The Xaghra Cemetery

I admit it, I was wiped after running all over the place yesterday so today I decided to take the bus to Xaghra and check out their cemetery. The bus lets off near the Ggigantija temples and rather than making the mistake of wandering too far I asked directions from the first man who prairie dogged his head out of the first door I came across. His instructions were VERY good and very helpful. He didn't just say "take this road and go straight" but made sure to add, "you'll come to the square. You'll see a cross. You'll see a road to your left and your right. Take no notice of them. Just go straight." And he was exactly right, in the square in front of the church was a statue of a cross and when you looked directly at it you could see the three roads. I, of course, took no notice of the 2 on the sides and just kept going straight. He was also one of the first Gozitans to be honest about the length of the walk ahead. He said it was maybe 20 minutes from where I was standing. Most Gozitans totally underestimate. If they say 5 minutes it's more like 20. This guy was ON. I was grateful.

The road out of Xaghra had a really great outlook point just above the cemetery that gave a great view of Marsalforn and the Citadel. I stopped for a moment there but really wanted to get to the cemetery so I didn't linger too long. The cemetery in Xaghra was very narrow with a row on either side of the center aisle that fit only 3 tombs across. But it was deep and went further back than I first realized, ending not at the chapel but rather had a second section behind the chapel that doubled the space in it's entirety. The most amazing thing about this cemetery is that it is currently being expanded to house another 500+ tombs! There were workers crawling all over the place building out the tombs with limestone and so I was able to check out the depth of the tombs and take some photos as well. At one point one of the cranes swung around into the area that I was standing in and a woman and her grandchildren had to duck to get out of the way. We all laughed about it (including the work men) and I had to duck again on the return. I shouted across to the men, asking if I could take their picture and the guy in charge of the crane said "of course, of course, but make sure to get this guy - he's the boss." He was clearly joking as he then forced a young lad of about 20 to turn to face me and they posed for a photo together.

I have to say that so far I have been very pleased with my efforts to visit all of the cemeteries as each one has proved to reveal something different, new, or interesting. I couldn't believe I got to see a cemetery build out in progress and I found some articles when I got back that even showed the plan for the grounds. I also found an article that talked about a "new" cemetery in Nadur though I'm not sure where that might be as I thought I went to the only one in the town. I'll have to check into it.

From the cemetery I could see a back road that a bunch of students were taking to return home to Xaghra after school in Victoria. I decided to abandon the bus, which would've meant walking 20 minutes backward anyway) and see where the road would take me. The road went through the farm communities on the outskirts of Xaghra and connected with those of Victoria, taking me past the Gozo Sports Complex and the "Downtown Hotel." I've heard of the place, as many locals have assumed it was wear I was staying so it was good to finally get an idea of where it was. The street ran all the way to the Yamaha dealership and with a turn left it was only one more block to Repubblika near the post office. By the time I got back to my apartment the walk took about 30 minutes.

I decided to have a coffee on the upper roof deck today and took a photo of the top of St. George's since it's a view I don't really get from my own balcony.

They are in the process of setting up for a Christmas Bazaar in St. George's Square. It began a couple of days ago with the installation of a few red lantern/street lamps. Then the next day it was these really big star lights. Now today they started building these little houses that will have vendors and food in them. I guess the Bazaar starts Sunday and will run for a week. I'm glad I'll get to see it on Sunday before I head to Belgium Monday. Ahhhh! Only a couple more days!!!!