In 1565, Malta fought the Great Siege against the Turks. Greatly outnumbered, the Maltese managed to drive out the Turks. As a result, in 1566, leaders decided to move the capital to a city across the harbor which was to be fortified. This city became Valletta. You can see the huge wall outside the central gates to the city. They are doing some renovation work there now.

Entering Valletta through the City Gates.

Walking down the main walkway, Triq Ir-Repubblika (Republic Street).  There are stores, restaurants, government buildings and, offices.  Valletta is less than a mile long and less than half a mile wide.  It was designed on a grid pattern, a pretty new concept at the time when it was built.

The architecture is stunning.

Continuing down Triq Ir-Repubblika. We are leaving the shops and government buildings and heading into a more residential area.

Love the windows!

And the doors!

In more recent times (like late 1800s, early 1900s), goatherds would bring thousands of goats into the city every day. The goats would roam the streets while the goatherds would take goats door to door to milk them for the resident. That’s fresh milk! To prevent the wondering goats from entering the houses, gates like these were installed in each doorway.

On one side of Valletta is Grand Harbor which looks out onto the Three Cities (one of which was the capital before Valletta).

The Siege Bell, commemorating the dead from WWII, rings every day at noon. And we were there when it rang! We felt the vibrations in our whole body!

Not every road is drivable!

On the other side of Valletta, across Marsamxett Bay, is Sliema.

Manoel Island, in Marsamxett Bay, between Sliema and Valletta.  It is the home of  Fort Manoel which is currently being renovated after years of neglect.  It is also home to the 170-year old Malta Yacht Club.

Looking back towards Valletta as we chug out in to the bay on the ferry back to Sliema.

We started with a bus ride to Valletta, the capital of Malta. It is not as built up as Sliema and has an older feel to it. There were many, many people out walking in the streets.  It looks like Christmas decorations were still up and there were loudspeakers playing Mozart as we walked along.  It was so lovely!

As in Sliema, the streets are very narrow and the cars drive fast!

We walked quite a bit along the ocean.  This is a view of the breakwater across the bay.

Taking a break from all the walking!

Another break at a playground.

Jon is checking the ferry schedule in the background. That iPad sure does come in handy! 🙂

So much to see!

We took the ferry back to Sliema for lunch. It’s a great way to get from one city to the other.

We took a bus to the north end of Malta to a town called Qawra. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Malta National Aquarium.

Walking through a water tunnel.

My favorite – walking through a big tunnel with sharks, sting rays and lots of cool fish.

The coral reef displays were pretty neat, too.

The sharks were a bit scary, though.

There is a beautiful promenade all along the waterfront in Sliema.  Most of our walk was along the water.

That’s Sliema to the side and front of us.

Valletta, the capital, as seen from the promenade in Sliema, across the Marsamxett Harbour.

Sliema is very touristy with many, many hotels, restaurants and high-rise apartments.  Quite the contrast with Valletta across the bay!

Finally – the park!

Without a yard, parks are going to be a daily staple.

Staying warm – when the sun goes behind the clouds and the wind picks up, it can get a little chilly (by Malta standards!).

More views of Sliema in the background.

Finally – familiar territory!

A view across St. Julian’s Bay to St. Julian’s.  This part of the promenade is about 10 minutes from our flat. 

The Mall of America! We had a lot of fun the night before we left going on the rides at the Mall.

We just checked our huge luggage – a total of 199 pounds!

Strolling through the airport. Our connection in Philly was tight – we were the last people on the plane! And then we sat and waited for nearly an hour while they fixed an indicator light!

The girls did great on the 3 flights. They listened to music and stories, colored, read, ate, slept (a bit) and watched out the window.

Our lovely landlady, Maria, took us out to lunch our first day in Sliema. We sat right by the ocean!

The joy of unpacking and settling into a place! We feel almost all moved in and are making our flat a great place to be.