Here’s a quick summary of what we’ve been up to in Gozo.
Wednesday, October 3
We arrived in Malta from an Air Malta flight–the slowest check-in staff ever at the Gatwick airport. The flight was about 3 hours. Then Julie had hired a driver for us, who picked us up at the airport and drove us to the ferry terminal. His name was George.
We passed by Takai, which is where Bob Sherrett landed during the war. During WWII, Malta took “quite a pasting”, they were bombed 154 consecutive days and nights, compared to the London Blitz, which was 54 days of bombing. The entire population of Malta received the George Cross, Britain’s highest award for civilian bravery.
The ferry ride was about 25 minutes and Darren, Julie and their friend Gwendolyn met us on the Gozo side. Gwen drove in Japan for 6 months so she was our fearless left-side driver.
It was about 9 or 10 at night so after a quick refresher we made our way to Rangers, which is the local pub and supporter of the Gharb Rangers football team. I had a Mexicana personal pizza, some wine and a great time.
Thursday, Oct 4
First day on Malta. Thankfully Gwendolyn had been around Gozo for a couple of days and Julie is a perfect travel guide. We were whisked off to San Blas Bay for an early morning of snorkeling. You want to get there early and leave before the tourists arrive. Damn tourists.
San Blas is gorgeous. You park on the top of a cliff and wind your way down the road to the ocean. It was a bit steep but definitely worth it. The sand is a great saffron colour. The snorkeling was good. We saw coral and jelly fish, white bream (little silver fish with a black spot on their tail), two-band bream (silver fish with black stripes), ornate wrasse (funky coloured fish), little black guys with a split tail fin and other scrubby fish. It was really a great swim.
Then we climbed back up the hill to the jeep. Returned home to Gharb, jumped into the icy back garden pool then had a rest.
Later we went into Victoria and had a coffee at Belusa Cafe, bought some sweeties (honey circle, almond cookies) and returned home. For dinner, Gwendolyn made an orzo salad that was delicious and we had some chicken sausages.
October 5
Gwendolyn, James and I got up early so we could meet a fellow in Mgarr Harbour at 8:15 am. He was to take us across to Comino. We had no gas and had to figure out how the road side gas pump worked. It was quite the process, especially since we were in a hurry.
We made it to Mgarr with minutes to spare. Joseph met us, he runs the boat trip. His boat is Francesca 1 and his other boat is used to pick up garbage from tourists in Blue Lagoon, which is where we were going.
Seconds into the trip, Joseph said to me, “here you drive”. Ok, Gwen does left. I do boats.
Blue Lagoon is an incredibly blue bay off Comino. The swimming is excellent. We saw even more fish than in San Blas, more jelly fish too though. I think this swim has been my favourite of the trip so far. We swam across the bay to a little cave and pond. Jumped from the rocks. I saw an eel. It was a bit creepy but also very cool. It was slithering between some rocks. James later hunted him out.
The boat trip also included a quick trip to some of the caves on Comino. There is one cave that if you go in a small boat to the very back, you’ll find a small beach. From that beach you can climb right up to the fort buit by the Knights of St. John.
We walked up to the Comino Hotel, had a coffee, then wandered back to the bay. In that short time, it went from secluded paradise to cheesy tourist trap. There were people and umbrellas everywhere. There was also an ice cream truck so we had a Magnum ice cream. Mine was called a Temptation and it came in a gold foil box. Very yummy.
Later in the day we stopped in Victoria, then went on to Xlendi for an evening swim. Xlendi is a touristy spot, but nice in the evening. We had a good swim. Gwendolyn dove off the rocks. I filmed it. Then we had dinner at Churchill’s Restaurant. I had pasta and James had the Lampuki, a dolphin fish. It comes with head and tail. Yummy.
October 6
First stop of the day: Wied il-Ghasri. A little inlet where you climb down the rocks, make your way into the water and paddle about. There was great snorkeling here too. The water was fresh. This is the day Gwen–with a great fear of jelly fish–got stung. It was quite the welt.
We stopped at the salt flats on our way there.
Later we went silver shopping in Victoria. The best spot is near the Citadel. There are two families on Gozo who make silver filigree. There is a knight done all in silver that I took a photo of. He’s about a foot tall and very detailed. I bought a little ring and some earrings as my Maltese souvenir.
That night we had 10 people total for Thanksgiving Dinner. James made a turkey, Gwen made gravy, I made peach crisp, Julie made sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes and Darren made the table settings and floor lighting–required so no one fell in the pool.
Catherine, Martin and Colin from Canada came. Michael and Paul from Britain were in attendance. And our household crew. It was a grand time.
Sunday, October 7
Today we dropped off Julie and Gwen at the ferry terminal. They were on their way to Rome to cooking school. James and I had originally planned to go to Rome, but we decided to travel around Malta longer instead. We’ve spent most of our time on Gozo.
James and I trekked over to the Ta’Cenc cliffs–difficult to find, I think Julie has tried twice. James and I were fortunate to find them. The view is spectacular. We had a light lunch at the hotel, wandered down the road in search of the dolmen, a flat rock supported by 3 stones, then went in search of the cliffs. There was some overland adventuring to be had.
This was my first day driving on the left. God help us. But I did just fine.
Monday, October 8
Another full day of driving. James, Darren and I visited the tombs at Santa Lucija and Kercem–basically a rock mound with a hole in the ground. Then it was back to Victoria where we swapped the jeep for a little red Kia. It’s a tin box on wheels. Not that the jeep was any better but it did feel rather indestructible.
In Victoria I went into St. George’s Basilica. It was beautiful and ornate inside so I stayed for the mass just so I’d get a good chance to look around. In the right side is a separate chamber with a statue of Jesus. Just before that is a statue of St. George standing on a slayed dragon. There gold mosaic tiles all around and it’s really something.
Tuesday, October 9
Yahoo, spa day. Darren made us appointments for a massage with Martin at Freespirit Spa, which is run by Martin (British) and Monica (Gozian). They met in Australia and then started their business here. It’s an oasis in the dry, sandy, limestone land of Gozo. It smelled wonderful. I had a massage with Martin, whose going to pull together an aromatherapy roll for me next time. Then I hung out and talked about make-up with Monica. I discovered Dermatologica, which is all natural products, no chemicals. So I bought a cleanse, toner, moisturizer and sun screen. Pretty expensive in Maltese lira ($1 CDN is equal to $3 MTL) but it’s worth the smooth feeling on my skin, especially the sun screen. I think our Ombrell was doing a number on my face. That and the mosquito bites. I have about 20 of them, mostly on my face, which is the only thing exposed at night. They’ve even bitten both eyelids.
In the afternoon James and I went to the Ggantija Temples, which are the largest of the megalithic temples found on Malta. The walls are 6-7 metres high and the two temples together are over 40 metres. As far as mounds of rocks go, these are fairly interesting. There were erected over 5000 years ago. Structurally it looks like a clover leaf from above. There are circular chambers.
After that we went to Ramla Bay, known for reddish sand, had a swim in the large waves, shared a cherry ice cream cone and made our way back to home.
Wednesday, October 10
This morning Darren, James and I went to Dwejra Bay. It was James’s turn to drive.
Dwejra Bay is also spectacular. There is the Azure Window, which is an arch in the limestone cliffs, and the Blue Hole, which is a chimney hole down into the ocean, it’s a favourite spot for divers.
We swam in front of Fungus Rock, which was heralded for its medicinal properties centuries ago. And later tonight we’ll venture back to swim through the Azure Window.
Oct 11
We’re off to Valletta today. Malta here we come.