I woke up at 7:30 am on the dot. Knowing that our schedule started early, we both rolled out of bed. I think we could have slept at least a couple of hours more, but we needed to catch a bus to Cirkewwa and then the ferry to Mgarr, Gozo. We had to get up. Instead of the buffet in the hotel restaurant, we opted for a quicker option in the executive lounge. The selection was more limited, but we needed to hurry.
The stop for bus 222 wasn’t too far from the hotel; we were glad to snag seats for the one-hour ride to the ferry. The ferry was then another 25 minutes to Gozo. Such reasonable prices. €1,50 for the bus and €4,35 round trip for the ferry.
We hadn’t done as much research on the island of Gozo as we might normally undertake, but we should have. We said no to the taxis and the hop on/hop off tours and just took off walking. It wasn’t too far to the church in Ghanjsielem.
I found the people to be friendly in returning my smiles. And a first for a European country—a lady actually said hi to me first! We waited at the bus stop for a ride in to Victoria only to find that the bus was coming from the ferry terminal and was completely full. It just drove right on by us. The next bus wouldn’t come for almost an hour. So we set off to walk some more. And more. And more. The one bus we could have gotten, we watched as it arrived at its designated stop five minutes early and then moved on. We were too far away to get to it in time. So we walked a couple of miles more until finally reaching Victoria. My advice? Take a tour, get a bus, or hire a taxi at the ferry terminal. You’ll be glad you did.
Once we finally made it to Victoria, we were famished. We hadn’t had much breakfast and we were ready for a rest. We stopped at the first cafe we found--Hog. Rejuvenated by our lunch, we toured the Cittadella (Citadel) in Victoria. It was made of limestone and had served as a fortress for the residents of the island until it was breached and the people were all carried away to be slaves in foreign countries. Some of the fortress was in ruins, some of it had been reinforced, and many of the walls still stood.
We then took a bus from Victoria to Dwerja to see the Blue Hole. Gelato and water, that was our first purchase. Chris and I sat on the rocks to eat and enjoy the view. The rocks had been worn and weathered by the tide over the years. You definitely had to watch your step as you made your way to the cliffs and water’s edge. I watched as four different guys jumped in the water.
Dwerja was the home of the Azure Window at one time until it fell in a mighty storm in March of 2017. Such a beautiful treasure to lose.
The sunset was stunning.
We had to catch the 4:30 bus to return to the city and then catch another bus to the ferry terminal. Once arriving back on Malta from the ferry, we queued up for the next hour-long bus ride back to Saint Julian’s. A guy with a van offered 5 euro rides with a guaranteed seat (instead of maybe standing on the bus for the next hour) and Chris and I, along with about ten others, jumped at the chance. The driver dropped us off not too far from the hotel and we walked around until finding Ghonella’s. An underground Italian restaurant that was completely deserted.
Chris got up to go the bathroom and started first for the kitchen. Our server, Sharon, joked, “That’s the kitchen, unless you want to cook your own dinner.” I replied, “It might only be macaroni and cheese from a box then.”
She was lovely as she served us and then another couple that arrived a short time after us. She gave tips on places to see on Thursday and perhaps some places that weren’t worth the trip.
The Thai Massage place across the street caught our eye, especially since it was Trip Advisor recommended. Chris got the name and number to call and check on appointments for Thursday evening. After a day of so much walking, we were happy to crash for the night.