I had a great day today.
I was in bed early last night with the light out well before 10pm. I also checked the weather forecast for today. 31c, mostly cloudy, 30% chance of rain, with 64% humidity.
I slept solidly until 4am, then rolled over and slept again and this time woke when the alarm went off a 6am. Went down to breakfast at 7:30 and back in the room by 8:15, or there abouts.
I'm not planning on walking up these stairs too many times today.
Those risers are ginormous. As it's a small family run hotel, there are no porters and it's the room maids/cleaners, who have been assisting people with their luggage. Usually the youngest girl.
My plan for today was to visit: St Johns Co-Cathedral, Palace Armory & State Rooms, National War Museum, Fort St. Elmo, Malta Experience, Lower Barrakka Gardens, Teatru Manoel Theatre and do a Harbour cruise.
The Cathedral wasn't opened when I got there, so I went along to the Palace, which is just up the road and paid for the Palace Armoury & State Rooms, but just visited the Armoury first up.
Soldiers and cavalry protections:
That was just one small section.
Some of the armour was very ornate.
Where as others were bullet proof.
You can see the dents in this one.
There was so much more there but I won't bore you with any more pics.
After going through the Armoury, I then went back to the Cathedral. The Museum is closed for renovations.
After leaving the Cathedral, I then went back to the Palace, to visit the State Rooms. A very few pics from there.
I finished at the palace around 11am and then headed for the Ferry terminal that goes to Sliema.
I passed Teatru Manoel Theatre along the way. Too late to do a tour of the theatre though.
Because I had booked a couple of tours with "Excursions In Malta", I was entitled to a free "2 harbour cruise". The cruises start in Sliema, so I needed to get over there. I found the ferry departure place from Valletta and a French gentleman told me that the return price would cost €2.00. According to the ferry pricing, that was the cost for a senior. I had my money ready to buy my return ticket and I was only charged 0.90c. I have no idea why the cost was so minuscule. The senior French gentleman and his friend were charged €5.60 for the 2 of them.
Once in Sliema, I went to the Captain Morgan booth and found out which boat to board. That was around noon and the cruise wasn't due to depart until 12:30. Scored a front upper deck seat. Also realised the I hadn't put any sunscreen on this morning. Oops.
Such a contrast between the 2 cities.
One photo from the many that I took.
On the way back to the hotel I decided to have some lunch. A late lunch, as it was 3pm.
Some more photos from the cruise
Once back at the hotel, I dropped off a few things that I had bought and then went out again. I was too late for the War Museum & the Malta Experience, so I just went to the Lower Barrakka Gardens and took some photos there and of the Siege Bell War Memorial.
After that I returned to the hotel.
I had a beer at the bar, before tackling the stairs again and found out that the lift will still be out of action tomorrow, so I think I'll pack tonight and take the main suitcase down with me when I go down to breakfast tomorrow morning, so it can be stored. I have already let them know that I want a taxi to get me out to the airport a couple of hours before my 12:45 flight to Greece. After breakfast , I can just put the last minute things in the carry-on. Anyway, that is the plan. Almost 10pm here, so I'll sign off.
Next time you hear from me, I'll be in Thessaloniki, in northern Greece.
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