World Cruise Day 77/152 - Valletta, Malta - Mdina & Mosta made the day

Cruise day: 77/152

Ports days: 27
Sea days: 50
Countries: 12
Continents: 4
Ports: 19

 Valletta, Malta, the sequel.  We are on day #2 of our visit to Malta.  Since it has been a few days, let's talk about the internet situation.

Last night, I added a line to the blog stating that it seemed like the internet had improved.  But, before I could publish the blog, the internet died completely, so I removed that line.  Today, it has been hit or miss.  Sometimes good, not great, but good, and sometimes non-existent.  Not just bad - but missing.  Non-existent.  So, the jury is still out.  And, my email to Viking's customer service several days ago?  Radio silence.  It's almost like Viking is the CIA and we are agents that have been captured. They are denying any knowledge of our existence.  Don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic cruise and experience, and the crew has been amazing. But Viking's wholesale disavowing of us has been disconcerting.

On to the day.

As we ate breakfast today, this big old honking boat floated by.

The MSC Grandiosa - flagged from Valletta - sailed into port today.  They weren't here long, departing by 4pm, but it looked like they had paying passengers on the ship and were cruising.

Then, this went by:

It is towing out a tuna farm. They raise tuna here mainly for Japanese export 

We headed out on the included excursion today - Malta Scenic Drive.  The temperature was a little higher today, approaching 60, and reduced winds at perhaps 10MPH with brilliant sunshine. If you're coming to Malta on Viking, and this is the included excursion - don't do it!  It was awful.  A long drive, no stops, and little to see.  It simply was terrible.  I got these *amazing* (sarcasm intended) photos from the bus (because we didn't stop).

The back of the Mdina cathedral's fortified walls

The Mosta basilica's dome

St. Paul's island

I got this from the one stop we did get to use the toilet and get a room-temperature soda.

Book another tour.  You'll be much happier.

After a quick lunch and turnaround, we were off on our tour this afternoon to Mdina and Mosta.

Our first stop was at the Mdina glass factory.  Here, glass blowers make the famed Mdina glass.  

This piece will be on display in our home

If you read yesterday's blog, this is the same church we went to last night for the concert. We walked into the fortified area where the church resides and toured the church.

Arlona was misbehaving and needed to be taught a lesson in humility

An interesting aside - the churches have two clocks - one accurate and one painted - the idea is that this confuses Satan as he can't tell which is correct and therefore, cannot disrupt services

The inside was just as spectacular today as it was last night.

The floor is mostly covered in markers for the crypts right below the floor

The rest of the floor is covered in decorative marble

Then, we were free to walk around the area and tour the shops and look at the architecture and residences

With apologies to Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder...What knockers!

We also were able to explore the walled city area and visit the shops.  Arlona found some locally-made silver filigree earrings.

We left Mdina and headed to Mosta, home of the Sanctuary Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady.

Note the two clocks, just like Mdina - the right one is correct and the left one is painted to confuse the Devil

The three horizontal bars on the cross identify this as a basilica rather than a cathedral

The inside of the church is impressive.  The dome is the third largest unsupported dome in the world.  The building was constructed between 1833 and 1860.

The unpainted area to the left of the center in this and the next two photos are under repair

The Basilica is the site of what has been recognized by the Catholic church as a miracle.  During World War II, the Nazis bombed Mosta.  While parishioners were in the church praying for protection, a bomb pierced the dome.

Note the discolored square near the middle of the photograph

The bomb, falling at an angle, broke through the dome, and traveled diagonally across the sanctuary, impacting the face of Jesus in the following painting.

If you look above the halo above Jesus's head, you can see the discolored paint where the bomb impacted the painting

The bomb then fell to the floor but failed to explode.  The church viewed this as a miracle.  The bomb was later taken for disposal.  When it was disassembled, it was discovered that instead of being filled with gun powder, it was filled with sand.  The Germans used prisoners of war to assemble bombs.  As it turns out, some of them resisted by secretly filling the bombs with sand, rendering them inert.  They also found a note with best wishes from POWs in Germany.  Given that bombers dropped multiple bombs at a time, and the inert one found its way to the church, it is still regarded as a miracle.

Here is a replica of the bomb.

We fought the rush hour traffic and arrived at the ship about ten minutes after all-aboard time.  Not an issue since we were on a Viking excursion.  We set sail shortly after we were on board.

Dinner tonight featured Maltese-inspired food.  I opted for chateaubriand and it was delicious.

Since we're still heading east, we lose another hour tonight, moving to UTC +2, or seven hours ahead on the US east coast.  Not a fan of another lost hour of sleep but it is what it is.

As I have been working on this post, the internet has been working the whole time.  I hate to get overly optimistic, but I haven't seen this level of internet service since we sailed.  Fingers crossed, this is a good sign.

We are now en route to Corfu, Grece. We have a sea day tomorrow and will arrive in Greece on Saturday morning.