Before I get into today’s events, flashback to 2009 when we last visited Malta. While here we rented an old van…it wasn’t the greatest but it got the job done. One day we ventured to Gozo, and we went to Ta Cenc cliffs. I ventured down a path I probably shouldn’t have. The path which substituted for a road was narrow, and my left front wheel slid off the road, rubbed against some limestone rocks (Malta is basically one large chuck of limestone, so to find a limestone rock under my wheel wasn’t altogether surprising), and went flat. It was a hot day and changing the wheel was not fun.
On this trip, we’re in Malta for three 2-week stints (separated by European ventures), renting three different vehicles. In the current 2-week stint, we happen to have a van, because our young ladies are joining us later this week so we needed a vehicle that could carry 6 people. And today, we ventured over to Gozo.
During the day we drove to the northwest portion of Gozo…we were off the beaten path visiting a window in the rock (at the bottom of Wied il-Mielah)…similar to, but different than the one at Dwejra which came crashing down in 2018. When we returned to the van, I noticed the left front tire was quite low. Like, very uncomfortably low. And there are no gas stations for miles. And there was no cell service.
Long story short, we drove…slowly…to Victoria, filled up the tire. I noticed a large nail in the tire…I’ve seen that before and know that as long as the nail stays there, the leak will be very slow…no worries.
We drove towards a beach near the ferry, and when we arrive, I check the tire. It is lower than the uncomfortably low of earlier. We get back in, and as I start driving in the direction we came, I’m asking Kim to find a repair station, now, and close by, but also to first find me any gas station that would have air. And I needed that now too! But also to give me directions as we have no time to make a wrong turn. I believe that with all the stress I was parched, and I may have also asked her to get me a drink of water. We’re still married…there’s an upside to this story after all! She said, let’s stop and figure out where we can go, but I say I can’t because the tire is losing air by the second!!! We limped our way to a gas station a few kilometres away. The gentleman was very nice, points me to a another station 2-3 kms up the road, but fills my tire first because it is dead flat. I get to that station and the guy says his Dad isn’t working today…apparently he does the repairs, but points me further down the road to another station that does repairs. We high tail it there, and the guy tells me they can’t repair it but is happy to put on my spare. Three guys come out from the garage, jack up the vehicle (with everyone still in it), take the spare out from under the vehicle, put air in it, switch tires, and get us on our way. We were outta there in 5 minutes (it felt like a Nascar pit stop). While looking at the tire we noticed the nail was gone…explains why it was losing air faster than I could put it in. We went to the beach at Hondoq ir-Rummien and de-stressed.
That’s the last damn time I’m renting a van in Malta!
Alrighty then, on with how the rest of our day went. As you’ll soon see, it went rather spectacularly.
Xlendi
We first headed to Xlendi (pronounced Shlendy) which was – and which was reaffirmed again today – our favorite place in Gozo.
There’s a climb down some stairs on the outskirts of town, across a cool foot bridge over a small canyon, up some stairs with many small lizards welcoming us to Xlendi.
As we crest the top of the climb, and cross a barren flat on top, the cliffs come into view.
As we move towards the point, there is this limestone structure that looks like a massive sand dune. There’s a door in the wall of this natural structure which is an underground doorway into the nearby tower. Yes, we tried to get inside but it was locked.
At the end of the point are salt pans, and the sea. Today, it was calm. Last time we were here, the swells were massive, the sea was alive and pounding against the rocks…it was an awesome spectacle. Today was quite peaceful.
Ta’ Cenc For Lunch
We then headed about 15 minutes to the town of Ta’ Cenc, to a restaurant on the sea, on the end of a 500 metre inlet. We were given a tip that a restaurant at the base of this inlet was the place to go, but when I noticed this other restaurant at the end, which overlooks the sea, we took our chances. It was a bit remote to get to, but what a find! The view was spectacular, and the seafood was outstanding. Daniel ordered muscles and fish soup, and Kim and I ordered red snapper, which they cooked and then separated and deboned at our table.
Ta’ Pinu
From there we went to Ta’ Pinu to a church which was a favourite of my parents. The story goes that in 1883, a Maltese peasant was walking by the church and heard a voice to recite 3 hail Mary’s. Over the following years, miracles were attributed to this event and the church was then dedicated to The Assumption (Mary). Today, there is a side gallery of sorts with pictures and letters of people who claimed to have been the recipient of a miracle. There are also devices, such as crutches and casts of people who prayed for restitution of their ailments, and no longer needed these devices.
From Ta’ Pink, we headed towards the window in the rock at the end of Wied il-Mielah (translated, it means “salt valley”). The is where, after viewing the sight, I discovered the tire issue.
From here we dealt with the tire issue and headed to the beach at Hondoq ir-Rummien. It was nice to just lay back and relax after the full day and be grateful for all the no-tire events of then day. All in all, it was a good day.
Wow – looks like a packed day. The design of the crutches into the church is very cool. Glad Daniel ventured to have the muscles! Yum!!
Looks like you are starting to get some colour. Very beautiful photos. Loved the mini van story. Haha!