A return to Qala

Yesterday I returned to Qala, the site of one of the funerals I attended and the hometown of "Philip the postie." I once again boarded the bus to Mgarr and was mortified when the bus turned out to be jam packed with people. I say mortified for two reasons. First, the smell of B.O. was almost overwhelming. And second, it was standing room only and this woman standing in the aisle next to my seat not only had a muffin top bulging out over her jeans BUT those jeans were slowly sagging and her butt crack was literrally in my face. How can you not know where your butt crack is and keep it covered??? Must be a problem with the low rise jeans in Malta - now sitting at the McDonald's the girl sitting across from me has the same problem. Gross.

My mental state was beyond recovery and I missed the stop at the top of the hill before descending into the harbor. No biggie. I'll start at the bottom. The walk up to Qala was not as steep as that dreaded hike up to Nadur but was a tad longer and by the time I reached the cemetery on the far side of the town it took me an hour and fifteen minutes.

The fabulous view of Comino and Malta was somewhat compromised by the clouds but still gorgeous nontheless. I found Philip's family tomb, recalling the story of how his father died when he was 15. I also made sure to stop off at the tomb of the man whose funeral I had attended all those weeks ago. All of the bouquets of flowers had since been cleared away and only 3 arrangements remained lined up in the center along with one of the prayer cards with his photo. I wondered how long it would take for the family to place the marble tomb over the top.

Walking through the cemetery it was the first time I saw one of the people there crying. She had to wipe her tears away several times while she stood at a tomb.

Though the church is on the edge of town it also lies in a different village area known as Honduq and the chapel of the cemetery is this particular villages church. Philip told me that there is a relic of a saint in the basement that is usually open for people to visit. As I approached the chapel a teenage girl came out with 2 children under the age of 7 who kept saying "spooky" and looked deliciously scared. The teenager looked at me like she was certainly having fun with them and I wondered if she'd taken them to the basement to tell them ghostly stories about the saint. The chapel was pretty dark inside so it wouldn't take much to conjure up some ghostly images, that's for sure.

Right about the time I decided to leave, I also realized I had to use the toilet. The walk back to the centre of Qala would take about 20 minutes and I was sure I could find a public toilet there. But there was this path beyond the cemetery that cars and ATV's had been whizzing down while I was there and I was curious where it led to. I really wanted to find a path that would take me around the island from Qala back to Mgarr instead of up and over. I decided I'd head down the hill and see what I could see. Of course, the problem became that the further down I got, the further I wanted to go. A police car whizzed past and I didn't see him return so i figured the road must go somewhere. I finally got to a place where I could look down and over to get my bearings and I realized that at the bottom there was a small beach and a marina. There was a family picnicing and that cop car was parked down there as well. I couldn't be sure if there was a path but I figured that since it was a beach there would for sure be a public toilet. Thank God I was right on that count.

After hitting the bathroom I took stock of where I was, checking out the closest view I've gotten of Comino yet. There was a foot path off to my right and I was itching to see where it led. According to my watch I had about an hour and 15 minutes left of daylight. I decided to head onto the path for a half hour and if it wasn't completely clear I could make it all the way back to Mgarr on the path then I would turn around and return to the road. After a quick txt to Jessica Voelz so at least someone knew I was hiking on a trail in the middle of nowhere by myself, I set off.

The view was spectacular despite the clouds, with the sun breaking through now and then to light onto Comino. I was so happy I decided to give it a shot and for the first 20 minutes it seemed that the trail I was on would certainly lead me around to the harbor. About halfway there I came to an intersection where the path continued off to the left and was met by a small asphalt road on the right that headed up to Qala. From as near as I could tell, it would go all the way up to the city and I would have to do the up and over path after all. I was determined to go around so I kept to the footpath, making sure to keep an eye out for where I was in case I needed to double back.

It's a good thing I pay attention. About another 5 minutes down the trail I realized there was no going forward. The path ended and the only way through would be to navigate the farmland. Considering the terraced farms in the area, I'd never be able to guarantee I'd pick a path that would lead me right and i was losing sunlight. I begrudgingly turned around and headed back toward the asphalt and then the hike up to Qala. The path was extremely steep and I got about halfway up before I was sweating buckets. This mixed nicely with the fact that the waning sun meant I had a nice chill on top of it. Fortunately the road it let out to was not far from the road I'd arrived on so I knew exactly where I was when I got to the top. But I was extremely bummed that my adventuresome spirit wasn't fully placated. ugh.

I took the road back down to the harbor, stopping at "Discount Supermarket" to get a "cold beverage" though once inside I didn't find any. I was also hassled by the girl at the counter to leave my bag (purse) at the front in a locker. Weird for Gozo but not too surprising given the proximity to the ferry. I ended up getting a drink at the shop at the ferry afterall and caught the bus from there back to Victoria.

When I got back, the Square was even further along with its decorations for the Christmas Bazaar they are putting on this week, adding carpeting around all of the temporary stores, and lighting to each. Some of the vendors were starting to put out their goods as well. I took a few photos but mostly I just wanted to get home and take a shower since not only did I reak but I was also chilled to the bone. Fun.

The bazaar started today and though it looks like great fun for the kids and families, I am SOOOO glad I'm going to be gone this week. They've got a guy singing Christmas carols with his guitar...he's quite good but there are only so many Christmas songs in his repertoire so I've already heard the soundtrack three times today. I'm glad I'll miss that. Oh another thing to report is that as I came up toward Independence Square yesterday I noticed these huge banners hanging in the Square similar to what they put out at Festa. The difference is that they are all church banners, with pictures of communion, bread, wine, praying hands, etc. I don't know if it's in preparation for Advent or if it's because of the Bazaar or what. But I'll find out!

I leave for Belgium tomorrow and so I think this will be my last post for awhile. I don't plan to bring my computer with me on the trip. I'll be in Belgium with Wim until the 29th and then in Copenhagen with Chris until 12/3. I will post more when I return and then after that - only one more week in Gozo and then I will be home. I can't believe how fast it's gone.

In the meantime, have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!