After a peaceful and relaxing Day at Sea and and a wonderful anniversary, we arrived in Valletta, Malta (a small island country) the next morning. This began the first day of excursions William’s mom booked for us. Since we had an excursion scheduled that day, we had to wake up early and watched our arrival at port while eating breakfast. The port in Malta was probably the most scenic of all the places we visited (except Villefranche) because it was not a huge industrial area like most of the ports. Malta is known for having some of the best and most powerful fortifications (walls and buildings designed to protect the city during wars) in the world. Much of the city was destroyed during WWII, but several new buildings have been built, so there is a large mixture of both Baroque and modern architecture. We also stopped at a local fishing village during our excursion where we saw the colorful boats that characterize Malta. Our next stop on the excursion was a view from a cliff overlooking the Blue Grotto. We then continued our scenic drive and eventually returned to the port where we explored the shops and ran into a familiar friend of William’s. We also got a closer look at our ship and took a few pictures. After enjoying the view as we departed the port and grabbing a bite to eat, we were full steam ahead to Italy.
On Wednesday, we arrived in Naples, Italy. Naples is the 3rd most populated city in Italy and the biggest city in Southern Italy. Naples is probably most known for being the originator of pizza. After docking in Naples, we boarded our tour bus and headed to Pompeii. Pompeii once had a flourishing civilization, but was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD and buried for almost 1,700 years under 20 feet of volcanic ash. Because it was so well preserved under the ash, you can still see many of the details that give you a glimpse into the lifestyle of the people that lived there. It was incredible to wander through the city and see what has been uncovered. I was particularly impressed with the detail in the bath houses that was so well preserved. Our tour guide, Giovanni, was very knowledgeable about the history of Pompeii and pointed out several things that we would have not otherwise noticed. After a long and hot day (90 degree weather) in Pompeii, we returned to the port, waved goodbye to Naples, and awaited our piloti, who would guide us out as we headed to our next port….. Civitavecchia (Rome).
There are many more great pictures from Malta and from Pompeii. Click here for more pictures from Malta and here for more pictures from Pompeii.
