Mediterranean

Day 4 - Tue 16 Oct 07

Went down to the harbour first thing to collect my ticket, but they couldn't tell me if the ferry was going tomorrow or not, it all depends on the weather. Headed back into town and had a look around the Anglican cathedral while waiting for the Theatre tour to start.

Manoel Theatre, Valletta, Malta

The Manoel Theatre is a little gem and original 1730's wooden building. It's the third oldest Theatre in the world. The tour covered most parts of the place and was very interesting. After that I caught the bus over to Vittoriosa one of the 'three cities' opposite Valletta across the harbour. Had a walk around and ended up by the water. Even in this sheltered spot the wind is whipping the waves up.

Get down to the Hypogeum (a subterranean structure dating back to Maltese prehistory), and collect my Internet ticket and started chatting to a bloke waiting - he hasn't got a ticket and is hoping for to take the place of a no-show. I didn't quite believe the Lonely Planet when it said to book well in advance, but I'm glad I did - they are now full until the end of November!

The tour is excellent and the stone masons did an amazing job hacking out the caves from the rock. One part even looks like the above ground temples with pillared doorways and a vaulted roof.

The Tarxien temple complex is just around the corner so I had a look at that. Not quite so impressive, but the statue of the fat lady is very good - it's just a shame that the top half is missing!

Back to a bus stop that I'd spotted as I walked over and just as I arrived a No. 27 appeared, so back to Valletta. Then the bad news. I asked at the tourist info desk and they rang the ferry company, and all ferries tomorrow are cancelled. I pop next door to Air Malta. The flights to Sicily tomorrow are full, but there is a seat for 58Lira on Thursday. As we chat the guy says there's been a cancellation and the price is down to 48Lira. I take that as sign and book it!

I take another early evening stroll to find an Internet cafe to send an e-mail and get some goodies from M&S. According to the BBC web site the wind is going to be even stronger tomorrow!