1093 – Day 2 & 3 Boarding & Seaday

We were due to be taken from the hotel to Azura at 1300. We were packed and had eaten breakfast by around 0930, so thought we would take a stroll down to see the illuminated church as it is in daylight. We took what might be a less obvious route by going up hill a bit, and then walking along. We were delighted to have a lovely view across the bay as a result.

The square in front of the church had hosted a festival on the night of our arrival, we had seen some of the fireworks from the taxi. Workmen were now clearing the aftermath & dismantling stages. The church looked lovely but u fortunately we couldn’t get in. We lingered for a bit at another viewing point and then made our way back to the hotel via a souvenir shop to pick up some postcards.

I reckon there were twenty to thirty people waiting to go on to the cruise, nearly all sat in the hotel foyer. The weather has been grey all morning, and the threatened rain arrived at the same time as the travel agent. A coach was coming for us and so the was the rain. Apparently, rain in Malta is relatively rare. It was making up for it today.

Before we departed the UK I had said to Elayne, don’t bother with a rain coat – you won’t need it. Silly girl, she listened to me! In fairness, it was only a twenty yard dash the driver took our bags and hurled them into the luggage area. And we were off.

The thunder and lightening certainly weren’t off though; streaks of white hot current arcing to the ground, followed almost immediately by huge claps of churning noise, and the windscreen wipers swooshing desperately trying to give the driver a clear view. A journey that should have taken 45 minutes ended up being an hour and a half. Not a problem, the ship wasn’t due to sail until 2100, and it didn’t even then as a plain load of passengers late departing from the Uk were only then being bussed from the airport.

So far, our only view of Valletta had been through misted up coach windows, from inside the limestone was of the city, where we were processed through boarding and from the ship. But as usual, her gentle push off from the harbour and smooth glide out past the city and through the harbour wall was as gentle an experience as we have ever had. We went to bed about an hour later. I’d had the pork for dinner. Delicious.

Our first day at sea,was exactly that – sea day. Relaxed dress, no rush, do what you want. Once we had breakfast out the way, Elayne went off to find a sun bed as close to the pool as she could get, and sought out the most shaded spot I could find to settle down with my kindle.

A bit of a snooze in the afternoon, we have free dining (eat when and where we want, pretty much, almost) and spent the evening with a delightful group of people, we had a real laugh. I also had the Beef Wellington – it was even better than the pork. The show was very good as you might expect. All in, a delightful first day.