Seventh Port – Malta

7 August – Birzebbuga, Malta

What a thrill to enter a new and exotic port!  Particularly so when the local population is celebrating – with fireworks, loud music and great fanfare – an apparently special religious holiday.  St. Peter in Chains?  In any event, the port where we docked is right alongside a town that had pulled out all the stops.

Although it appeared we would experience additional delays, our ship in fact made it into port last night, our fellow passengers are now safely on their way home to Hanover, and the Maltese are recuperating from their frenetic three-day celebration with a half-day holiday.

Apparently, every day is a holiday for the feline species around here; the public parks have a great many cat houses that have been set up for their exclusive enjoyment.  (At first I thought they were shelters for little, tiny homeless people….. my cultural bias coming through!)

Malta has for centuries been something of a meeting point for divergent cultures and ideologies…. going back to the religious Crusades and before.  Here is a monument to a summit meeting that was held here in 1989 between US President George HW Bush and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev that essentially led to the end of the Cold War.

The meeting was also known as the “Seasick Summit”, as it was held on board a rolling ship just off the coast.   You can see our container ship being loaded on the right side of the picture, partially obscured by the monument…..

We loaded up on supplies for the coming weeks in several of the local markets, while wishing we could instead join the crowds of folks enjoying the beach and watching the cargo ships maneuver.

But the sea calls…. the Vela is supposed to pull away from its berth at 1400 hours.  From here on, we understand that we will be the only passengers until we reach China in four weeks or so.  Next stop – Beirut, Lebanon.  Out of touch until then.  Hope all is well in your world!

p.s. Here is a photo of the latest knitted creation from your peripatetic correspondent.  (It doesn’t look like much, but was pretty complicated for a beginner!)