Thursday, March 18 Gozo

Dear kids & grands,

Hello! We had an adventure today! We took the ferry early this morning over to the island of Gozo--it is very different landscape--lots of green terraced hills and even some sandy beaches. On the bus ride to the ferry (half hour from Vallete in a town called Cirkkewa) we saw St.Paul's Island out in St. Paul's Bay. This is where Paul's ship wrecked while on the way to Rome as a prisoner of Nero. There is a shrine/huge statue on the island--big enough to see from the shoreline of Malta on a bus! The pope blessed the island when he was here in 1990.

The water was quite choppy, and Daddy and I had fun taking pictures from the top deck of the ferry--windy, blue sky with big rolling clouds---the sun kept popping out, and then it would be warm for a few minutes!

We got off the ferry at Mgarr (em-jar) (a real tourist trap--something like Bagnell Dam) and caught a bus to The Citadel in the village of Rabat (renamed Victoria by the same queen, but the Gozitans have managed to ignore that). The Citadel is a fortress built by the Knights back in the 1690's when they finally decided Gozo might need their protection from all of the Barbary pirates who kept attacking/looting/enslaving the population. The fortress is quite small compared to some of the others, but it has glorious views of the whole island from the top of the battlements. The church there is quite different--they ran out of money to build the dome, so they hired an artist to paint one in trompe l'oeil style--it's so clever! We were typical tourists, walking around craning our knecks at the ceiling! The church was built in the 1690's, as was the fortress, but some of the houses inside are older. As usual, everything was pretty much out in the open--all was touching distance! I had a great visit with the lady in charge, and then moved on to the Natural Science museum--the bug museum!

It was full of exhibits of natural flora/fauna from Malta and from all over the world. Giant beetles, huge colorful butterflies, stuffed birds (even a Maltese falcon--now extinct). These exhibits were typical museum lay-out--everything in glass cases, carefully labelled in Latin, with lay-terms, etc.

I met up with Daddy on the way to the archeological museum, which had a miniature of the megalithic temples on Gozo which we came to see. It also had some ancient Roman stuff discovered during building excavations. After the museum, we wandered down to the little village of Rabat (Victoria) and promptly got lost in the narrow winding alleys. After several false starts and hurried looks at the map (hard to read without "you are here" marked for you!), we made our way into the main bus terminal to catch the bus to the ruins. Then we made our first error--we stopped in a little cafe to eat. While eating, we noticed the weather getting rougher--it actually started to rain. Rather than making a quick run for the bus, we decided to sit a bit and wait for the weather to clear (2nd mistake). This was at about 2:00-2:30.

The sun came out a bit later, so we strolled on over to the bus terminal. The bus was leaving for the ferry, and the driver motioned us on, but we checked the number and realized it would not stop at the temple ruins, so we stayed behind to wait for the next one (yes, error #3). Daddy went over to the terminal office to ask about the next bus to the temple ruins, only to find out there were no more buses to the ruins that day. A taxi driver came over to hustle us for a fare--offered to take us to the ruins and then on to the ferry--but it was going to cost $12.50 (compared to 70 cents each for bus), and the ruins were only open for another half hour (that's why no more buses--big disappointment to miss the ruins) so we said no, we'd wait for the next ferry bus( #4 mistake). After about a half hour wait in the cold wind under very grey skies, the bus officer came out to say that the weather was too dangerous for the ferries to dock in Cirkewwa--too much seaswell--but that one more ferry would go to Valletta; unfortunately, that was the one the earlier bus had already left for (so that's why he was waving people to get on!)--as well as 24 tour buses!! The officer said there might be one more ferry--possibly they would call for the big ferry from Valletta since the sea was so rough, but it would take it longer to get to Gozo from there, and there might not be room....

After an hour and a half wait in the cold wind and intermittent rain, the bus finally came, and the driver said the ferry hadn't left yet! (actually, we found out later that it had left, crossed over to Cirkewwa, but could not dock, so came back with a full load of people, then called to Valletta for the big boat) We arrived at the dock in Mgarr in time to see the huge line of people a nd cars waiting to get on (had we taken the taxi or the earlier bus, we'd have been at the front of the line, and we would have seen the temples--oh well). We hastily nabbed tickets and joined the crowd. Just as it began to hail (yes, hail), they loaded the last passengers who would fit--we just missed it. At this point, we debated getting a room in Mgarr for the night, but suddenly they started loading another ferry--one we had been told could not make the crossing in this weather. Like sheep (or lemmings!) we followed the crowd. A nice British couple stopped us and asked if we knew what was happening--we said no, but we'd try to find out. First Louisa (British woman) asked the policeman on the dock--he talked loud and fast, waving his arms, and she couldn't understand a word. We kept following the crowd! As we reached the ferry gangway, I ran out of line to ask a man on the dock--he explained that it was too cold and wet to leave us all stranded on the dock, so they were letting us on the small ferry to wait it out, just in case they could make one more crossing with the big boat from Valletta.

Daddy and I found warm seats right by the snack bar on the ferry, and Daddy took a walk and came back to tell me that the British couple were out on the main deck, freezing. I hopped up and went out and invited them to sit with us as we had room in our little booth. They were happy to join us! We spent the next five hours (yep--five hours) getting to know them! They have a 16 month old son and this was their first trip away from him--they live in York and have been to the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, NYC and Florida. They asked us all about Texas! (they want to go there someday)

Finally, around 8:30-9:00 at night we spotted the lights of a ferry--they had sent the one from Valletta, which takes lots longer to get back, but which was safer in the rough seas, and had a more sheltered dock. The swells were quite something, and some people got quite ill--the barf in the ladies room was really dreadful. The crossing took a good hour and a half, and we spent it drinking tea with Phil and Louisa. They are staying in a little coastal village similar to Marsaxlok, about 20 minutes from Valletta. Since the ferry had brought us all the way to Valletta, we did not need a bus back--which was good, because it was 11:00 and the buses had all stopped for the night. Poor Phil and Louisa would have to take a cab--but we were all starving (no dinner), so we decided to eat. Unfortunately, nearly all of Valletta closes down at 10:00! The only thing still open was Pizza Hut--and they had only two pizzas left.(yes, we came all the way to Malta and ate at Pizza Hut) We were grateful for those pizzas, so we got warmed up and chowed down. When we came out, all of the taxis had closed up, too! Phil and Louisa were stuck in Valletta at midnight! We brought them to our hotel (a short walk), and luckily the night porter was still on duty--just barely! They got room, we gave them some toothpaste, and tomorrow we will all have breakfast here, and then we may go together to the festa in Rabat (the Rabat that is here on Malta, not the Rabat/Victoria on Gozo!). We had planned to do that tomorrow, and so had they! They had been to Mdina and Rabat yesterday when we were.

So now it is the middle of the night, Daddy is sleeping, and I am telling you about my day--"my day was fine!!!!!!" (I was afraid that if I didn't write tonight, you might worry that something went wrong--which, of course, it did! but we are safe and sound and met two neat friends)

love, Mama/Mommy/Faye

ps we forgot to get a single souvenir from Gozo!!

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