November 9 Qawra Malta

Today I took a boat tour. The boat is a huge catamaran with a big deck on top and a set of glass windows down below. Very nice. Apparently a family run business. The trip passed by St Pauls island, the island just off the shore near where i am. It passed by a couple of fish farms. They are raising tuna for export to Japan.

We cruised around Comino island going into a couple of caves and then stopping at Crystal bay, where the water was very clear. We passed over a sunken ship, but the water here was not very clear. Then a short stop at the Blue Lagoon on Comino island. Very nice. A small sandy beach but lots of sand in the water. Some people stayed here and the remainder headed to Gozo island. Here we got on a mini bus for an island tour. The tour stopped at a couple of churches and at the citadel. Problem was the citadel was closed and we were not able to get in. Then on to the Azure Window.

A huge arch of rock in the water. Really very nice. Gozo does not have a large population with the rest agriculture. I have no idea how they grow anything..... it is so rocky.... but that explains all the rock fences. They also use the rock to create terraces to level the land. Some of the terraces look like they are more than 10 feet high!

A short ride back to the main island, while watching the sun set. Very nice. I talked to a UK woman for a long time. This was her first trip on her own and she was a bit nervous.. she just arrived yesterday.


November 8 Qawra Malta

I headed off to do one of the walks, but I jinxed myself about the buses! I missed my stop, which added an hour on top of the extra time on bus and then after waiting an hour, my transfer did not stop! So headed off to Dingli Cliffs. it was on the way back to the hotel! Wow what a place. It is the highest point on the island at 250 metres
above sea level, and much of it straight down to the water.

I walked for about an hour along the coast. At 1 point there are several farms on a plateau just below where I am, about half way to the water. Very nice. I then went out on a point I had seen from the bus. What a great place. Here the views are amazing in both directions. Also at this point there was a bronze age settlement (about 2700 BC to 700 BC time period). They had dug silos/storage places into the rock. There were several with holes on top. I do not know what was kept inside.

There were some trenches around some so maybe water. I did spent a fair bit of time talking to a Dutch family that have lived here for 15 years. He works in a big resort on the island. They had lots of suggestions of places to visit.
The weather today was great. Actually warm and no clouds in the sky. A first since I have arrived.

I also met a 95 year old English woman! She was amazing! She did not even look 75 and she hopped off the bus and took off faster that many much younger people have! She has been coming to Malta for 30 years! She was on her way to airport to meet a friend but decided to get off at the Medina and spend some time. Very interesting talking to her. She says there has been a lot of change on the island and she is not happy. Too many glass and concrete buildings.... and there seems to be many more on the go.