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Malta Tour July 2014
Day 3
 

“You could probably find a Horcrux in here"
 

After a hard day’s work the choir was thoroughly ready for what this tour is really about: the beach. It was the first free day and the choir was ready for optimum tanning.

First, though, we had several sightseeing spots to look forward to; although we didn’t quite make it to all of the churches on the schedule we enjoyed the Three Old Cities, looking over the beautiful harbour and stopping quickly to see a picturesque fishing village with its brightly-coloured Maltese fishing boats.

Next stop was perhaps the most memorable part of the day: a boat trip around the Blue Grotto. We piled into four boats and explored the arches and caves. It was utterly magical with the water seeming to glow bright blue even in the middle of a cave (“You could probably find a Horcrux in here”, announced the Dean). Everyone on our boat was so enthusiastic about looking over the side that we narrowly escaped capsizing but our tour guide trusted us enough to let us drive on the way back.

The afternoon saw us arrive at our long-awaited sandy beach. Despite great clouds of seaweed and questionable objects floating around in the water we all enjoyed a swim before retiring to the newly-displayed bright yellow tour stash towels and commenced tanning. Several (sensible) members of the choir later had to retreat to the beach bar for cocktails and Cisk in the shade but many persevered, perhaps ill-advisedly: Matthew Jorysz was forced to resign from his position as tanning manager after discovering that one actually has to rub sun cream in rather than spray a small area and leave it there - his ‘golf ball’ patch of un-burnt skin is a reminder of his mistake.

After a relaxing afternoon we headed back to Sliema for a quick shower and walked round the bay to supper at a lovely waterfront restaurant – the Maltese specialities like Gozo cheese ravioli and rabbit were particularly popular. Luckily for the football fans there was a giant screen playing the World Cup semi-final nearby so the rest of the evening was occupied with football and more Cisk. The choir football team had a lot to think about after its display on the beach in the afternoon - several players were complaining of injuries, including a potentially broken toe for the Junior Organ Scholar (not a good day for Matthew) caused by Hugo mistaking his foot for the ball when attempting a back-heel.

A few headed to our usual bar until the small hours but most were surprised at how tiring relaxation can be so headed to bed in good time for a busy day ahead.