Valletta As Seen From the Belvedere

No matter where you look in this magnificent city, there is a stunning view. Our plane arrived very late at night and as we took a shuttle to Hotel Castile, not much was seen. Knowing that the hotel was at the highest elevation in the city didn’t prepare us for the visual feast that awaited us the next morning. We followed the sound of a local band after breakfast, and discovered the belvedere where these photos were taken.

 

  

What a delightful surprise to discover this wonderful little park with its fantastic views of Valletta just a hop, skip and jump from our hotel. We walked through it to take in the breathtaking views. The park itself was a cool oasis on a warm day because of the sea breezes. It made for a very nice introduction to the city and we found ourselves taking in the view here several more times.

  

   This particular view was towards Floriana, an area I had wanted to explore because of lovely photos in my guide book. They showed narrow cobbled streets with steps and flower pots lush with vegetation. According to the locals, this was only during festivals and in truth I only found stairs, no flower pots. What I did see when looking toward this area was quite a bit of traffic on the water. The cruise ships were lined up like kindergarteners getting ready for a field trip. This is a very busy port. I was happiest when the cruise ships went out to sea and didn’t obstruct this beautiful view. 

The sandstone colored buildings made the water seem even bluer because of the contrast.