Sunday – May 20, 2018
The ship sailed away from Messina, Sicily last night and in the morning, when I looked out of our balcony door, I saw white caps on the blue Mediterranean Sea. Our Celebrity Reflection gently cruised to Valletta, the capital city of the island nation of Malta.
Although the wind had picked up, the huge ship easily passed through the narrow inlet of the harbor. The behemoth slowed its engines and drifted in to dock alongside one of the long piers inside the Grand Harbor.
It’s amazing how the crew can maneuver these humongous ships. This is the biggest ship we’ve ever been on with almost 3,000 passengers and about 1600 crew. The Reflection measures 1047 feet long and 123 feet wide.
We had a light breakfast in the Oceanside Grill and watched dark clouds move closer. Just when we were ready to go ashore, we heard thunder and it began to rain heavily, so we decided to wait for the storm to pass. An hour later we disembarked to explore the old town of Valletta.
The entire city of Valletta is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is described as “one of the most concentrated historic areas of the world.” The Fortress City was founded in 1566, and “built by gentlemen for gentleman.” Today, Valletta still retains its 16th century elegance. The city has been selected as the European Capital of Culture for 2018.
We walked along the harbor, trying to find a way up to one of the gates into the walled city. Luckily, we discovered an elevator which avoided the stairs and ramps and we found ourselves in Upper Barracca Garden.
It was Sunday so most of the stores were closed but the pedestrian streets were crowded with tourists. We walked along Triq Ir-Repubblika (Republic Street) with all the other international tourists. After a short while, we came upon the Malta Ferrari Club Car Show. Ferrari owners had parked their new and vintage automobiles in the middle of the street for pedestrians to admire.
A few blocks away was the annual rally of the Malta Antique Car Club which was held in a lovely piazza. We saw beautifully maintained vintage cars: Jaguars, Bentleys, Alfa Romeos, Maseratis, Corvettes, Fords, Mercedes, and an Aston Martin. After admiring all the Ferraris and appreciating the antique cars, we walked to Caffe Cordina in the next piazza for refreshing lemon granitas.
Valletta is an elegant city with beautiful architecture and it would be fun to return to explore more of the city and the island of Malta. It was warm and sunny as we returned to the ship. We had walked 5.6 miles today according to Jeff’s pedometer, so we were tired and ready to relax onboard.
The ship maneuvered out through the narrow opening in the harbor and it was exciting to watch the “Sail Away” from one of the high decks. Tomorrow is a “Sea Day” as the Reflection sails from Malta to the Greek island of Mykonos. I was really looking forward to an easy day of rest and relaxation on the ship.
