After the Hypogeum, we toured a town called Birgu (or Vittoriosa-- depending on what language you choose!) Considered the "cradle" of Maltese history, Birgu and the surrounding areas and towns were the stopping point for almost every group who settled on the island, and the first home to the Knights of St. John. Just opposite the harbor is Valletta, where we went the first day, which was built up AFTER Birgu by the Knights to fortify even more the area and harbor. (They were paranoid of attacks-- and rightfully so given their history, but there weren't any more attacks after they built Valletta, but they wanted to be sure they were safe!) Picture #15 shows barracks they used during the bombings of WWII-- according to our guide, they got very hot and stinky because people were down there for days taking shelter from the bombs! I guess an old fort is a pretty safe place to take shelter! Picture #8 shows the place where we stood in Valletta with the harbor behind us on the first day. It's the building with the arches. This fort in Birgu had 3 separate gates to protect the people from invasion-- each time the enemy thought they were in...they had yet another gate to conquer! Quite smart if you ask me! This gave the people time to get situated and fight back! It bought them time! Once we were in the third gate, we toured the quaint, narrow streets where people still live! (Our guide grew up in Birgu and still has family there and knew everyone in the streets!) Everything here is old... in picture #21 you can see the weathering or "honeycombed" walls of this old building! I liked that there is nothing touristy about Birgu! It's just a very beautiful, typical Maltese town with Cathedrals and churches and other important historic buildings. We saw several points of interest including old hospitals and the auberge's where the Knights lives when they were here. Our guide also showed us a typical Maltese home.(This is the picture of the door-- the door handle is a sign of good luck here-- it's a fish, I think.) We enjoyed a pastry made of dates (not my favorite but thought we'd try it because the guide said they were good) and a really good doughnut that we shared after the tour in the town square where all the people were meeting and having lunch. It was such a cute and quaint little town! The last picture in Birgu-- the statue-- shows Christianity conquering Islam. You can see the crescent (sign of Islam) at the bottom of the gate surrounding the statue being speared and the cross on top!
After the tour, we went back to our room and changed into our swim suits and enjoyed the pool and beach for the rest of the afternoon. (We packed all our stuff first, as we are leaving EARLY in the morning-- of course!) The beach is just paved over rocks with an entrance with stairs and railings into the bay! The water was so clear and warm! We swam and enjoyed that for a while. Katelyn jumped in and did some flips into the water off the side of the rock. It was so nice to not get all sandy! We relaxed on one of the cabanas and watched the tide come in under our feet! (I almost lost my flip flops!) We waded in the pool after, then went up to the room and showered and got dressed for the Edward Jones Farewell Dinner. It was a really nice buffet dinner with a lot of different foods to choose from. They also had a huge assortment of desserts. I actually liked the hot cinnamon rolls the best! We went back to the room-- McKenzie went to bed, but Katelyn stayed up with us in our room and we watched TV-- food shows and Shark Week. We finally went to bed around midnight...
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