Bay Harbor Tour
As part of our Hop on-Hop off bus tour we also received a harbor tour that took us through the 2 major harbors near Sliema. The timing for our cruise was during the “Summit on Migration” held at St. Elmo so there were a lot of military and police ships active in the harbor. Although not free as the salesman tried to convince us, it was a very good tour. This was a guided tour that departed from the Sliema waterfront dock and takes you along sites of forts, churches and super yachts, some of the latter being so big they wouldn’t fit into a picture! First on the tour is Ft. Manoel. Built in the 1890’s by the Order of St. John and located on the island of the same name, this star fort that is actually a square with four bastions and two cavaliers (gun battery raised above the bastion). It was severely damaged during WW2 but has seen some reconstruction throughout the recent years. Most notably about the fort is that it is haunted by the “Black Knight”. In 1940, workmen clearing rubble claimed to have been directed by the Black Knight to remove the debris. Later it was found that the crypt had been vandalized and bones scattered about. These were reburied and the sightings ended but in the 1980’s the crypt was vandalized once again and the Black Knight sightings resumed.
Further up the Marsamxetto harbor we passed along lots of small craft, sailboats, fishing boats and the never ending tour boats and saw the rising walls of Ft. St. Elmo and Valletta city. Yep, you guessed it. Ft. St. Elmo is a star fort that is best known as the scene of some of the most intense fighting during the Great Siege of 1565 against the Ottoman Empire. Originally built in 1488 as a watchtower on St. Elmo point, it was reinforced in 1533 and again in 1552 after the initial Ottoman raid in 1551. And you thought you just put your feet up on them!
Moving right along….next is the Grand Harbor. We motor around the point and into the Grand Harbor where the cruise ships, container shipyards and large boats hang out. Lots of interesting commentary from our guide along the way as we cruised down this natural harbor and past the Three Cities. The Three Cities is the description of the three fortified cities of Vittoriosa, Cospicua & Senglea, which are enclosed by the massive line of fortification created by the Knights of St John. Vittoriosa served as the original home to the Knights when they arrived in 1530. One of the best ways to take in all these cities have to offer is by walking tour. There are many historical sites from 15th century forts to 1940’s era bomb shelters.
Couple of interesting architectural features are the 18th century cannons that are partially buried and used for boat moorings and the lookout posts on the bastions . These ancient lookouts are mixed in with observation and defense towers from WW2 located throughout the island.
Lookout tower with eyes and ears. Always vigilant.
Farther along the harbor there are more modern facilities. One of the most active harbors in the Mediterranean, Valletta has dry dock facilities for repair and refurbishment of tankers over 100,000 tons and large offshore oil platforms as well.
End of the tour so we headed back to Sliema waterfront but not before I tried a Cisk, local beer and Collette had a glass of wine. Guess we should have known when the total cost was 4EU, uh what can I say except you get what you pay for. Cisk must be an acquired taste so I’m probably not going to start ordering this in the States. We have no idea what the liquid was in Collette’s cup but hope it doesn’t kill the fish!
As a side note, Maltese wine is really pretty good and at reasonable prices. A good bottle of local chardonnay or cab costs anywhere from 8EU to 15EU.