July 7, 2016
Malta and Sicily, Italy
Today we’re covering two stops from our European getaway- Malta and Sicily! These were probably the most laid back and relaxing stops on our mediterranean cruise. We knew that a 2-week cruise through Europe with a different city each day would get quite exhausting. So we purposely planned for these two stops to be more leisurely instead of trying to run around seeing everything!
First up is Malta, more specifically Valletta. Malta is an island in the Mediterranean that has historically been used as a naval base due to it’s strategic location in the sea. Our boat docked at the capital city, Valletta. To get from sea level to the port, you had the option of riding a lift or walking hundreds of stairs to get to the top. Let’s just say that we started the day with quite a workout! This was the one stop where we literally had nothing planned. Our only plan was to walk around and get lost in the city. It was definitely nice just going where the wind blew us and not sticking to any sort of schedule or itinerary. Although, when we got back on the boat that night and heard what our dinner table mates did on the island, we realized that we did miss out on a lot. Oh well! I still think it was nice to just have that leisurely day of exploring the city. 
Next stop is the first of our Italy stops, Sicily! And what better way to kick off Italy than with a lot of wine!! We also opted for a relaxing day in sicily by booking a wine tasting excursion that also made a stop at Mt Etna! Mt Etna is the tallest active volcano in Europe. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in a constant state of activity. The whole upper area of the volcano is covered in black rock from it’s numerous and recent eruptions and is still accumulating and moving on a daily basis! The fertile volcanic soils make for optimal conditions for the numerous orchards and wineries along the mountain- the oldest of which is where we had our wine tasting! It was the first winery on Mt Etna and has been producing wine every season since the 1700s! 
Did is mention it was SUPER windy at the top of the mountain?! Just trying not to blow over!
Heading back down the mountain to our wine tasting!
Best thing about Italy- a ‘tasting’ of a wine is actually a full glass! We took a very nice nap on the bus ride back to the ship!
Got to tour the original wine cellar from the 1700s that they still use!
Too bad I couldn’t fit one of the massive barrels in my carry-on home…
To see more from our European getaway, check out these posts!