After a long day of walking I decided to take a harbor tour and whilst waiting for the boat to leave I could not help but notice the color of the Mediterranean.
The cruise starts with a swing by Manoel Island. Originally used for a quarantine hospital to combat the many plagues in the area, it’s strategic location gave rise to the building os a large star fort on the island.Now one of the attractions is the Black Pearl, the ship used in the Popeye musical which is now a restaurant.
At first one would wonder why such a small island would have need for a navy as it could not possibly be strong enough to repel an attack but we were told it is mostly focused on preventing smuggling and illegal immigration from nearby N. Africa.
Valetta is a peninsular and on the other side 3 more forts, St. Elmo, which houses a war museum, St. Angelo and Ricosoli are still preserved. It is obvious how much these forts could at one time completely block any attempt to enter the harbors.
Now these 5-6 harbors are full of recreational vessels ranging from kayaks to huge racing sailboats and even bigger yachts taking advantage of the protection now offered, not by forts but by large breakwaters.
There are still a few working docks and dry-docks dotted around the divers harbors.
And I wonder who the creative individual was to had eyes and ears mounted to the watchtowers.
Back on land I notices a Renault that, like one I had seen in Frankfurt, was designed for one occupant. With narrow, crowded streets the island is filled with small cars and lots and lots of scooters.
As I left the island I was lucky enough to notice we were flying over the Goza ferry and the curved ParadiseBay resort where I had stayed a few nights prior.
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