I’ve only been here a day and I’m already looking to get off the not very large main island. Seems crazy, no? Seriously, there are three inhabited islands in the archipelago – Malta, Gozo, and Comino though the latter is very sparsely populated. There are some sights worth seeing on all of them so since I’m in full tourist mode, I’ll be off to the other two. The tour I’m taking leaves from Sliema which is, as I learned from Edward, just across the harbor from Valletta. There are three ways to get to Sliema: on foot, by bus, or by water taxi. The latter is the easiest and fastest so this was my choice and it’s where I met Stephanie.
There were only a few people on this particular harbor crossing and I noticed the brochure one of them was holding was for the same boat I was taking to Gozo. This prompted me to ask if she was going on the Gozo tour or if she was planning to spend the day at the Blue Lagoon at Comino. She said she was going to Gozo so we started talking. I guess my Maryland cap betrayed my nationality but it turned out that she’s an American, too, and her name is Stephanie. Not only is she American but she’s from Northern Virginia so in some sense, we’re neighbors though we both admitted to infrequent crossings of the Potomac. Stephanie works for the Army in Frankfurt and she was on a two or three day holiday in Malta. We quickly grew comfortable talking with each other and decided to keep company for the day. Before the day was over, we’d end up doing more walking than either of us had planned or expected.
The boat set out of the Sliema harbor 
headed in a northeasterly direction along the coast of Malta with the pilot pointing out any number of sights along the way – from the casino at Saint George’s Bay, to Saint Paul’s Islands, to the tuna farm, the desalinization (or reverse osmosis) plant, and various watchtowers
that dot the not-too-distant shoreline. The water of the Mediterranean is a delicious deep blue and quite a contrast to the dark muddiness of the water in the mid and north Atlantic regions of the U S. We passed Comino and pulled into the harbor at Mgarr on Gozo where those of us who were touring that island boarded minivans for a quick look about the second largest island in the Maltese archipelago.
The first stop was Dwerja and the Inland Sea (more of a pond, really) whence we took a boat through a split in some rocks into the open Mediterranean. We puttered in and out of caves with interesting coral formations and got a great view of the famous Azure Window of which I managed a passable shot or two.Â
(Update: The Azure Window collapsed in a storm on 8 March 2017. The Times of Malta has this analysis of what occurred.)
We got some other shots of the area once back on land and then grabbed a wrap from a local sandwich stand for lunch. We each picked up our first (and, certainly for me last) Kinnie.
This is the national soft drink of Malta. It hits the tongue sweetly but has strong bitter finishing notes. I barely finished mine and don’t think Stephanie quite got through hers.
After our quick lunch, our next stop was the capital of Gozo: Victoria (so named by the British) but referred to by the local populace as Rabat. We climbed the steep hill to the Citadella (Citadel). The first known fortifications of this site are from the Bronze Age (about 1500 BCE) though there is persuasive evidence of activity here predating this by centuries. The Phoenicians were active here and by Roman times the site had become a complex Acropolis. At least one section of the fortifications was constructed by the Knights of Saint John or the Knights Hospitaller (more about this order later in the journal) in the early seventeenth century. While there, we enjoyed some great views of Gozo
 and could see the sister islands in the distance. We then trundled back down the hill to the market square where Stephanie and I tried to find a gelateria but ended up with packaged ice cream on a stick. I knew this particular tour wouldn’t be comprehensive and in my mental itinerary I planned a possible return trip here to visit the salt pans, the Ggantija temples, and Calypso’s cave. With the current tour making no additional stops on Gozo, it was back on the bus to Mgarr to catch the boat for a stop at the Blue Lagoon at Comino before we returned to the main island. Here are all the pictures from the day.
The Blue Lagoon is this odd little patch of water between Comino and the very small, island called Cominotto. All around, the water is that deep Mediterranean blue that I’ve noted and that you’ve seen in other photos. Then you sail into this lagoon between these two islands and the water turns veritably tropical in color.
Some people on the tour had spent their day there rather than visiting Gozo. I, of course, had several reasons I was glad I hadn’t. First, I would have missed the sights on Gozo – particularly the Azure Window and the Citadella. Second, I wouldn’t have been able to spend a lovely day with Stephanie. Third, I’m not much of a beach person to begin with and these beaches (such as they are) were quite crowded. Stephanie and I walked around, climbed a hill, and got some good perspective shots. We returned to the dock about twenty minutes before the boat’s scheduled departure and sat on the rocky shore letting the water ripple over our feet. Stephanie had her toe nipped by a little crab.
We arrived back in Sliema at about 17:00 and crossed back to Valletta on the water taxi. We said our goodbyes and I began to trudge up the steep hill to the other side of the city and my home for the week. I was a bit tired from the combination of the heat and from having walked more than twenty kilometers in my first two days. I decided to have dinner at Di Roberti’s a rooftop restaurant in the Hotel Castille which is between my flat and Upper Barrakka Gardens and a mere 100 steps or so from my front door.
Despite my hunger and audible borborygmi, the meal was only satisfactory. I had the fish of the day – common dentex. (This fish is found throughout the Mediterranean and is related to bream.) Offsetting the ordinary meal, the rooftop had a nice view of the harbor and the Three Cities. According to my waiter, Malta has 365 churches. He told me that each has a saint and that each saint has a celebratory festival on a Saturday or Sunday in the spring and summer. These celebrations usually include fireworks that are launched even before dusk and can last well into the night. This particular night the celebratory fireworks were probably about 5K distant but were easily heard (and seen from the rooftop). They provided nice dinner entertainment – particularly for free – but were a bit distracting later when I was trying to fall asleep.