Today we had our third and final bike ride of the trip. This was was different from the two rides on Malta where we had to wait to be transported to the beginning of the route. This was designed as a loop beginning and ending at our hotel in Xledi. Because of this, we were able to get started early, a little before seven o’clock. That helped all the difference today. It was a good ride.
Good — but not great. Once again, the written directions were not that helpful and when we came into Victoria we were directed to turn onto a street that simply was not there. At that point we simply gave up and tried to find our own way to the next town. And how fortunate that was because we came upon the final preparation for a festa tomorrow evening. There were colorful statues of saints everywhere and lights were spread across the street.
We went through many kilometers of farm fields. One of the differences between Gozo and Malta is that this smaller island still has a vibrant agricultural sector. We rode past a sandstone quarry and an expensive hotel. At one critical junction we were given the opportunity to take a detour to the “Azure Window” and the “Inland Sea”, two of Gozo’s biggest attractions. I really wanted to go there, but John read that the road to the shore went sharply downhill and he did not want to go up it. So we went on into Victoria.
We will see the real sights of Gozo’s largest city tomorrow. For today we looked a bit through some of the central city including a large if somewhat dull public garden planted by some Englishman. For some reason, we did not bother to take pictures here.
Returning to the hotel, we washed ourselves off and enjoyed the rooftop pool and the lounge chairs there. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. I fell asleep for a bit, and so did John.
I worked a bit on photos and napped some more while John went for a walk. He sent me a text and asked me to come out an wave on our balcony.
He explored a cool sea cave.
He found out that real fishing is still taking place on this island.
In the late afternoon, John decided he wanted to rent a motor boat. His initial thought had been to go to the Azure Window, but the boatman convinced him to go to Comino instead. This is the third largest of the Maltese Islands, though it is almost uninhibited. I am not usually prone to motion sickness, but the bouncing of the boat almost did me in. John offered to turn back, but I decided to tough it out. And I am glad we did. We saw some beautiful rock formations
and mysterious sea caverns.
Comino, as I mentioned, is almost uninhabited. But there are a couple small hotels there. This one looked quite swank. I think the only way to get there is to come on your boat.
Throughout it all, John was a fantastic skipper. All that early training from his dad paid off I guess.
