Tuesday 16th March
Still on Gozo
By 6am the next day the sun was up and for the first time we saw Xlendi Bay which is spectacularly beautiful. The sea even looked as though it was the right colour for a swim, but we didn’t have time or (thank goodness) our trunks as I suspect it is very cold!
The one thing we have noticed about both Malta and Gozo is how devout they are. Almost every house is named after an Apostle or a Saint and we even saw one simply called Thank God – but I suspect he may be the only surviving member of Lloyd’s!
Unfortunately the old adage of sun before seven, rain by eleven kicked in and very soon the hood had to come out, we were soaked and although we had arrived at the temples we did not get out to look at them. We beat a retreat to catch the ferry back to Malta and were sad not to have had the time to explore further. It is a very pretty island and looked as though it would be lovely to spend a few days walking there. At the ferry terminal the car then decided to tease us again. Come the moment to embark the starter motor decided to jam, but such is the kindness of the Maltese not a horn was blown nor a voice raised and an army of volunteers descended to push us onto the boat! The same thing happened at the other end, only this time there seemed to be even more volunteers, despite this problem, I could have sold the car several times! It is quite refreshing to be in a place where they mostly speak English and the car was a great talking point.
It had been a real treat to be able to see places we would not have seen with our bikes. The north of Malta is very rural with lovely hills and is still quite wooded although the Knights had chopped down many of the trees to make their ships. We stopped briefly above St Paul's Bay to see where he was shipwrecked, and then back to David and Felixa having had a great day’s adventure.
St Paul in AD60 was shipwrecked on these rocks. Now there's a thing.
David then drove us and the bikes into Valletta and gave us a guided tour of his beautiful Pallazzo where he was brought up and where shortly in the future he hopes to house some of his collection of vintage motorcycles and cars.
Part of the collection of old, cool, machines all used by the owner!
We spent the night at the very comfortable Osborne Hotel in preparation for a 5am start to catch the ferry back to Sicily. In nine days we only scratched the surface of Malta but the memories we are coming away with will remain with us for a long time.
The Azure window down at the Inland Sea.
Still on Gozo
By 6am the next day the sun was up and for the first time we saw Xlendi Bay which is spectacularly beautiful. The sea even looked as though it was the right colour for a swim, but we didn’t have time or (thank goodness) our trunks as I suspect it is very cold!
The one thing we have noticed about both Malta and Gozo is how devout they are. Almost every house is named after an Apostle or a Saint and we even saw one simply called Thank God – but I suspect he may be the only surviving member of Lloyd’s!
The view of Xlendi Bay from our balcony.
Many people only visit Gozo for half a day from Malta and the 2 things that are the ‘must see-s’ are the Inland Sea and the Ggantija Temples which look similar to Stonehenge and pre-date the Pyramids by a thousand years.
We sauntered out to climb into our very cool car to explore the island. However it had decided not to start, having been no trouble at all one day earlier. Alec and a couple of inquisitive locals became very fit pushing it around the square, down to the beach and back again. Eventually remembering that the day before David had primed the fuel filter - a quick suck on the petrol line and the little beauty fired in to life. We were very relieved and set off to The Inland Sea. This looks like a lake but there is in fact a channel from the sea which fills it with salt water and the fishermen with small boats can shelter there from storms. The rocks in this area are full of fossils, and old animal bones and shells sticking out everywhere.
We sauntered out to climb into our very cool car to explore the island. However it had decided not to start, having been no trouble at all one day earlier. Alec and a couple of inquisitive locals became very fit pushing it around the square, down to the beach and back again. Eventually remembering that the day before David had primed the fuel filter - a quick suck on the petrol line and the little beauty fired in to life. We were very relieved and set off to The Inland Sea. This looks like a lake but there is in fact a channel from the sea which fills it with salt water and the fishermen with small boats can shelter there from storms. The rocks in this area are full of fossils, and old animal bones and shells sticking out everywhere.
The entrance to The Inland Sea!
One of the thousands of fossils near the Fungus Rock.
Unfortunately the old adage of sun before seven, rain by eleven kicked in and very soon the hood had to come out, we were soaked and although we had arrived at the temples we did not get out to look at them. We beat a retreat to catch the ferry back to Malta and were sad not to have had the time to explore further. It is a very pretty island and looked as though it would be lovely to spend a few days walking there. At the ferry terminal the car then decided to tease us again. Come the moment to embark the starter motor decided to jam, but such is the kindness of the Maltese not a horn was blown nor a voice raised and an army of volunteers descended to push us onto the boat! The same thing happened at the other end, only this time there seemed to be even more volunteers, despite this problem, I could have sold the car several times! It is quite refreshing to be in a place where they mostly speak English and the car was a great talking point.
It had been a real treat to be able to see places we would not have seen with our bikes. The north of Malta is very rural with lovely hills and is still quite wooded although the Knights had chopped down many of the trees to make their ships. We stopped briefly above St Paul's Bay to see where he was shipwrecked, and then back to David and Felixa having had a great day’s adventure.
St Paul in AD60 was shipwrecked on these rocks. Now there's a thing.
David then drove us and the bikes into Valletta and gave us a guided tour of his beautiful Pallazzo where he was brought up and where shortly in the future he hopes to house some of his collection of vintage motorcycles and cars.
Part of the collection of old, cool, machines all used by the owner!
We spent the night at the very comfortable Osborne Hotel in preparation for a 5am start to catch the ferry back to Sicily. In nine days we only scratched the surface of Malta but the memories we are coming away with will remain with us for a long time.
The Azure window down at the Inland Sea.
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