The Blue Grotto, Maltese Heritage and Valletta

Valletta in the morning.

The alarm went off at 7 and Peter was straight up looking out the porthole at the city of Valletta. The sun was just rising, the city looked a lovely mellow sandy colour in the early light and without so much as a mouthful of coffee we were up on deck, camera’s in hand.
The lovely city was all around us, sadly the view was broken and disturbed by the cranes of new industry, but without them it would be quite stunning. The old buildings were lovely, the architecture proud and everywhere the stone walls and fortifications of a city well used to defending itself.

Looking down on the Blue Grotto Caves

We had plans for Malta.  I’d done me research and we had decided to visit the Blue Grotto and the some ancient structures on the south side of the island. We stocked up with a hearty breakfast, and left the ship, heading for the usual bevy of taxi drivers vying for our business outside the port gates. We wanted a taxi to the Blue Grotto, and ended up with a surly character who spent a lot of time trying to convince us we needed to pay him for more of his services. He and got quite bad tempered when we refused.
We got out at the viewing point overlooking the caves of the grotto, cameras clicked away capturing the glorious scene below us before we made our way down to the grotto itself. (The taxi driver would normally have waited and taken us down, but we chose to walk). The tiny inlet at Wied Iz-Zurrieq is one of the only places where a boat can be landed on the south coast of Malta. When we reached the bottom of the cliff and the waters edge, we bought our tickets and hurried to the waiting boat. The boats are small, with a little outboard motor, seating 8-10 people. Perhaps it was the size of the boat that made the waves feel so big. Definitely a bouncy ride.

I’d been really looking forward to this little visit, but I was a bit disappointed. The caves are lovely, and the water really is a lovely shade of blue, but it all felt rushed, we were only in each cave for seconds before the boat hurried on to the next one. It wasn’t an expensive boat ride though (7 euros each), and I am glad we went. The cliffs towered above us and were a sight in themselves as we moved from cave to cave.

Once that was finished, we pottered around the little hamlet of Wied Iz-Zurrieq for a while, before walking up the hill towards the National Heritage sites of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. They are called temples because archaeologists believe they are sites of worship, but no-one really knows what they were built for, or by whom. The day was already very hot as we walked up to the temples, and I would not recommend it to anyone of less than perfect health. But we had plenty of water and it only took us 15 -20 minutes to reach the visitor centre for the two ancient sites.

Looking down on Wied Iz Zurrieq   

The thing about Hagar Qim and Mnajdra is that these two extensive temples are made from massive monolithic stones. They made us think of Stone Henge as we walked around, but these sites were much more sophisticated, with massive stone slabs making up floors, walls and ceilings.

Archaeologists have worked out that the buildings go back as far as 3600 BC, which is why it is so incredible that so much of them remain. The two sites are about 500m metres apart and walking between them was very hot, but the sites themselves are covered to protect them from the damage caused by the sun and visitors are kept away from many areas, we could look but not touch.

Quite a bit of restoration has gone on to give a better idea of the layout, and it was interesting to see how they had made doorways and windows in the slabs, and decorated them with pitting. All very primitive, but I bet 5 ½ thousand years ago, these places would be awe inspiring to people who lived in simple huts or caves around them. Definitely worth the visit.

From there we got an air conditioned Arriva bus ride back to Valletta. From the Fountain of the Tritons, we walked through Valletta to Fort St Elmo. The Maltese folk enjoy an afternoon siesta, so everywhere was closed, but it was interesting to see the architecture and the changing of the guard at the Grand Masters Palace. The fort was closed too, but we walked along the sea front and visited the World War II memorial, where we could look across the harbour. We finished with cool drinks under a parasol close to the terminal gate, watching the fish flash silver brown in the harbour beside us.

There was only one thing that marred the day for me and that was the horse drawn carriages. Although the majority of horses looked well cared for and healthy, the very first horse I saw was far too thin, starved even. Later as we walked back towards the ship, we overtook another poor animal that was severely lame on his hind leg, and his driver was whipping him to move downhill with himself and two passengers on board. It was quite heartbreaking, and I wanted to drag the driver off the carriage and scream at him. Again, the horse was very, very thin. I ask any fellow visitors reading this to take a look at the horse before climbing into the back of a carriage. If it looks underfed in comparison to others, tell the driver to feed it and pick a different one. I have a vain hope that the driver will listen and maybe a horse will have a better life. But back to cruising.... We were back on board before 5, and the ship sailed away under the early evening sun. Valletta glowed in the light as we watched it disappear behind us. All in all a wonderful day.