GOZO: The Other Big Maltese Island

We've arrived, Folks...at the final post from our Malta trip back in April!  Yes, it really has taken this long because we really did pack it all in.  And we'll never forget it.

We basically did everything on our own, with the help of public transportation (bus and ferry) and the one Grand Harbour cruise that gave us a view of Valletta from the water, which was important to us.

Other than that, the only planned excursion we took was the all-day trip to Gozo, the smaller island just north of Malta, just past the wee island of Camino.  We had been told we could do the trip on our own but the bus system might be problematic.  You could get from one place to another but some buses came only every hour.  It was a no-brainer to use a tour coach, from Buggiba, our hotel, for the entire day, round-trip.

Malta is the largest island:  culture, commerce and administration.

Gozo is the second largest island:  fishing, tourism, crafts and agriculture.

Camino is the smallest island:  one hotel, pop. 4, day-hikers, water sports.

[Our travel agent was the one who suggested we NOT visit Camino, 

since we´re not sun-worshipers.]

Here's the public bus route/system for Gozo, covering 26 sq. mi. with a pop. of ca. 37K.
Our all-day trip, from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., stopped at 5 main places after arriving at the Harbour.

But first, we had to get to the ferry in Cirkewwa from our hotel in Buggiba, 14 km. away,
passing interesting landmarks along the way.
The Gozo Channel Line runs back-n-forth all day long, every 45 minutes.

It's a 25-min. ride covering approx. 6 km. across the Mediterranean Sea.
It was fun to "capture" the island from the sea...and find our coach waiting for us.

From there, at the Mgarr harbor, we started our 5-point Gozo experience.

1.  Victoria (aka Rabat), the Capital City of Gozo.

From the ferry our coach drove us the 5km to Victoria, the capital city of Gozo.
It's situated on a hill, the highest point on the island, with the citadel on top.
Once off the coach, we started climbing further up to the citadel/Cittadella and cathedral within.

This is the Cathedral of the Assumption, dedicated in 1716,
with the clock tower in the curtain wall of the main gate keeping watch.

You walk in and immediately look up!
There is no dome on this cathedral but inside is the appearance of one
 because of the trompe-l'oeil painting, creating the optical illusion ((top-right).

This was when Astrid and I wandered off from the group to take photos!

We can never retain all the information from the tour guides...so off we go,
knowing we can Google later for the info we want

Because the cathedral is inside the citadel, we kept climbing to the wall, looking back.

From there, on top, we could see all across the island to major landmarks.

As you know, what goes up must come down,
so down we went back into the capital city of Victoria, away from the citadel.
St. George, Gozo's patron saint, was killing the dragon everywhere.

So many impressions, just like in Valletta, the capital city of Malta.

2.  Lunch at the Fishing Village of Xlendi.

From Victoria we drove 3 km to Xlendi for a 3-course, mass-produced lunch (with wine).

Xlendi happens to be one of the most beautiful stops on the island,

but we were only there long enough to run down to the bay and take a handful of pics.

3.  Fontana Cottage Industry.

After lunch we drove 2 km to Fontana for a chance to see/buy Gozo crafts/products.

(Nearby were ancient stone laundry basins.)

Remember, the Maltese Islands depend on this kind of tourism for their economic existence.

And what did we buy?  Prickly pear jam and carob liqueur (for on top of ice cream!).

4.  Azure Window near Dwejra Bay.

From Fontana we drove 7 km to the Azure Window near Dwejra Bay.

We first had the opportunity to see the "window" from a short boat ride.

For an extra €4 pp., what the heck, right?

 It was a chance to see this major tourist attraction from a different point of view (right-middle).

Then we saw it on the sunny side, in all its glory.

The natural arch is made of limestone, of which the Maltese Islands has plenty!

5.  The Ggantija Temples in Xaghra.

From the Dwejra Bay coast we then drove inland 10 km to our last destination of the day:

the Ggantija megalithic temple complex from the Neolithic era, a UNESCO site.

When do we get to see things this ancient???

These temples, c. 3600-2500 BCE, are more than 5500 years old...older than the pyramids of Egypt.

I'm not sure it's really hit me how old this was,

but what a way to end our trip.

While driving from here to there, we saw so many places of interest.

If we were on our own, for maybe an entire week on this island, we'd try to see it all.

Impressions.  Impressions.  Impressions.

(That's the carob tree, bottom-right, with its pods.)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Guess what!  This ends the Malta Trip from April.  Finally.

And none too soon because...tomorrow we fly to England for a week-plus with friends!

You know we can't resist that, right?

Happy first day of autumn!

MALTA: Qawar, Bugibba, and St. Paul's Bay

After the quick overview of our 10-night vacation in Malta last post, I've decided to take the first and last days to combine into what was our home base for the trip:  Bugibba, one of the 3 cities of St. Paul's Bay.

