Cruise Day 3 (cont.): Malta (& Gozo)---Part 2

....OK...sorry for the interruption!  As lovely as Corsico is----I definitely didn't want to get stranded here, so I definitely needed to log off and get myself back on the boat...plus we have a character sketching class in just a bit with Robyn, our adventure guide, that I don't want to miss!!

So, for your viewing pleasure I've included a collage here of more shots that Jason and I took while we were visiting the Blue Window.  While the Blue Window itself is certainly the GRANDEST feature of that coastline...it's by no means the only beautiful thing to look at.  The rock formations and waves were really breathtaking...so we took LOTS of photos there!!  It really was awe-inspiring and the weather couldn't have been nicer.  We even bought a nice handmade ceramic magnet that features the Blue Window in a ceramics shop in the artisan village (for those who don't know, we collect magnets from all the places we visit on vacations and we display them on the walls into our basement/den which are painted with "magnetic paint."  On this journey we have really been adding to our magnet collection with all the ports and destinations....as I get closer to the end of the trip I'll try to post a picture of all the magnets we've collected so far.)

Anyhow, the Blue Window was amazing and we could easily have stayed there for a couple hours and enjoyed ourselves...but, alas, the tour must go on! 

So, if you have already read Part 1 of my post(s) about Malta & Gozo, you know I have already covered the history/culture & experience portions of our adventure for the day....but what I haven't talked about yet is some of the sights & scenery.....so here goes.....

Sights/Scenery

Despite being a very dry climate without a lot of vegetation and with an over-abundance of buildings in a small area, Malta & Gozo are stunning.  The port itself is beautiful, the many villages and towns we saw were great----the architecture was unique and interesting and had a great Mediterranean vibe and feel (go figure, huh?! LOL).  Anyhow....just to share a few of the things we saw while we were in Malta and Gozo....here are some pics:

Another interesting thing we saw while we were in Gozo was the creation of salt. As I think I mentioned when we were swimming in the Med, the sea water is very very salty...much saltier than the ocean water people are used to on the coasts of the United States.  The Maltans use this highly salinated water to harvest salt that they use in their very own kitchens.  The manner in which they do so dates back millenia and hasn't changed dramatically over time.  They etch out shallow "pans" in the rock and then fill them with sea water....as the sun and wind and air cause the water to evaporate, deposits of salt are left crystalized in the pan that gets scraped up, sanitized, and then used for food purposes.  It was very interesting to see these "salt farms" along the coastline....here's a picture:

So that was pretty much our day in Malta & Gozo.  We had gorgeous weather and a fantastic introduction to what it really means to ADVENTURE with DISNEY!!  Like I said, I'm definitely hooked.  It was a very detailed and varied day and we did things on even just this day's tour that nobody else on the cruise ship had an opportunity to do (in fact, actually, two of our dinner-mates told us that they got to ride in a boat and see the "blue window" on their shore excursion...which surprised us because our guides had told us that no Disney excursions, except for the Adventures package, included the Blue Window....so we showed them the pictures of where we'd been and it turns out that they had been to a different and much SMALLER version on the main island of Malta! LOL)  So our Adventure was off to an amazing start. 

Once back on the ship, we went and got dressed for dinner and had some pictures taken with characters.  Here is an image that shows some of our pictures and also our ties for the evening.  Tonight's meal was in the restaurant called "Animator's Palate"----and the entire story behind this restaurant is themed around the idea of taking black and white sketches and making them into full color animations (the entire restaurant, using colored lights, actually changes color throughout the meal and the serving staff even change their outfits from black and white to color during dessert)...so our ties were a black and white mickey tie and a colorful mickey tie.

And, finally, here is the towel animal that Vangie, our stateroom hostess, left in our room for us today:

....we didn't really do much else on the ship on Malta night because we were so tired and we had another early morning the next day....TUNISIA...so stay tuned for more details on that (and all our other ports so far) later this week!!!