Gathering Gozo Memories

Day two Gozo island has been a big one….we started with a full cooked breakfast, included in our hotel deal….packed up Vivienne….and headed out around 9.30am….first stop Ta Pinu Church – it is a Roman Catholic minor Basilica and national shrine…

Beating the tourist buses and catching the end of a mass service we entered the sanctuary of the church…

Yet another example of the beauty and wealth of the Maltese churches..

Marble floors, oil paintings and shrines…

Also a very modest environment where we had to wear shawls over our shoulders and wraps around our shorts..

We then returned to the craft village for Carolyn to exchange her book, only to find the shop had closed for the next three days for the upcoming St Maria celebrations … oh well, she has 10 days in France and may embrace the French language (which is what her current book is written in)

Continuing in the same direction we carried on to Dwejra bay, a unique place that has an inland sea, from where we hopped on a little dinghy type boat and motored out through a cave to the open sea…

An area of Gozo coastline…with towering cliffs and coastal caves…

Blue seas

And quite a wave…which made Carolyn a bit queasy…

The skipper quite informative as he rolled us in and out of the caves…

Back through the narrow entrance…rolling through as the sea swells pushed us!

Temperatures rising rapidly…and a climb up to our car meant it was refreshment time and loo stop before circumnavigating the end of the island to our next point of interest…the 350 year old Xwejni salt pans (3 kms along the coast)

With three months of no rain….the rocks are full of dried salt ready for harvesting…

The girls not so dry however, dripping wet with sweat…and so ready for a swim… back in our little car, airconditioning working overtime and straight to Marsalforn for dip in clear blue sea!!! Another place that is the home to French and English tourists for their summer break…hope Carolyn was taking note …. So she can maybe read some of her new book!

The next leg was somewhat challenging, as mrs google took us up a country road, where we both leaned forward feeling we might tip backwards….Then down one so steep that I had to use the handbrake as well as foot brake!!! It was certainly the cross country route on the way to Mixta cave overlooking the golden sands of Ramla Bay….

Down into the cave and the opening framing this beautiful beach…

As close to the edge as one dared…

The vista of the beach and the turquoise sea…at least in the cave it was cooler and a little respite from the heading towards what felt like 40 degree temps in the direct sunshine…

Rubber jandals and slides not ideal for rock climbing but carefully we clambered our way out!

Not a cloud in the sky, the salt from our sea swim crusting on our skin…and sticking to our clothes, sweat dripping into eyes and ears…the big sights of Gozo ticked off…time to head back to the ferry terminal for our sea and land journey back to our home in Paola!

With a couple of hours in the tourist Mecca of Bugibba (in the north) on our drive back to visit with some cousins! An ice cream sundae kept the wolves from the door until we arrived home at 7pm…. Carolyn has showered, I have not….next on the agenda! Travel weary and with lots of new memories to keep!