January 31, 2017
Monday was a day at sea which is usually a relaxing, uneventful one.
Not on this cruise. We had three events that made for a special day.
1. We took a tour through one of the two galley/kitchens on the ship.
The galley we toured was on deck 1 and services three restaurants,
two specialty restaurants on deck 1 and the main restaurant on deck
2. We were shown the various prep areas where everything is prepared
for the evening's service. The servers take orders on a smartphone
which immediately sends the order to the kitchen where a ticket is
printed and preparation of the meal begins. Servers use a stairway to
go down to the kitchen and up an escalator to take the dishes back
up to the main restaurant on deck 2. During particularly busy times
runners are used to help take dishes up to the servers. The cafeteria
and Pool Grill on deck 7 have there own galley/kitchen. There are 96
cooks working the five different dining venues. 2. Mid-afternoon the
captain was able to take the ship within two miles of Stromboli Island,
one of three active volcanoes in Europe. Even from a considerable
distance we were able to see the plume of steam coming from the
volcano. 3. Monday night's show in the theatre was "Opera Fantasy"
advertised as a mix of opera and Gilbert and Sullivan with a bit of rock
'n roll. Without much enthusiasm we attended this show. What a nice
surprise. It turned out to be one of the best productions we've seen on
any of our cruises. There were eight entertainers, four men and four
women. Six of them were obviously professionally trained opera
singers.The other two were an accomplished dance team. The mix of
songs was imaginative, computer generated displays on the backdrops
were visually stunning, and having "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the finale
to the show was pure genius. We hope the rest of the productions are
as good.
Not on this cruise. We had three events that made for a special day.
1. We took a tour through one of the two galley/kitchens on the ship.
The galley we toured was on deck 1 and services three restaurants,
two specialty restaurants on deck 1 and the main restaurant on deck
2. We were shown the various prep areas where everything is prepared
for the evening's service. The servers take orders on a smartphone
which immediately sends the order to the kitchen where a ticket is
printed and preparation of the meal begins. Servers use a stairway to
go down to the kitchen and up an escalator to take the dishes back
up to the main restaurant on deck 2. During particularly busy times
runners are used to help take dishes up to the servers. The cafeteria
and Pool Grill on deck 7 have there own galley/kitchen. There are 96
cooks working the five different dining venues. 2. Mid-afternoon the
captain was able to take the ship within two miles of Stromboli Island,
one of three active volcanoes in Europe. Even from a considerable
distance we were able to see the plume of steam coming from the
volcano. 3. Monday night's show in the theatre was "Opera Fantasy"
advertised as a mix of opera and Gilbert and Sullivan with a bit of rock
'n roll. Without much enthusiasm we attended this show. What a nice
surprise. It turned out to be one of the best productions we've seen on
any of our cruises. There were eight entertainers, four men and four
women. Six of them were obviously professionally trained opera
singers.The other two were an accomplished dance team. The mix of
songs was imaginative, computer generated displays on the backdrops
were visually stunning, and having "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the finale
to the show was pure genius. We hope the rest of the productions are
as good.
We awoke Tuesday morning at 7:00 to find we were already docked in
Valletta, Malta. The harbor where our pier was located was picturesque.
Malta is one of the smallest countries in the world. It is an island
nation of about 110 square miles with a population of approximately
425,000. Malta received its independence from Great Britain in 1964
andis a member of the European Union. Over its long history it has
been controlled by many different countries and cultures, both
Europeanand Arabic. As a result there is quite a diversity to the
architecture. Theone constant is the honey colored limestone-type
rock used in theconstruction of these buildings. We first visited Mdina,
the old capital of Malta. Mdina is a walled fortress sitting atop of a hill
that we couldsee in the distance as we left our ship. The layout of the
city was designed to withstand an attack by invading forces. Mdina is
also famous for its glass works that are very similar to glass we have
seen on the island of Murano in Venice. Our guide pointed out as we
looked at one of the fortress walls the different shapes of rock used by
the different civilizations in control of Mdina. One culture built on the
previous culture. From Mdina we went to Valletta, the present day
capital of Malta. While still a relatively old city, because it is where
everyone goes to shop there was considerably more "buzz" to Valletta.
A high point in Valletta was the St. John Co-Cathedral. The cathedral
sits right in the middle of the main shopping area and from the outside
is not impressive at all. However, the interior is decorated in the
immensely ornate High Baroquestyle with gold playing an important
role in the decor. Also of interest was a painting by the Italian artist
Caravaggio titled "The beheading of St. John, the Baptist." It is the
largest painting Caravaggio ever produced. No one ever explained why
it is called Co-Cathedral.
Valletta, Malta. The harbor where our pier was located was picturesque.
Malta is one of the smallest countries in the world. It is an island
nation of about 110 square miles with a population of approximately
425,000. Malta received its independence from Great Britain in 1964
andis a member of the European Union. Over its long history it has
been controlled by many different countries and cultures, both
Europeanand Arabic. As a result there is quite a diversity to the
architecture. Theone constant is the honey colored limestone-type
rock used in theconstruction of these buildings. We first visited Mdina,
the old capital of Malta. Mdina is a walled fortress sitting atop of a hill
that we couldsee in the distance as we left our ship. The layout of the
city was designed to withstand an attack by invading forces. Mdina is
also famous for its glass works that are very similar to glass we have
seen on the island of Murano in Venice. Our guide pointed out as we
looked at one of the fortress walls the different shapes of rock used by
the different civilizations in control of Mdina. One culture built on the
previous culture. From Mdina we went to Valletta, the present day
capital of Malta. While still a relatively old city, because it is where
everyone goes to shop there was considerably more "buzz" to Valletta.
A high point in Valletta was the St. John Co-Cathedral. The cathedral
sits right in the middle of the main shopping area and from the outside
is not impressive at all. However, the interior is decorated in the
immensely ornate High Baroquestyle with gold playing an important
role in the decor. Also of interest was a painting by the Italian artist
Caravaggio titled "The beheading of St. John, the Baptist." It is the
largest painting Caravaggio ever produced. No one ever explained why
it is called Co-Cathedral.
We spent the afternoon on the ship, reading on our balcony and enjoying
the views around the harbor. While this blog post would suggest there
is not much to see in Malta, there were enough varied tours offered by
our cruise to suggest otherwise. We also don't think we have
adequately conveyed the beauty of the unique architecture highlighted
by the same colored stone in all of the buildings. We enjoyed Malta. It
was a good start to the cruise.
the views around the harbor. While this blog post would suggest there
is not much to see in Malta, there were enough varied tours offered by
our cruise to suggest otherwise. We also don't think we have
adequately conveyed the beauty of the unique architecture highlighted
by the same colored stone in all of the buildings. We enjoyed Malta. It
was a good start to the cruise.
Tomorrow will be a long day. We have a seven and half hour tour in
Tunis, Tunisia that also includes a trip to Carthage. We may not have
the energy to blog tomorrow. We'll see. Check back just in case.
Tunis, Tunisia that also includes a trip to Carthage. We may not have
the energy to blog tomorrow. We'll see. Check back just in case.
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| Valletta, Malta harbor |
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| View of Malta from our balcony |
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| Valletta |
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| Mdina, Malta |
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