Manama, Bahrain didn't seem to have much of touristic appeal to offer. We took a free shuttle to a department store "mall" and walked around the neighbourhood, taking in the local bakery, beauty and hair salons, housing complexes, mosques, and a very creepy Santa Claus. We spent time reading our books and listening to music on the ship.
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Previous to finding this 11 night cruise of the Persian Gulf, we weren't familiar with MSC. When I compared pricing, this itinerary featuring 7 ports of call was cheaper than 7 night cruises with only 4 of the same stops. We sailed on the MSC Lirica, an older ship that has been refurbished and is small by today's standards. MSC is an Italian line that is marketed primarily to Europeans. We were relieved to discover that English was the primary language spoken aboard, but all announcements were made in 7 different languages! On our particular sailing, Russians were the largest group of passengers, followed by Italians, and then Germans. There were also representatives from Spain, Portugal, France, and the USA. Apparently we were two of just 40 Canadians on the MSC Lirica. We felt that the cruise offered good value and that the ship had most amenities. We were thrilled with the itinerary and impressed with five of the seven ports of call. Food was in abundance and available 20 hours per day! We were satisfied with the quality of the meals served in the main dining room. Sorbet and ice-cream were our standing orders, but we also sampled several other desserts. (Pictured: cheesecake, pavlova, and Black Forest) There were three "elegant" nights and two theme nights (but we weren't told about the themes in advance so only crew and repeat passengers were dressed accordingly). The entertainment aboard the MSC Lirica was disappointing, especially the theatre shows. The theatre itself is poorly designed with bad sightlines and a small stage. The featured singers performed in heavily accented English, and didn't seem to know the English words they were singing. The choreography was basic. The performances lacked a storyline and were repetitive (ie. the same magic trick was performed on at least 3 nights, and the same fellow juggled the same way each night). One of the nice things about cruising is that it gives one the opportunity to spend time with fellow travelers. We were happy to have several breakfasts and lunches with Arthur and Phyllis from the Bay Area - an impressively accomplished couple with wonderful stories to tell. It was also great to have swapped travel tales with Susan and Gary from outside of Atlanta - these two know how to put together a vacation! Finally, I appreciated visiting over drinks with a family from Manchester on two of the theme nights. Additionally, crew member Trevor Lucky from South Africa was fun to chat with.
Khasab had lowered our expectations of Oman and the port area didn't seem to have much to offer. We decided to just walk to the Muttrah Souk. Reaching and exploring the souk took less time than we'd anticipated and the seaside promenade was lovely, so we decided to push on towards Old Muscat. We promised each other that we'd simply turn back if and when we'd had enough. We passed an amusement park, monuments, beaches, and mosques before reaching the gate to Old Muscat. We made it the six kilometres to Al Alam Palace. We saw Mirani Fort, the old city wall, Jalali Fort, and at least five mosques before walking all the way back to the ship. Muscat was a wonderful port of call and we had a great day exploring. Having walked at least 13 kilometres, we felt less guilty when ordering double desserts at both lunch and dinner.
Much of Oman is barren and rocky; it offered a stark contrast to the opulence of the United Arab Emirates. Lisa and I made the 12 minute walk from the ship into the town of Khasab. We explored several alleyways and passages, discovering two forts, several small mosques, friendly locals, and many goats. Khasab holds little of touristic value, but was an interesting stop for some insight into Omani life. The two largest buildings were an old fort, and a newer LuLu "HyperMarket". On our walk back to the ship we encountered several more passengers who frequently asked us if we knew how to find the town... we'd inform them, "This is it!"
Much of Sir Bani Yas Island is now protected as a nature reserve and a variety of animals have been brought here from around the world. "Safari" excursions are available, but we elected to simply relax on the coastal portion of the island operated by MSC until after the beach barbeque lunch. That night was the first of three "elegant" nights.
After breakfast aboard the ship, we once again took advantage of a free mall shuttle, this time to get us closer to Abu Dhabi's main road, Corniche. From the mall, we walked to the coast and followed the lovely seaside promenade along beaches and parks, all the way to the Founder's Memorial and the Presidential Palace. After having walked 12 kilometres in 27 degree sunshine, we took a taxi back to the ship. Our cab driver was impressed by the length of our walk, but confused by us mentioning the heat, as he explained that this is the cool winter weather and that in the summer months one cannot go outside for even two minutes in the shade without being 100% wet with sweat due to the 56 - 62 degree days. Despite the wintry conditions, we were happy to be spoiled with lots of good food once back aboard.
After breakfast, we enjoyed the warm weather outside while we waited for the free shuttle to the Dubai Mall in the heart of the city's downtown. At 10:30 am, the mall next to the famous Burj Khalifa was nearly deserted. We walked through long connecting corridors from the mall to a metro station, where we purchased day passes and boarded the metro to the Dubai Marina. This was a beautiful area to stroll along the water's edge admiring beautiful boats and commenting on the city's cleanliness. We made our way to the Observatory Bar on the 52nd floor of the Marriott building to view the famous Palm Island and the ongoing expansion and construction of new wealthy residential areas. Next we took the metro to the First Gulf Bank stop and walked through an affluent community of international schools, foreign embassies, and private homes, to the world's only "7 star" hotel, the Burj Al Arab Hotel. We visited the nearby Umm Suqeim Beach where people were surfing. The walk to the coast was longer than we'd anticipated (about 48 minutes), so we hopped in a cab for a quick ride back to the metro station. We then continued by metro to Al Fahidi to explore the historical district and walked to and through the Old Souk and along the creek. We had chosen to skip lunch in order to sightsee, so we especially appreciated our first dinner in the ship's main dining restaurant. Afterwards we attended the mandatory safety drill before I indulged in a couple of glasses of "welcome champagne". I met a friendly family from Manchester at the "sail-away" who kindly used their unlimited drink package to order me a beer at the "Arabian Night Party".
