The one with Gozo site-seeing





My enjoying the beach in Xlendi Bay

Thursday in Gozo, I decided to hit up some of the different areas of the island and see what there was to see.  Part of my motivation for coming to Malta was that Emma (best friend) studied here two summers ago and absolutely loved it.  I wanted to go somewhere new, and it was an added bonus that I had some recommendations on what to see.  The biggest problem with Gozo for me was getting around.  Technically Gozo is small enough that nothing is that far away (potentially walkable), but the roads are all tiny and not really meant to accommodate two cars, let alone cars and pedestrians.  Furthermore, the buses were on winter schedule, which meant that in Gozo, nearly all of them operated only once an hour, and I had to go back into the central town of Victoria to go anywhere else. I made it work for me by planning ahead and spending only one hour in each of the places that I wanted to visit.  It would have been nice to spend more time at some of them, but an hour was enough for a basic overview. 

 

Anyways, the first place I headed was Xlendi Bay.  Xlendi is another little fishing village sheltered by a nice-sized bay perfect for swimming and diving/snorkeling.  It was a little quieter than Marsalforn, but if I could do it again, I would probably stay here.  It had some excellent areas to walk along the coast and plenty of areas perfect to set up for a picnic or reading expedition.  It also had a bigger, more traditional walk-in beach area, which was nice.  The best part for me was this staircase and path they had that went up onto the cliff overlooking the town, so you could look down on the town.  The last part of the path led into a sort of cave that reminded me something out of a pirate movie, like when Captain Hook is holding Tiger Lily captive in the cave.  Basically, it was really cool.  I tried to wade in the water, but it was really cold.





After catching the bus back to Victoria, I headed out to Dwerja Bay, home of the Azure window.  Nature never fails to amaze and astound me with the things that it creates, all on its own.  It reminds me a lot of the Natural Bridge at home in Virginia, except this one doesn't really lead anywhere.  The whole site is rather cool with salt flats and rock worn away by the sea.  Additionally, under the surface lives a whole other world, with this area being the location of a drop-off not unlike the one from Finding Nemo.  I really wish I had been able to do some scuba diving while I was there, but I wasn't feeling 100%.  Experience has shown me what can happen when I dive when I probably shouldn't, and it is not fun or pretty.  At least now I have a strong motivation to return and see what is going on beneath those perfect crystal blue waters.  The two blights on the area were the one older man who deemed it was to swim naked a jaybird right where all the tourists are and then the poor man who fell trying to walk around the area and had to be taken away be ambulance.  Quite the exciting place to be, obviously. 

Next I headed back into Victoria.  I was lured in by a little shop that had their food for sale displayed for everyone to see.  It was scrumptious.  I got a pizza-like square with Maltese sausage and a sausage wrapped in bread, kind of like a big pig in a blanket.  Plus I guzzled a water; like many beach and coastal areas, the water in Malta tastes mineral-y and vaguely salty, not very appetizing.  I also wanted to check out the Citadel located there.  Some version has been the heart of the island since at least 1500 BC, but its origins  may lie during the Neolithic era.  You can walk through most of it, and it has some excellent sites of the city and surrounding area.  Because Victoria is in the center of the island, you can also look out and see the ocean on a couple different sides, which is quite neat too. 


To be honest, by this point I was hot and tired and kind of just really wanted to go back to my hostel and take a nap, but I powered through for one last place, the Ggantija temples.  They were constructed sometime between 3600 BC and 3000 BC, which is pretty nifty in and of itself.  Sometimes I wonder what will be left from our time in history 5000 years from now.  My guess is not much and certainly not much worthwhile (i.e. plastic).  Legend says that the temple was carved out by a female giant because of the size of the stones used in the temple. 

Upon returning to Marsalforn I finished my outings for the day with a stop at the market for groceries so I could cook dinner.  I spent the rest of the evening in perfect bliss lying in my bed reading another book, all in my quest to make my trip to Malta a vacation and not only site-seeing.  That is what a good vacation needs in my opinion, lots of good books.