TEMPLES & FIREWORKS (Day 6)

For the last day of the millennium we thought we'd visit the oldest temples on the island... and very possibly in the world. We took the bus down to the southern coast where we visited the first set of temples known as Hagar Quim. Again, the 6 - 10 foot tall slabs of stone formed several 5-chambered temples, each containing several altars and carvings.

Further down the hill was a second set of temples known as Mnajdra. They sat right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the deep blue sea. At first they looked just like a disorderly pile of rocks, but as we made our way through the maze of chambers, we began to see distinct patterns and layouts.

We walked through the countryside to the Blue Grotto, where we took a boatride along the steep cliffs into several small caves. Unfortunately, the ride was far too short and the boat far too crowded to fully enjoy the stunning emerald water.

We walked along the cliff tops for a while, including over the giant arch of the Blue Grotto, until we reached the small town of Weid-iz Zurrieq with its impressive church. Here we caught the bus back to our hotel.

Back in Sliema, we were hoping to celebrate with a special New Year's Eve dinner, but every restaurant was only serving one 'special' dinner... exclusively packed full with several different kinds of meat (not very desirable for us vegetarians). We walked and searched for a long time but finally just ended up having a pizza back at our hotel. A note had been posted warning us that the elevator would be turned off... just in case of any 'YK2' computer problems.

We took the bus to Valletta to view the festivities. The place was absolutely packed! A giant stage was set up with musical entertainment, various performances and video presentations... so we stayed a while. When we finally decided to take the bus back, we had to really fight to get on. We eventually got a seat on the third one.

Once back at the hotel, we followed our coastal boardwalk around until we got a good view of the fortress of Valletta across the bay. At 11:30 pm, the festivities began. We stood on the banks of Sliema (a Maltese word meaning "peace") watching the fireworks burst over the old capital city, lighting the beige fortress walls and dark bay water with colors of red, green, white, etc. When midnight struck, fireworks exploded directly overhead. They were being launched from the shore right below us by the hotel in front of which we were standing. The entire sky was filled with bright lights and deafening noise. Eventually those stopped, but the fireworks over Valletta continued for quite a while. At around 12:30 we wandered back to the hotel.

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