To give a point of reference, the red-circled area is where I'm concentrating today.
It's an hour's bus ride from Malta's capital city, Valletta.

Our hotel for the stay was the Sunseeker Hotel Complex, found by our travel agent.

It so happens the entire complex was completing a huge renovation while we were there.

But in spite of that, we had a lovely apartment across from the entrance.

Lucky for us, we were a block away from the beach and a couple of blocks from the Bugibba Square.

You can see our hotel (top-right) from the square.

It's where we bought home-made red wine 3 times from the truck vendor, made by his dad.

Lots of memories from that spot.

We also ate there once, at Victoria, enjoying every delicious bite...and drop of hard cider.

But where we ate 3 times, our favorite, was La Stalla up behind our hotel.

That's where we first ate the Maltese specialties:  rabbit stew and stuffed beef olives (bragioli).

O M G.  The bragioli became our favorite meal everywhere we went.

On our last/10th full day, we decided to see what was in our own neighborhood,

and took the 5 km walk from one end of the promenade to the other, hitting all 3 cities:

(left to right on the map) St. Paul's Bay, Bugibba, and Qawar (the 'q' is not pronounced).

We first headed east from Bugibba to Qawar, with the Mediterranean on our left.

Qawar is where Malta's National Aquarium is and as far as we went east on our walk.

(Don't you love the bear trash receptacle?) 

Across the street from the aquarium was where Astrid spotted the heron weathervane.

The Maltese do NOT have the heron bird, so we assume the owner is either English or Dutch.

Also near the aquarium was where we first spotted the planets along the promenade.

We found Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, (sans) Mercury, Sun, and Neptune, 

all to scale in size and distance from each other.

But who would steal Mercury (top-right), the ruler of Astrid (Virgo) and moi (Gemini)???

Walking back to Bugibba and St. Paul's Bay, the Mediterranean Sea in now on our right.

Sometimes we ventured off the promenade and followed the path nearer the water.

And because it was unseasonably warm that week, the bathers came out to enjoy the sun. 

Can you blame them?

As we neared St. Paul's Bay, I zeroed in on St. Paul's Island way off in the distance.

It's barely visible to the naked eye but this is where St. Paul was shipwrecked, as told in Acts 27-28.

(I was magically able to zoom in on his statue at 3123 mm.)

In that same area is the jetty, the farthest west we went on our walk.

I think the whole wide world was enjoying that gorgeous day.

And yet it wasn't at all crowded!

Walking back home along the store fronts...lots of impressions.

That's when you're reminded of Malta's history involving the knights.

I'll never forget the knights or the Maltese cross!

Appropriately, we watched the sun set several of our nights.

You could say it all was...magical!

Watercolor Sunday and Saturday's Color: March 2016

As we March along....

These are my Facebook Watercolor Sundays:

March 6 (photo manipulation):

"I hate housework!  You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months later

you have to start all over again." --Joan Rivers

March 13 (photo manipulation):

"One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world

is to stand up and show your soul." --Clarissa Pinkola Estés

March 20 (photo manipulation):

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." --Hal Borland

March 27 (photo manipulation):

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair.  We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."
--Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

My Facebook coloring posts for March:

(finished on 31 December 2012, posted on FB 5 March 2016)

How about a centerfold (2-page spread) of a different color.  Try extricating yourself

from all the political hubbub, right?  (From my Book of Kells)

(finished on 23 December 2015, posted on FB 12 March 2016)

From my Color Me Happy book, this reminded me of lotus flowers, for some reason...

which made me very...happy.

(finished on 10 March 2016, posted on FB 19 March 2016)

This design, from my Vintage Patterns book, reminded me of Spring.

I didn't want any same-colored petal to lie against another, which is why I added the orange

to the red and turquoise.  Weird, I know.  :)

(finished on 12 August 2004, posted on FB 26 March 2016)

I didn't know if/when I'd ever post this Celtic ABC design but thought it'd be appropriate

for this Easter weekend.  In Christianity, Jesus is called the:

Alpha and Omega

Beginning and the End

Christ, Cruicified

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

And now this!  Tomorrow Astrid and I fly to Malta for an 11-day, 10-night vacation, staying in Bugibba in St. Paul's Bay. If you want a head start on what we'll be seeing, just Google the Maltese Islands (Malta, Gozo and Comino) and check out the images.  O M G!

(map from European Pilot Academy)

The islands are directly south of Sicily and were ruled throughout history by just about everyone (except America, silly).  They became independent in 1964, after 150 years of British rule, and joined the European Union in 2004.  Lucky for us, they're in the same time zone as the Netherlands.

To be continued once we return on the 18th.....