We got up just before 9am and put on the cabin TV to check
the weather etc and …whoops….the clocks are supposed to go forward tonight – not
last night! Oh well – another hour in bed J
We don’t arrive until 12 noon so I think a lazy morning is called for.
Shuffleboard is on but I won’t play as I want to watch the sail in to the Grand
Harbour.
It was a beautiful morning with no wind and warm sun as we
approached Valetta, past Gozo and other tiny islands. The Grand Harbour looked
magnificent in the sun as we sailed in through the outer basin and into the
inner one and turned 180 degrees to berth alongside the main passenger
terminal. Caryll was off on a HoHo bus so Joyce and I planned to potter around
Valetta. We were ashore by 12.30 and walked along to the new elevator lift that
takes passengers up from the harbour road to the Saluting Battery. It was free
for us but when completed I think will cost 1Euro – well worth it to avoid the
long trek up the winding roads. After a few photos of Oriana we wandered up and
down the main streets, enjoying the very pretty Xmas decorations and browsing
the shops. A diversion into an ancient
hall proved very interesting as they had a free exhibition of Maltese Cribs and
Christmas Art. Some of these were very beautiful and I took a lot of photos
with a view to making some myself one day!
By three thirty I had had enough and we walked slowly down,
past the cat feeding station, back to the port and the shops and restaurants
there. Back on board time was 5.30, but around 4pm there was a major problem
with the scanning computers and every passenger from then on had to be recorded
manually! You have to feel for this
captain as everything seems to be going wrong for him on this – his first
cruise as master!
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