Mediterranean and Adriatic Cruise October 2012 - Malta

Continuing with Mdina in Malta. There are only around 300 inhabitants of the ancient city and very few cars leading to it's nickname of The Silent City. It adjoins the village of Rabat which has a population of over 11,000.

Mdina is full of very narrow streets so is not at all suited to traffic.

Statue of the Madonna and Child on the Carmelite Church.

Gold leaf painting in a workshop.

Views of the neighbouring village of Rabat from the city walls.

The Mtarfa clock tower near Rabat.

Leaving Mdina, we passed through various beautiful villages as we headed back towards the coast.

We passed the Blue Grotto on the way

The fishing village of Marsaxlokk.

The town church.

From there we returned to the port of Valletta to sail for our next port of call. We were able to see the lovely architecture as we sailed out.

So it was goodbye to Malta as we sailed towards our next stop in Venice.

Mediterranean and Adriatic Cruise October 2012 - Cadiz and Malta.

The first port was Cadiz in Spain. The following pictures were all taken from the top of the HOHO bus.

Lovely beach.

Beautiful buildings

The old city walls of Cadiz.

Leaving Cadiz

It had been a very hot day so we sat on the balcony as we sailed away in the evening. The temperature was still 97 in the late afternoon.

Early morning approaching Malta.

Malta harbour

I have so many photos of Malta that I will put half in a separate post. First though, a taster of the ancient walled city of Mdina which was the ancient capital of Malta and whose history can be traced back 4000 years.

Cathedral of the Conversion of St. Paul, Mdina.

Scandinavia Cruise July 2012, Oslo, Norway.

The final Scandinavian port was Oslo in Norway.

Approaching the port at Oslo.

The old and the new. This schooner was moored next to us with a modern yacht behind her.

A modern sculpture of a yacht in the harbour.

We passed here on the ship's shuttle service and thought it was a ski slope. It is Oslo's Opera House!

The Lion statue by the Parliament buildings.

Oslo City Hall

The Astronomical Clock. The Hall was built in 1950 to celebrate the city's 950th anniversary.

The water feature at the City Hall.

The Parliament buildings.

Murals inside Oslo City Hall

Swan fountain in front of City Hall.

A city park.

The Giant Pointing Finger Statue  in Oslo’s old town of Christiania Torv.

  After the big town fire in 1624, the Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV decided to rebuild the town in this area. He supposedly pointed to this spot and said: "The new town will lie here!"

Heading for home.
I hope you have enjoyed a few of the photos taken on our cruise to Scandinavia.
Coming soon, the Mediterranean and Adriatic.