Tuesday 28 May - St Julian's waterfront
I so wish you could join me in this restaurant, sipping your pina colada looking out at the Ioanian Sea at her most tranquil. A cool breeze is blowing but not enough to rock the colorful fishing boats at anchor. There is a relentless flow of tourists strolling along to select the best spot for their pre-dinner cocktails. The sky is still cobalt blue unspoiled by clouds. Hard to realise the devastation that took place just a short 70 years ago.  This particular area is well restored with a delightful combination of old architecture and glittering contemporary styles.
Our day started with a visit to our friend Yusef who was delighted to take the bookings for our selected tours. 9 nights are inadequate to do all that is on offer but I think we will know more about the country than we did yesterday.
Yusef escorted us to the central terminal , the hub of all tours. He is very careful of his elderly Kiwis. I rather suspect that he is new on the job as he is conferring with his boss every step of the way. One of my selected tours was of the Aquarium  and bird park, but Yusef assured me the birds had run away.
So away we went on the first of our hop-on-hop-off tours of eastern Malta. Our goal was to take photos of St John's Cathedral in Valetta for Josephine who was cruelly barred from this magnificent edifice by a storm which prevented her cruise boat from coming in to berth in Valetta last year. I would not have bothered with the cruisboat crowds and long queues but ,if all she wanted was a photo, I would photograph it. Peter sat and held my backpack and I joined the queue. I thought I'd just nip in, take a couple of shots and whistle out.  Well, never ever have I been so wrong. They say to allow 2 hours to view it. Yes. I would agree. It was sensationally magnificent. Thank you Josephine.
By the time we had lunch and missed the next bus, we could not hop off at any other stop, but it was fascinating to absorb the contrasting developments and rebuilding of this part of Malta with its 400,000 residents.
Peter had chosen and booked a night tour of Valetta which only runs on a Tuesday night so here we are waiting for our guided tour back into Valetta. But how different it will be by night. Billions of euros have been poured into the reconstruction of this historic country stretching back tens of thousands of year. And there is so much more to be done.