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This vacation just keeps getting better! What an amazing feeling after 2 gross years of Covid restrictions.
Our wonderful friends Suzy and Michael organized a day for us to go to Malta and see a concert with Joseph Calleja (Maltese internationally renowned tenor) and Placido Domingo... yes THE Placido Domingo... one of the famous three tenors.
This was definitely a bucket list activity. Suzy our fabulous activities organizer, had the whole day planned out for us (including where the best public restrooms would be and where we could take a break in air conditioning!) Both of these are super important to me 😀 Just so you have a temperature reference the weather has been pretty consistent in our time here... yesterday the high was 37 and the low was 28.
It is awesome for me to have someone else plan the details of the whole day. I didn't have to think about anything I just had to enjoy it. And enjoy it we did!
Our day started with an afternoon ferry ride to Malta from Gozo. The view of Gozo as you leave on the ferry never gets old!
We headed to the Hilton Malta (which is in St. Julian's). This was a great place to park the car (concert parking would have been crazy!) and had a lovely lounge for dinner and drinks before heading over to the concert (also with the required clean bathrooms and air conditioning!)
We did enjoy dinner and drinks and also had a peek at the view on the terrace.
After this we took a taxi to Manoel Island where the concert was being held.
Side note: Manoel island was a filming location for Game of Thrones in Season 1 and is where they filmed the execution of Ned Stark. A lady sitting behind us told us she was an extra for that scene and it took 2 weeks to film. She said she wore a balaclava for so long in the sun she had a "reverse sun tan"!
It's a good thing we took a taxi, it was a zoo of cars and people. We had the taxi let us out early to avoid the traffic snarl and walked in. I was not prepared for the beauty of where the concert was... which made it even more thrilling when we actually walked in!
But first... they even had red carpet for us to walk in on! I started to worry I was underdressed... but the excitement quickly made me forget about that!
This... THIS!!!! was the view from our seats:
Not only were we going to hear some amazing music... but we could look at this while we did it!
We were early so Steve wandered around and took some photos.
And a video so you can see the 360 degree view of the venue.
They had screens on either side of the audience so you could see what was happening on the stage close up... in case you are wondering how Placido Domingo looks these days... here he is...
We were all amazed. He is 81 this year and his voice is as powerful and wonderful as it ever was! As he was a "guest" of Joseph Calleja at the show we thought he might only sing a few songs, but he did many throughout the concert. I can not find the words to describe how magical this event was.
Here we are... "Hot but happy" during the intermission.
As well as Joseph Calleja and Placido Domingo there were two lovely female opera singers, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and a children's choir.
Steve took some video clips during the concert, I'll include them below in case you are interested.
And finally, this beautiful song that I don't know the name of... let me know if you know the name.
The concert lasted until Midnight. We managed to find a taxi in the chaos... headed back to the Hilton and picked up the car. Our amazing driver Michael got us back to the ferry and home by 2 AM. I have several notes about this:
- why is it that when Michael drives in Malta I don't feel car sick... but I can't remember a time when a taxi driver in Malta didn't make me feel carsick?
- ferries run between Gozo and Malta all night... every 45 minutes... there were only about 10 cars on the ferry but it still went.
- we didn't have to pay for the ride home on the ferry, only on the way to Malta. Suzy and Michael were free because they have some special card (senior residents?) and for the car, Steve and I it cost about 15 Euros... that includes both ways... BC Ferries are you listening?
So ends another glorious day in Malta 💖✠
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