates the two harbors. These are natural deep water harbors and that is a primary reason why Malta became such a significant island throughout history. And all around both harbors are inlets and bays, what the locals refer to as creeks. I think there are about 10 creeks around the 2 harbors. Our harbor cruise went around all the creeks and the 2 big harbors. It was great fun seeing from the water many of the things we’ve seen on land.
We loaded on to our little cruise boat. We were able to sit up front in the first row of seats, so we had a pretty good view of everything. We started off around Manoel Island through Sliema Creek and Lazzaretto Creek and then on to Msida Creek and Pieta Creek. By now, we’re pretty familiar with this area from some of our walks. Also, the #13 bus to Valletta follows around these areas.
One interesting factoid about Manoel Island is that the Knights also had an infirmary there, the building with the arches in the picture above. But this was a different kind of hospital. As I think I mentioned, the Knights were medically advanced, and infection control was paramount. The hospital at Manoel Island was for quarantine. Any ship arriving from a place known for having disease or with sick people on board would have their crew and passengers quarantined. If, after a couple of weeks in quarantine, one was still alive, then he would be released. What wasn’t known at the time is that it was the rats on the ships that were the culprits for much of the disease being spread.
We traveled back down Marsamxett Harbor along the bastions of Floriana and Valletta, heading for Fort St. Elmo and the tip of the Valletta peninsula. As we rounded the tip, we were out of Marsamxett Harbor and in to the Mediterranean where the surf was quite rough. I’d say the swells were 4-6 feet and so the boat bobbed up and down and everyone on the boat kind of squealed when we would go over a swell and head downward, rather like being on a roller coaster. It was a little scary to be sure. Looming ahead was the foot bridge from Fort St. Elmo out to the channel marker for the entrance to Grand Harbor. Now, giant cruise ships enter the harbor via the channel, but this boat was heading for the openings under the foot bridge in very rough sea.
I leaned over to Christine and said, “they haven’t told us where the life jackets are.” We held on tight and the captain navigated us through the left side under the foot bridge, which he’s probably done a thousand times. But, it certainly got our attention.
Once in Grand Harbor, it was much calmer, and we proceeded down alongside Valletta, again seeing things that we have visited.
One area we have yet to visit is called the Valletta Waterfront. This is the area where the cruise ships dock. This area was once where the Knights had stores and warehouses for the goods they shipped. The area was renovated and is a long row of storefronts having brightly painted doors and windows and it houses upscale restaurants and boutique shops. I’d like to see the area at night because it is really beautiful with all the lights.
We then went on to explore the creeks around the Three Cities, Cospicua, Senglea and Vittoriosa. In the Cospicua area are shipping wharfs and dry docks. Interestingly, one of the largest wharfs is courtesy of China. China paid for the construction of this very large wharf to accommodate their large container ships. I later learned that Malta and China have a relationship going back 40 years and even have a Malta China Friendship Society.
The creeks around Senglea and Vittoriosa are much more picturesque and have marinas and lots of cafes and shops around the marinas.
And for our friend Deeny, we saw lots of dghasjas which are used as water taxis between the Three Cities and Valletta.
We hope to explore the 3 Cities in depth over the next few weeks. These areas pre-date Valletta, especially Vittoriosa, where the Knights of St. John originally settled.
Then it was back towards the footbridge and another scary encounter with the Mediterranean.
Around Fort St. Elmo and back in to the calmer waters of Marsamxett Harbor, thank goodness!
We saw Tigne Point. We had walked around the area a couple of week ago. There are big apartment buildings and condos and a swanky shopping mall. But there is a project underway to renovate the barracks and battery that are rubble currently, but historically significant. You can see one remaining gunnery tower at Tigne Point.
After our cruise, we wandered down past Manoel Island and had a picnic lunch in a nice little park there. We had wanted to explore the Msida area a little more, but we never made it that far. We discovered Ta’Xbiex (pronounced sort of like Taj Beesh). What a beautiful area with a beautiful marina, the Royal Malta Yacht Club, and lots and lots of beautiful houses.
One little factoid is that in Ta’Xbiex is an old sailing vessel called the Black Pearl. This was the ship used in the movie Mutiny on the Bounty with Errol Flynn. It is now a bar/restaurant.
There was also this really cool water fountain in the shape of a sailboat with the water streams forming the sails.
We also discovered that along an elevated street that had wonderful views of the marina and harbor was embassy row. Several countries have their embassy in Ta’Xbiex.
There was also this gorgeous villa, I think a private home, that was bedecked in bougainvillea.
And then we saw a fixer upper for sale right down the street from embassy row. It would be a money pit, but would be a fantastic location with a fantastic view. We can dream!
We then headed for home, a long walk. We went through the little town of Gzira (don’t pronounce the G), a neighborhood we hadn’t explored. It was practically straight uphill, so we got a real workout. We then crossed in to Sliema at the top of the hill, an area of Sliema we also hadn’t explored. As we were walking down Rudolph Street, we came across a couple of houses that clearly showed Ottoman roots. For several centuries, the Turks ruled Malta and Malta was an Arab nation, one of the reasons the Maltese language is comprised of about one-third Arabic (the other parts Italian and Sicilian). These two houses certainly demonstrated Moorish roots.
And then we stumbled upon something that really pleased us. We’ve been looking at a lot of old photos of Malta, and we kept seeing this one particular photo of a very sweet little church. We couldn’t identify it, but really were curious about the church in the photo.
As we were walking along Rudolph Street, to our utter amazement was the church from the photo.
The design of this Church is unusual in Malta; it was built for the English community and so reflects the shape of a village Church anywhere in the United Kingdom. The British began populating Malta in the early 1800s after the defeat of the French. Britain controlled Malta until 1964. I think there are only 2 Anglican churches on the island; this one and St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral in Valletta. The churches belong to the Diocese of Gibraltar.
We went in to the church to look around. As we were coming out, we talked with a couple of church ladies who were cleaning up the church garden in preparation for a Strawberry Tea tomorrow to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday. Being a Church of England, the queen is the figurehead of the church and so this church is celebrating her birthday. We walked around the church grounds and then helped the ladies carry a table to the front of the church. This church is lovely and is situated on a property that has an adjoining parish hall, formerly the bishop’s house, and a couple of gardens. And from a terrace at the back of the church, it has a nice view of Valletta across the harbor. We were very happy to find this little church, and we might even go and celebrate the queen’s birthday tomorrow.
We stopped by our little market to pick up a chicken. They have whole roasted chickens for sale along with roasted rosemary potatoes. The chicken has been a staple for us over the past several week. We arrived back home very tired, but very satisfied with our day.
Here’s a photo taken on the harbor cruise boat.
