Long Weekend in Gozo, Malta
A few years back, l saw a blog post about visiting Malta and it quickly jumped up on my list of places I wanted to visit. Our friend Antionette told us about a 50k ultra race on the Maltese island of Gozo and that was all it took to get Dani on board for the trip. I swear we do take vacations other than just race-cations.
It wound up being a very fun group trip as there were eight of us that traveled and spent the weekend exploring together. I was the only one that didn’t do any of the races, though in hindsight I probably should have signed up for the 10k. Upon arrival on the ferry from the isle of Malta to Gozo, we met a nice taxi driver with a large van. It was a bit of kismet as she and her husband wound up being our transport for the entire weekend.
We hired the taxi driver’s husband to give us a tour of the Island on the Friday. The first stop was at the salt flats / salt pans. These are places where the romans cut shallow pools into the costal rock. They would fill with sea water that would evaporate and leave behind salt for harvesting. I had to take a small taste - very salty.
Following the salt pans, he took us to the Gorge at Wied il-Għasri. It’s this beautiful little sea canyon. You can walk along the edge of the canyon and then down a set of stone steps to the small rocky beach where the canyon ends inland. We even saw a few divers in the water midway down the gorge.
The next stop on the tour was The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta' Pinu. This is apparently one of the most important of the 77 different catholic churches on the island of Gozo. A couple weeks prior to our arrival, the pope had been there for a visit. I’m not much for organised religion, but I very much enjoy the art and architecture that goes into cathedrals like this. I had a good laugh though when I found that the church had it’s own gift shop in the back.
Unfortunately Gozo’s famous Azure Window collapsed a few years back. Thankfully the island has a backup, the Wied il-Mielaħ Window, and that was stop number four on the tour. Quite an amazing natural arch providing a window to the sea. The water here was such an intense purple blue that I don’t think I’d ever seen before.
Before heading back inland we had one more coastal stop on the tour, Dwejra. Here we found the Blue Hole, the inland sea, and a spot of lunch. I never got a great look at the blue hole, but the coast line there was amazing. The inland sea looked like a nice place to do some diving and exploring. Maybe next time!
The last stop on our tour was the largest village in the center of the Island, Victoria (or Rabat as it’s known to the locals). In the center of the city is a large walled citadel, where in you can find shops, museums, another large church, and ancient roman ruins. If you climb to the top you will get an expansive three hundred sixty degree view of the island. Also, DANGER WALL!
On Saturday was the day of the big race(s). While everyone went off on their 10k, 21k, 50k races, I took a hike of my own. I walked down through Mgarr harbour, where the ferries land. I took the trail up the coast to Hondoq ir-Rummien a small beach with the bluest water I have ever seen in my life. Had some delicious lunch, and from there I hiked up inland and through a small village in Qala and back to Għajnsielem where the race finished. Almost 9k overall.
On our last day, we walked from our hotel in Marsalform to Ramla Beach. It’s one of the only sand beaches on the island. It was definitely worth the walk. The beach is enclosed on both sides by steep picturesque hills and the sand was this amazing shade of yellow.
Overall it was an amazing time. We could not have asked for better weather the entire weekend. The food, company, scenery, and experience are something I will always remember.
