Malta - Sunday 20th Nov

Today was meant to be the pick of the days sunshine wise so we decided to go to Gozo which is another island to the north of Malta. We had heard that it was beautiful so we were pretty excited to hop on yet another ferry, and the ferry also took cars which meant we didn’t have to rely on buses when we got there.

The island itself has a population of around 31,000 people and it is rich in historical locations such as the Ġgantija temples, which, along with the Megalithic Temples of Malta, are the world's oldest freestanding structures and also the world's oldest religious structures. The capital Victoria was the name given in 1897 by the British government on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. However Gozitans still often refer to it by its old name, Rabat. We headed to Victoria first and parked up (for once this wasn’t an issue!).

We walked around the little town centre and up to the main building in the city, the Citadel, which was built during Neolithic times but developed into what it is now during the Roman times. It was pretty amazing; the church that we had a peek into was at the heart of the development. The massive defensive stone walls of the fortifications rose above the town and were built by the Knights to protect the village communities from corsairs and Turks attempting to take slaves and threatened invasion of Moslem forces fighting Christians. Many of the islands museums were housed here but we didn’t feel like hanging in museums so gave it a miss.

 

On the way back to the car we passed a traditional Maltese bakery so of course we had to check it out. We bought and sampled a Qassat, which is like a savoury pie, and also bought something called “dead man’s bones’ which are only sold throughout November and it is this almond cookie thing shaped as a bone. Its got something to do with the All Saint’s day cos they are all religious and stuff.

We continued our tiki tour to Marsalforn Bay that was meant to be beautiful but when we were there, there was all this stinky seaweed everywhere. We did have a cool time exploring the salt flats though. Then we continued on one of the dodgiest roads we had come across, our rental car was struggling with the off road terrain a bit… but we found our way to Gordon’s lighthouse, where we trekked up the last bit to eat our picnic lunch at the top. It had turned into a really nice day with some glorious sunshine so we were very happy campers.

Our final activity in Gozo was the Azure window. The Azure Window is a natural arch, featuring a table-like rock over the sea. It is situated near two other famous natural landmarks - the Inland Sea, and Dwejra Bay. It was recently measured at about 22 metres high. It was pretty awesome, really striking scenery.
We caught the ferry back and cruised home, very relaxed! 

Dinner was at home again, this time Lou had been a bit adventurous and bought another local delicacy from the supermarket called Beef olives. Basically a pork sausage with bits of bacon in it wrapped in a minute steak. Cholesterol city. They were good although a bit of Watties T sauce would have been great.
The dead man's bones was also really yum, although Hamish didn’t like it…..all the more for Lou!
 

Highlight: The Azure window was really cool, and crazy that it might not be there in a few years!
Lowlight: I think we were a little frustrated at the lack of things to see and do that were free. 
Interesting Fact: The arch of the Azure Window is disintegrating, as large pieces of rock keep falling from the arch. It is expected that the arch will completely disappear within just a few years. The arch is in a dangerous condition and warning notices are placed to stop people walking over the top of the arch. This is interesting because when we got there, Hamish said, “Lou you go up there and I’ll stay down here and take a photo”. Thanks honey.