To the Island of Gozo

We picked up our rental car and headed out on Sunday morning, thinking that the traffic would be light and give John a chance to get back into left lane driving. Sunday is evidently the time for all Maltese to get in their cars and head to the beaches. (There are approximately 375,000 people living on Malta and 150,000 cars- one for every two people) We followed the coast road around until we hit a detour and used the compass to find our way towards the island of Gozo.

We took the Marfa Point car ferry across to Gozo and started our island tour.

Our first stop was Ggantija Temples.

Constructed from 3600-3000 BC, it is believed to be the oldest free-standing monument in the world. The temples were an assembly of huge slabs of rock (ala Stonehenge), with alcoves for altars and statues associated with fertility.

From there, we headed to Victoria to see the Citadel

We had to make a pilgrimage to Ta’Pinu Church. It is a national shrine and church of pilgrimage.

On June 22 1883, a peasant from Gharb heard a voice calling to her from the isolated chapel The same voice requested that she say three Hail Marys, “In memory of the three days My Body rested in the sepulchre”. She told only one other person who admitted that he too had heard a voice on six occasions. Three years later both attested to their experiences to the Bishop. Since then miracles and narrow escapes have been attributed to the grace and intercession of Our Lady of Pinu.

John couldn’t leave Gozo without visiting Fungus Rock and the Azure Window.

Fungus Rock (also known as “The Generals Rock) is a huge 60 meter high monolith covered with seaweed. A General of the Knights discovered a rare tuber plant on the rock’s top. They believed that the plant had medicinal properties when brewed. They later discovered that it had no medicinal properties at all.

The Azure Window is the result of a geological fault created when the roof of a huge cave collapsed leaving a land-locked basin of seawater opening into the Mediterranean via a massive arch.

While heading back to the ferry, approaching the intersection near Zebbiegh, we were almost hit head-on by a 20 something driver who came speeding into our lane. We were glad we made the stop at Ta’Pinu and had the blessing of Our Lady of Ta'Pinu.

The landscape of Gozo and Malta is strange- it’s reminiscent of Syria, Israel – everything is a light honey color- the soil, the buildings. In every small village, a huge church looms up.

We wanted to miss the Sunday PM traffic heading home, so we headed back to the ferry and wandered our way through Malta. We stopped at a beachside “restaurant” for lunch- bad burgers and fries, ambled through the countryside, saw the Mosta Dome and used the compass to wobble back to Sliema.

We had dinner at Barracuda (temporarily forgetting our Rome rule of not going to the most expensive restaurants). Once again, we had good wine, reasonably good food and a huge bill- and would have had more fun with less money at a local dive.