Cruise of a Lifetime: Day 11 – Valetta, Malta

A friend of mine spent fifteen years living on Malta and suggested we see the fortresses of Medina and Valetta, but by time we reached this beautiful place, we had seen so many buildings that we decided to try a different type of excursion, one that kept us closer to the water. 

The cruise ship came into port for sunrise and we enjoyed the amazing walled city of Valetta from the sea.

Next we boarded a bus and made are way past the only airport to a sightseeing stop. What we didn’t realize was that the sight was the Blue Grotto, the very place we would be experiencing on the water. To be honest, it was a tad intimidating from up above.

We finally made it down to the little boats and headed out to view the Blue Grotto. The caves were a bit eerie at first and loomed large compared to our little boat. 

The darkness though gave way as the sun shone on the water and the blue was spectacular! It was like we were boating in a pool!

After our water excursion, which we enjoyed immensely, we traveled by bus to the town of Marsaxlokk which was one of two fishing villages on Malta. 

The day we were there it was the weekly market, but we found this beautiful church more interesting, especially the statue of Mary in a boat that graced the top.

We had a bit of lunch and then traveled back to the port. On the way, our guide told us about the many towers we had seen throughout the day. These were the Knights of Malta towers and had been used as look outs.

After saying goodbye to Malta, we had a lovely dinner in the main dining room with our usual wait staff who had by the second day come to know our routine. No sooner did we sit down than the wine steward took the wine glasses off the table (we don’t drink wine), the cocktail waitress brought my husband his Jack Daniels and diet, the assistant waiter brought me my pot of tea, and the waitress brought us the menus with recommendations based on what we liked. 

The final day of the cruise would be at sea, with plenty of time to pack, so we after dinner went to the show and then did a little dancing of our own. We wanted to make the very most of our second to last night on board :-)

Always, Lexi

www.lexipostbooks.com

Next: Day 12 – Last Day at Sea

Cruise of a Lifetime: Day 10 – What a Ship!

On this day we got to sleep in again. Who knew a cruise could be so tiring, but to be fair, we were cramming as much as possible into every day. Luckily, for these days at sea, we were on the Celebrity Equinox, and it was a truly beautiful ship.
 

The Grand Foyer is where we first entered the ship. It also had entertainment every night which included some kind of music, be it the house band, a DJ or the performers from the nightly shows in the theatre.

Speaking of the theatre, the ship had a very nice one where we caught four different comedians, a variety show and three musicals. Besides singers and dancers, the ship boasted “atmosphere” performers who had Cirque du’Soleil type skills.

Even traveling the elevators from one floor to the next was fun. We could check the weather through the glass roof or admire the “floating” tree. There were lots of public rooms on the way up including a card room which was used quite a bit on our cruise.

This ship not only had a library, but an iLounge as well where passengers, who wished to, could get online or buy the latest iPad. I preferred to stay off line because I was on a long awaited vacation and I wanted to enjoy every minute of the experience :-)

Of course, there were lots of bars from the Ensemble Lounge which was a quiet, relax and chat type bar, though it did have a quartet or guitar player, all the way to Quasar with its neon disco lighting and a lot of dancing. That one made me think of the 60’s.

The ship even boasted a helicopter pad on its bow. Very cool.

At the end of a nice day of relaxing, eating, drinking, and being entertained, we came back to our room to find a bunny on our coffee table and mice in the bathroom. Eek ;-) We were now well rested and ready to tackle our last port of call, Malta. It was hard to believe the trip was almost over.

Always, Lexi

www.lexipostbooks.com

 

Next: Day 10 – Valletta, Malta

Cruise of a Lifetime: Day 8 – Athens, Greece

So today was the day I had been waiting for since 6^th grade. I was finally going to walk around the acropolis! I couldn’t wait to get off the ship. We had booked a tour that would take us to see the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon.
 

We had another excellent guide on this excursion who told our fellow travelers about some of the myths around each of the venues. I was more than familiar with them, so spent my time soaking in the sights.

First stop was the Parthenon, Athena’s grand temple. I could not believe the entire top of the acropolis was marble! And in her glory, Athena was said to be white marble with gold accents. It must have been breath-taking and a bit overwhelming.

Another smaller temple stands near the Parthenon with the “Porch of the 6 Maidens.” This was a combined temple to both Athena and Poseidon. Both temples are being painstakingly preserved. Our guide said there are few artisans left who know how to do the work. Unfortunately, the temples have sustained bombing from early wars in addition to age and pollution.The maidens on the building now are actually replicas and the real ones are safely preserved in the Acropolis Museum.

From the acropolis I was able to see a temple I had long wondered about, the Temple of Hephaestus. We didn’t have time to see it up close, but I was thrilled to see it at all. I have written a story with that particular god as the hero, but that one is under a different name and not published yet :-)

 

Next we were off to see the temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion in Attica. It was about a 45 minute drive, most of it along beautiful coastline. When we arrived we found the hilltop of the temple was incredibly windy and the perfect place for this temple. 

 

 

It was an imposing place that looked out over the Aegean Sea. It was perched upon the cliff that King Aegeus threw himself off of, thus giving name to the water below. The temple is roped off because as far back as 1810 when Lord Byron took his Grand Tour, visitors have been carving their names into the stones. Yes, the Romantic poet's name is there :-)

It was here we were able to get a close up view of how these massive columns were constructed. They were actually built on the same principle that Legos use where one side would have a square hole and the other side would have a projecting square so they could be fit together.

It was a long day, but a wonderful experience and a dream come true. Though modern day Athens looks nothing like ancient Athens, walking around the temples definitely brought that ancient time alive for me.

After a lovely nap on the comfortable motor coach, we returned to our ship, ready to enjoy the evening’s dinner and entertainment. This night we were able to stay up as late as we wanted since the next day was at sea and no reason to wake up early. We were looking forward to a bit of relaxing.

Always, Lexi

www.lexipostbooks.com

 

Next: Day 9 – At Sea