Three small islands float out in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea just south of Sicily and east of North Africa. The biggest island is Malta, next comes Gozo and finally, the tiny island, Comino. Gozo is about 1/3 the size of Malta and is more laid back with only 300k-ish full-time “locals.” Our taxi driver said it is cleaner and safer than Malta (Malta is super safe). People leave their front doors unlocked and only 1 car has ever been stolen on the island & they were caught as soon as they tried to get on the ferry (the only way on/off Gozo is by boat or ferry).
We decided after a couple of days in the three cities area (Valletta, Singlea, and Vittoriosa), that we needed to get out and see some more of the island(s), so we arranged a day trip to Comino. Originally we were going to take the bus, but the bus station was in disarray from a functional perspective with fifty people in line to buy tickets from one guy manning the ticket booth and the electronic kiosks were all broken. Lisa bartered with a taxi driver for a fair price and he drove us to the far west side of Malta. Passed by the historical village of Medina, where locals go every weekend to eat rabbit.
Comino is a small chunk of limestone between Malta and Gozo. It was once a hideout for pirates and smugglers and was also used to isolate cholera and plague victims in the early 19th century. This is a tiny island with only 1 hotel and no cars but it has the #1 attraction in Malta- the Blue Lagoon. This is the most beautiful turquoise water we’ve ever seen (outside of Aitutaki, Cook Islands).
At the Blue Lagoon, we both had visions of getting there and having a beautiful place all to ourselves since we were heading over late in the afternoon after the masses had left. Alas, the masses were still there, but eventually, the giant party on the island whimpered out and got peaceful.
On the way there, we saw Popeye Village, where the Robert Altman and Robin Williams movie, Popeye was filmed. The Hollywood constructed town is slowly falling down. Here are some snaps:
The next day, we were on the road and on the ocean again as we decided to stay on Gozo for a few nights to get a feel for this island. Our hotel, St. Patrick’s http://www.stpatrickshotel.com/ is in the small fishing village of Xlendi with a lovely small harbor. In the 19th century it was known as women’s harbour since it was reserved for women only bathing. This is a popular resort town with Italians…large groups of Italian families were vacationing with us. This could be because Malta is only 50 mi (about 2 hrs) from Sicily by ferry. Favorite food? Grilled calamari and rabbit of course!
We watched a nice sunset at Torri ta’Xlendi, a 17th century watchtower used by the Knights of St. John. Down below you can see salt pans which have been there since Roman times.
Gozo’s capital and main hub is Victoria which has most of the island’s shops and is the transportation hub. All buses stop in Victoria regardless of the direction they are going since it is in the center of the island. We used the hop-on-hop-off bus to visit several sites around the island one afternoon.
We hopped off at the Temples in Ggantija (Maltese for giant) Local legend is that these structures were built by giants. They are considered the oldest, surviving, free-standing monuments in the world and pre-date Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. Some of the megaliths weigh over fifty tons. No one is quite sure what the temples were used for- they were not burial grounds but several fat lady statues have been found probably representing fertility goddesses. Check out the two tiny heads carved from cow toe bones.
A grove of carob trees next to the temples-
Another hop-on-off stop was Ramla Bay which has reddish-gold colored sand.
Our adventure would not be complete without a visit to the most famous pilgrimage site in Gozo, Basilica of Ta’Pinu, Malta’s shrine to the Virgin Mary. It was built in the 1920’s on the site of a chapel where a local woman, Carmela Grima claimed to have had the Virgin speak to her in 1882. Behind the altar is Carmela’s tomb. The rooms to either side of the altar are filled with all sorts of votive offerings from people who have visited from around the world attributing various healings and miracles to Our Lady of Pinu. The basilica’s name comes from a local filippino man who used to be the caretaker for the old church. Pinu means filippino in Maltese.
We heard about a Black Madonna in this church on the hill next to Mghar Harbour but unfortunately the building was closed. In Malta we have noticed that most churches are locked after daily services which is very different than what we experienced in France.
The best way to explore Gozo is from the water so we rented a boat for a half day and went swimming in several bays. The Azure Window is a natural arch in the sea cliffs at Dwejra Bay. Some of Game of Thrones first season was filmed in this area:
Fungus Rock: The Knights of St. John used to collect a rare plant found at the top of this rock (Cynomorium coccineus) native to North Africa but not found in Europe that had medicinal healing propertiest. In 1637 the Knights built the Dwejra Tower to guard the plants on the rock. The plant was sold to hospitals and aristocracy in Europe. Today, the only proven cure of this plant is to lower blood pressure.
The limestone cliffs are beautiful showing different layers of fossilized shells and sand dollars and the best moon rise we’ve seen in years.
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