Day 316: Thursday 26th April 2018 - The Malta Experience

We woke reasonably early and got some school and an early lunch out of the way so that we could do some exploring. We had decided to go into Valletta and at Grandad's suggestion, go to "The Malta Experience" which was a film of the History of Malta, followed by a short tour of The Old Infirmary.

We found the Bus Stop and quickly took a photo of it so I could remember where to ask for on the way back! Not sure I could pronounce it though!

On arrival in Valletta the kids were delighted to see a beautiful fountain and immediately ran towards it, demanding photos. There was also a Mickey and Minnie mouse but Patrick refused to let them go near as they were asking for payment for photos!

We enjoyed a walk through the lovely city, all the way to the end of the peninsular where we followed the walls round to the Malta Experience. The film was quite a nice history of Malta, however I had got it mixed up with the 5D Malta Film and so it wasn't quite the moving, 3D extravaganza that the kids were expecting! It was also rather expensive at 38 euros for our family of 4, however it did include a tour of The Old Infirmary built in 1574 by the Knights of St John.

The kids actually really enjoyed the tour, listening to the guide explain that only men were treated in the hospital, and that women were left to either be treated at home, or by the nuns for maternity care. Apparently 75% of ladies died in childbirth.

We went downstairs to the old poor peoples ward which is now used for entertaining large numbers of rich people! Apparently 700 were due for a Gala Dinner that evening.

The old garden has now been converted into a theatre where we saw an orchestra rehearsing for their performance in the evening.

We walked a little further along the walls and stopped for a snack at a small playground. There were some strange shacks on the rocks near the water, not sure if they were fisherman's shacks or the Maltese equivalent of Beach Huts! On the way back through town we bumped into David Mather from MdR who had come over on the ferry for a visit, and he had bumped into Sarah and Ian the previous day. Guess the Med is a small place!




We caught the bus back, stopped off a playground to give the kids a run, and headed back to the boat for dinner. I saw Sarah and Ian's boat on a nearby pontoon and went over for a chat and to deliver a bus map! They managed to get into the performance at the Infirmary for free the previous evening just by turning up on the door!

Once back on the boat I asked the kids which bits of Malta's history most interested them... Esmé was quite noncommittal but AJ was interested in the 2nd World War bit, especially the role of aeroplanes protecting convoys of ships, so over dinner I put on a documentary I had downloaded about the Merchant Navy Ship, The Ohio which we all watched.

We were all pretty tired so started our bedtime routine soon after dinner.