VALLETTA (Day 2)

Once again we took a loud old bus to Valletta. Our first site of the day was appropriately the first church in Valletta, the Church of Our Lady of Victories built in 1566.

We swung by the Auberge de Castille. Started in 1574 but not finished until 1744, it was occupied by the castilian and the Portuguese Knights of St. John who were entrusted with the defense of Santa Barbara Bastion.

We arrived at the impressive St. John's Co-cathedral. Every square inch was covered with some type of decoration. The ceiling had colorful paintings; the pillars were intricately carved; gold and silver glittered on all the altars; skulls sat encased in the side chapels; but most impressive was the floor which was entirely covered with over 400 full-size stone grave slabs. Each one was an inlay of different colored stones, right down to the smallest of details.

In the connecting museum, we saw Caravaggio's famous painting of Beheading of the Baptist in all its graphic detail. An extremely friendly guide pointed out some other interesting pieces. The rest of the museum contained stunning tapestries and an enormous set of illuminated choral books.

In the Grand Master's Palace from 1570, we first visited the palace armory. It was filled with exquisitely engraved suits of armor and an assortment of weapons ranging from everyday pikes and crossbows to the more obscure long breech-loading falconets and leather cannons.

We then got a guided tour through the palace state rooms. We gazed upon images of llamas and capybaras in the tapestry room as well as countless paintings of officials and frescos of naval battles in the dining and dancing halls. The walls and ceilings were often deceptive... completely flat but very realistically painted to look 3D! We then had the privilege of visiting the private rooms of the Maltese president, with its beautiful oak furniture, sparkling chandeliers and many Ming vases. Ron got to sit in the Maltese president's official ceremonial chair and I sat in one that Queen Elizabeth of England used.

The Sanctuary Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was beautifully decorated for the holiday season.

We went to catch a bus back to Sliema but the driver called "full up" so we had to wait for next bus. By the time we arrived, the daily siesta from 1 - 4 pm had ended and the stores were open again until 7 pm. We walked around and watched the sun set over the bay in front of our hotel while waiting for the restaurants to open up at 6 pm. We desperately tried to find something, anything, vegetarian. Suffice to say we ended up having a lot of bland pizza this trip.

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