Today is the warmest day so far on this cruise. Mid 80's with lots of sunshine. Ship docked at the beautiful Valletta waterfront with newly renovated, colorful shops, restaurants and sidewalk cafe's. 
Malta is thought to have been inhabited since 5700 BC and was colonized by the Phoenicians in 1000 BC. Then the islands went in turn to the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Norman's and Spanish who handed them over to the Knights of the Order of St. John in a "perpetual lease" in 1533. This lasted until Napoleon seized control in 1798. The Maltese didn't like the French; rebelled; received aid from Great Britain and became a British protectorate in 1900. In 1964 Malta gained Independence and became a republic under the British Commonwealth.Malta is located 60 miles south of Sicily, so there is quite an Italian influence. We took the HoHo bus which was a 3 hour tour if you didn't get off the bus. The bus was so crowded, people were afraid to get off in fear they wouldn't get a seat at the top when they re-boarded. We had to sit below for about the first hour, which was very uncomfortable. No air conditioned buses here. The city buses are relics from the 1950's and are pretty funny to see. The tour brought us around the coastline where there were many beautiful tourist areas with hotels and restaurants. Some of the roads were very narrow and only one car (or bus) could go at a time. It was quite an experience to travel up the mountain and a little scary for me at times. If we return here, we would skip the hoho bus and take a taxi directly to the Mdina, which is a pedestrian only walled city.
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