Three days worth

Chris left early this morning. It was a whirlwind 3 days by Gozitan standards. We spent Tuesday bumming around Victoria. We started at the Citadel and hit the museums there which were just as underwhelming as last time I was here, though I confess a continued interest in the Old Prison. Something about it reminds me of the Count of Monte Cristo and I love that you can see engravings in the walls from the old prisoners. We had a snack at Bellusa where I kindly asked if they could replace the fries that came with my meal with crisps and they said no. We were also downwind from this shop that has this sort of olive bar that both reeks and looks highly un-hygienic. Whenever I look at the stuff in there I am very aware that if someone told me my MS rested on me eating a spoonful out of the olive buffet I would never make it. Yet people line up by the dozens throughout the day – locals and tourists. Of course – I hate olives to begin with so maybe that has something to do with it. I hope. Or I am proving once again to be a crappy anthropologist.

We made our way to St. Francis Square so we could have a cappuccino at Tapie’s, a place that I’ve avoided by myself in the past because it’s a huge gathering place for local men. Female tourists (when in groups or as a couple) will go there but you never see local females there and I never felt comfortable approaching the space. With a male by my side I figured I’d give it a go. Oddly, the person working the counter was female. As per usual though there were about anywhere from 10 – 20 men at Tapie’s and the Beehive, which is right next door. The men would sit at their tables at one spot and occasionally get up and move to the other café for a bit. Back and forth, back and forth. They didn’t seem phased by my presence but I wondered if it would be different if I was by myself. I plan to return and find out. Perhaps break the ice with one of them and see what I get.

We took a walk down main street so I could show him the Arcadia and the Duke, then came back to the apartment for showers and dinner in the Square choosing the roof garden at It-Tokk. It’s a nice spot but I prefer sitting under their umbrellas in the square as far as observations go as only the tourists go to the garden.

Wednesday we needed to be out by noon for Ted to clean the apartment as another fortnight has passed. Ted’s a very particular owner and doesn’t seem too keen on the idea of me having male guests I can’t recall if I posted about this or not but he had a past run-in with a woman who stayed in one of his places who (according to him) went to Sicily just about every weekend and brought a new guy back. Not sure how that has anything to do with her renting from him but we’re in the conservative Mediterranean here so I wasn’t surprised to hear his shock and horror. Since then he hasn’t really “allowed” guests without permission. Because Wim was just here and Ted met him, I wasn’t too thrilled about telling him I had another male guest coming so I decided to keep it on the DL so as not to get thrown out. We killed time at the Duke checking our internet before having a very unfulfilling afternoon of elusive buses. We’d planned to spend the afternoon in Ramla but the new Winter bus schedule started and it meant that the bus we wanted to take was no longer in service. We then missed the bus to Xlendi as a back up plan and gave up altogether, heading back to the apartment to wait for the next bus to Sannat.

We returned to catch the 5:15 bus and it ended up being perfect timing in terms of the way the rest of our evening played out so our busted afternoon was long forgotten. We got to the centre of Sannat and walked about 10 minutes or so to the edge of town to find the Ta Cenc cliffs. The area is a protected preserve area and there were several people walking around and enjoying the spectacular view. From one part of where we were standing we could see all of Comino and the Northwest shore of Malta mainland in front of us, and about half of Gozo behind us. We stood there in awe for quite a while and decided the walk through the terrible gravel path was totally worth it. Following the path to our right was an uncompromising view of the sea and the sun setting into these low hanging clouds. We took the trail a ways and then veered off, daring to get as close to the cliff edge as possible. I was determined to find the spot from the picture in the guidebook which shows a drop off much like the one at Dun Aengus in the Aran Islands. Finding it, we layed down and looked over the edge, watching some boats and scuba divers far below us and looking across to the cliffs on the other side and the other spectators enjoying the sun set. As the sun went behind the clouds the color started to seep through in this blood red that I’ve never seen before in my life. We were totally awestruck and watched until the final dot of red dipped into the water before we could even move.

Realizing it would get dark pretty fast we figured we’d better find the trail and we hoofed it back to the entrance of the preserve. We knew at that later hour there wouldn’t be any buses back to Victoria but rather than walking back we decided to walk instead to Xlendi and have dinner there. It was completely dark by the time we left Sannat. The road wound its way through the streets of Sannat and Munxar before opening to more of a farming community and valley area. The sky was so dark it seemed we could see just about every star in existence with the big dipper hanging so low Chris said it looked like it was going to scoop up the city. It was euphoric just to be out there. Though the walk was getting long and my knees were protesting, the cool night air staved off any sweat or exhaustion and as the road started to dip down for the descent to the Xlendi valley I couldn’t believe that I’d seen two such magnificent sights in one day. Between the sunset and the stars we decided that we would forget all about our bus fiasco of the day and revel in the evening.

We chose dinner at Zaffiro which was a place that Wim, Greta, Trish and I all had one of the best meals of the three weeks in Xlendi last year. Staying true to form, the food was again excellent and for some reason included a free bruschetta appetizer. The owner popped out to bring us the bread himself and he pointed out to us that he’d seen us on the cliffs and said hello to us! Again – small, small island! After enjoying a beer and an excellent meal, we hit the road again, this time walking back from Xlendi to Victoria. The walk only took 45 minutes though this time we were going uphill so it was a bit more daunting and less awe inspiring. By the time we got back to the apartment it was 11pm. All in all a great evening.

Yesterday we spent the morning in Xaghra at the Ggigantja temples which I think Chris was underwhelmed by but hey – I can’t always be on! We caught an earlier bus back to Victoria after snacking on some Paprika chips from the local band club then went to coffee break for a snack and while we waited for the next bus. Next we went to Drewja so he could see the Azure window. This time I took the opportunity to climb down from the rocks into the water below but owing to my newfound fear of jellyfish (and sighting 3 of the largest ones I’ve ever seen) I couldn’t be persuaded to go as far out to the other rocks as Chris did. Especially given the fact that we hadn’t changed into our swimsuits and I’d accidentally gone into water up to my mid-thigh. I was a little concerned I’d hit a hole and go down further with my back pack and camera. We both got something off of the ice cream cart to cool off while we waited for the last bus out of Drewja and then crammed on with everyone else when it arrived. I always think it’s hilarious how the tourists do this mad dash for the bus as if it would be so terrible to stand for the 10 minutes it takes to drive back to Victoria if you didn’t get a seat.

Dinner was at Café Jubliee. We both had sandwiches because we weren’t that hungry (and for my part, I wanted dessert). I ordered the banana split which was pretty much precisely that – a banana on a plate, split down the middle with a minimal amount of chocolate drizzle and about a half a scoop of ice cream. For the price I paid I could buy a whole bunch of bananas and a gallon of drizzle. But hey – that’s me being the large American again. We went back to the apartment and had a bottle of wine on the balcony talking once again about all of the things we want to do first when we get back to the States. We finally went to bed at 1:30 and then it was up again at 3:45 so he could meet the taxi driver I’d arranged to pick him up at 4:15. Good times. But don’t hate on me – I’m going to work all weekend to make up for it!!!