Our studio featured original tiles and a traditional Maltese window box. Despite being geographically small, there is a lot to see in Valletta; we wandered around seeing the majority of the sights on our first day there. The name "Malta" comes from the period of the country's history when it was under Phoenician rule from 800 - 480 BC. It is derived from the word "mallet", meaning "shelter". Starting on the 17th, we began a routine of taking a bus to another part of the island in the morning, then returning to our studio for lunch and a break before heading back into Valletta for more exploration. Thursday morning we visited Mdina, but saw more of the capital afterwards. Valletta has many churches, the most impressive, famous, and visited of which is St. John's Co Cathedral. Malta is known for its window boxes, and Valletta has the widest array. The Siege Bell Fort Saint Angelo We actually stayed in Floriana, an extension of Valletta outside the original walled city. The Valletta waterfront where the cruiseships dock is actually in Floriana, as is the famous Triton Fountain. On the 18th, we walked the promenade from Sliema to St. Julien's before returning 'home' to Floriana. Each day we tried to take a slightly different route walking to and from Valletta. On the 19th, we made our way to the other side of the Grand Harbour to visit "The Three Cities" of Birgu, Senglea, and Cospicua. At the very end of Valletta is Fort St. Elmo, where they have apparently filmed at least six movies. On Sunday the 20th, we visited the Marsaxlokk Open Market and then went to Saint Peter's Pool where I jumped into the ocean. We spent all of the 21st in Valletta and Floriana. We admired the Church of Saint Paul's Shipwreck among others. On our final day in Malta, we visited the beaches along St. Paul's Bay, walking the promenade that connects Qawra, Bugibba, and St.Paul's Bay. We were able to enjoy several beautiful sunsets while in Valletta. We watched another great sunset on our final night in Malta before heading to bed early in anticipation of our 4:30am taxi to the airport. On the 23rd, I watched the sunrise from the window of our plane on the first leg of our journey home.
What began as an authentic fish market in a quiet fishing village has developed into an over-rated market catering mostly to tourists. We combined the Sunday morning market at the harbour full of colourful fishing boats with our trip to Saint Peter's Pool. We enjoyed the traditional Maltese sweet, mqaret - deep-fried pastry filled with dates.
After an early breakfast, we caught a bus to the ferry. The ferry took us back to the island of Malta, where we caught another bus to the airport. All had gone well until we learned of limited access to the Catania airport due to ash clouds from volcanic activity on Mt. Etna. Our flight ended up being delayed by four hours, which made us need to re-schedule check-in with our Airbnb host. From the plane, we were able to see Mt. Etna with a puff of ash rising above its peak. We arrived after dark on Friday evening and wandered around for a short time with our backpacks, before eventually checking in to our apartment after our host got off work. The apartment, "Cortile Pardo", is located right at the main, most central square, Piazza Duomo. Our temporary apartment features a very narrow, cool spiral staircase. On our first morning in Catania, we wandered through the fish market, discovering that it soon gives way to a meat market, and then an extensive outdoor produce market with great prices and mostly friendly vendors. We picked up nectarines, bananas, and red peppers. #jamesonstreetart We spent most of Saturday visiting Syracuse. When we returned to Catania, we walked to a supermarket to stock up on groceries. En route, we found another huge outdoor market selling all manner of things. At the supermarket, 12 euros bought us a huge haul - limoncello, beer, gnocci, cheese, chocolate, yoghurt, potato chips, lemon sorbet, bottled water, a baguette, and eggs! Being so close to the main piazza, there is noise late into the night, but I still managed to sleep well. Church bells woke me early Sunday morning, but I immediately went back to sleep. After breakfast, we checked out the historic Via dei Crociferi, featuring four churches and many baroque buildings. The surrounding area is dotted with still more churches, several of which were conducting services. We ended up sitting in a park watching an aerobic dance group set up for a video shoot, and then heading to the grocery store once more. There's even a Roman amphitheatre on the main tourist road, Via Etnea. We took advantage of having our own kitchen! After consulting the internet, we went for another walk to see the Castello Ursino and the Monastery of San Nicolo. In between them, we also stumbled upon more Roman ruins in the heart of the modern city. We spent Monday visiting Taormina and its beautiful surroundings. After deciding against a trip to Mt. Etna, Tuesday became a rare "spare day" in our itinerary. This meant a photographic expedition through the fish and food markets, as well as a trip to buy running shoes. On our last day in Catania, we made several short local excursions. Catania University, 1434 At the last moment, we decided to go for yet another walk - this time to La Playa. Catania's beach has the potential to be incredible, as the sandy swath goes on for kilometres. Unfortunately, it is dirty and untended like the entire area, and the old facilities seem virtually abandoned. We'd prearranged a 5am transfer to the airport for our return to Malta.
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