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Contents |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Day 4 |
Day 5 |
Day 6 |
Day 7 |
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Malta - Day Five What Not to Do in Gozo A Tale of Traveler's Tips |
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Even at my most optimistic planning for the honeymoon, as soon as we decided on Malta as our destination, I knew that our vacation would be hanging by a thread. The number of variables that I could not account for was so great that any miscalculation on my part my part would make for a very long week. I had a very good idea of what we were doing, but there were a lot of blank spots that I could only do so much planning for. These blank spots piled up quickly in Gozo, allowing the situation to fall apart even faster. Following our trip to Ggantija Temples, I seem to remember that it was almost time for the bus back to Victoria. However, we decided that we would spend a little bit of time in Xaghra to see the town, eat some lunch and get some cash -- which I was running low on. Tip 1 in Gozo: When leaving Xaghra, just get on the bus. Tip 1a in Gozo: When ignoring Tip 1 and planning to catch a later bus, check the bus schedules conveniently located at the bus stop in order to make sure of the time of the later busses. This will prevent any nasty surprises later. Beginning to Get Things WrongWe turned toward the town of Xaghra, which was not but about 5 or 10 minutes worth of walk away. Quickly traversing the distance, we arrived in the town center, which was a quaint little square with a surprisingly large cathedral standing at one end. For having a population roughly equal to a rural farming county, Gozo had some pretty nice churches. I assume that the Knights Hospitaller had quite a lot to do with that, what with the fact that they essentially invented hospitals and thus they had all those nice medical fees to get them through. First thing's first, I needed some cash. So I headed to the conveniently located Bank of Valletta standing in the town square and attempted to use their ATMs. Tip 2 in Gozo: Don't use the ATMs in Xaghra. There aren't any. This unfortunately lack of cash dispensing was disheartening, but we would survive. Most restaurants took credit cards, so we could fight our way through. So we headed over to one of the local restaurants that Lonely Planet recommended and we sat down to eat. Tip 3 in Gozo: Don't sit down for a meal unless you have a lot of time to kill. For instance, if you don't know the bus schedules, you don't have a lot of time to kill. Getting Things Pleasantly WrongThe meal was pleasant enough. We sat under the roof in an open-air restaurant that could open its entire front wall to pleasant outdoor weather. It allowed us to get into the shade and cool off from a very warm, sunny day, but it also allowed us the enjoyment of the fresh air as well as the local fare. The cathedral tolled the hour of one o'clock some thirty or forty times in the most annoying way, as it would toll the hour, then toll it again and again and again and then it would take a break and you would think it would be done. And then it would toll the hour some more. Then you thought it would stop. But it didn't, it continued to repeat its reminder of the hour until you were ready to climb up into the belfry, slap their hunchback and yell at him to knock it off. |
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Overall, it was an interesting meal. The slice of Gozitan life out in the less travelled part of an infrequently travelled spot was refreshing in many ways. Off on the other side of the square, a group of teenagers did what teenagers do: hang out and do nothing. A businessman in a tie came in for his lunch break and chatted with another of the locals that he probably met there every day. An elderly couple, who were clearly also on vacation, tried to determine what kind of wine they wanted or if they wanted wine at all; they seemed confused enough to be Americans. An elderly man, who was clearly a local, sat by himself and watched the world pass by him and the glass of red wine that probably met him there every day. |
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Our lunch was good, though it was nearly two hours later by the time that we completed our midday meal and we were none too pleased about that. This was long even by Maltese standards and we were heading back to the bus stop later than I had hoped. Things were quickly heading away from the plan, though I did not know just how much off of the plan we would go. Getting Things Unpleasantly WrongAdmittedly, I should have known that we should have just headed back to Victoria right away. Lonely Planet warns you that the bus schedules aren't run very regularly later in the day, so I should have checked the bus schedules to find out what this meant. And I should have just gotten us back to the home base in Victoria. All of this was running through my mind as we headed back toward the bus stop, but I was trying not to let Chris know about any of these concerns. Note: The next few bits of the day are a bit on the hazy side, so I apologize to Gozo and its bus service if the times are not correct. However, I will provide example times in order to give an idea of just what we were dealing with. We arrived at the bus stop at about 2:15. Busses from Victoria to Xaghra ran about every 30 minutes earlier in the day. The next bus listed on the schedule was arriving at, if I remember correctly, about 4:30. Over two hours of waiting for a bus. Or perhaps only 15-20 minutes of waiting, supposing that the busses are still running every 30 minutes but they don't show them on the posted schedule. Furthermore, Lonely Planet said that the busses are not as frequent in the afternoon, so does that mean that the schedule reflects the infrequent busses, or does it mean that the busses are a bit on the unpredictable side and you may have a wait a bit longer than 30 minutes? Tip 4 in Gozo: You should probably find this out before you go there. Because I have no idea. It was officially decision-time for the married couple and we had not even finished our honeymoon yet. Sickening ComprehensionWe had two choices. First, we could wait and hope that the busses were still running routinely and we would have the chance to catch one relatively soon; which could also lead to waiting way too long for a bus that was not coming until 4:30. Second, we could find out how pleasant it is to hike the Gozo countryside by walking the mile-and-a-half back to Victoria on a very warm day and taking the risk of wasting a lot of time walking while missing a perfectly comfortable bus ride. This was a lot of stress a couple should not have on their honeymoon, but there we were. If we were going to walk, we should start walking now. If we were going to wait, we should settle in and hope for the best. Neither option was particularly pleasant: long-walking or long-waiting, but we needed to make a decision soon and get on with the business of doing what we decided. Tip 5 in Gozo: If you are attempting to determine the right course of action from two unpleasant ones while sitting on a bench near a bus stop in Gozo and you see a stray dog that you think is about to get run over by a car, don't scream at the dog. It doesn't help the stress and the dog can take care of itself. At this point, it seemed like a good idea to just suck it up and hit the road with our own two feet, unlike the seven or eight other people who seemed content to wait for the bus whether it was coming or not. I was not sure if they knew something we didn't or if they were just more patient. Standing on the VergeWe stood at the edge of the hill looking down into the plain below begin and examined the road between Victoria and Xaghra. I had a vague idea of the route and I figured that, if I saw any large gray objects moving along said route, I would take my lovely wife back to the bus stop. Unfortunately, there were no such things along the road and we began hoofing it. Chris and I began our walk down the side of the hill where Xaghra was located, tracing the switchbacks that wormed down the side of the hill. This was when we learned something important. Tip 6 in Gozo: All those guidebooks that tell you how enjoyable it is to hike in Gozo are full of shit. |
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