I would like to tell you about Valletta, but in fact we docked in Florrianna. Admittedly, it is just the next municipality inland but in terms of walking it added a few thousand steps. The steps are because, of course, I headed off away from the port to see what I could see rather than straight to the new elevator that goes up the cliff side and to the old town.
I’ve walked through Valletta before, but never gone through the fortifications. Add in the sparkle of water and sailing ships in the harbor for a regatta and I was all set standing along where the line of restored cannons saluted the sailors, tourists and TV broadcasters. The race officials, smartly enough, had brought ear plugs.
-
- fort to the far rights
-
- elevator and upper walls
-
- sailboats
For those not familiar, Malta has a long history of countries squabbling over it because of it’s prime location for sea control. As a result, it unsurprisingly has a lot of fortifications and has been used in the not so distant past by NATO as fleet headquarters.
There is the “underground” tunnel system used for defence –
(to be continued…..
