Mediterranean Day Five

DAY 5 – MALTA

Today we got up at 6:00 AM which seemed very early and we were in no hurry until we realized that we had 5 minutes to get to the ABD meeting place. Today we went to Malta – well more particularly to Gozo which is a small island in the Malta archipelago. First of all we took a bus all around the Island of Malta (which is only 18 miles long) and then we got on the ferry and went over to Gozo. There we transferred to jeeps and four wheeled all over the island. The driver of our jeep was named Calypso. She had short, red streaked hair. And she drove VERY fast. She stopped at various locations on the island and we took some incredible shots.

Unfortunately today in Gozo it was VERY windy. Like really REALLY windy. There is some interesting history about the Island of Malta – it was originally founded by the Knights of St. Peter and apparently St. Peter was shipwrecked on the island. You can see the forts that they built I believe in the 17th Century and it’s like Lord of the Rings – they can all see at least one tower and when they saw bad peoples (the tour guide’s term) coming they would light the fires and the warning would be sent and then the Knights would go and defend the island. Then it was conquered by just about everybody except the US and now is pretty much just in the tourism business.

So we bounced and sped over the island until we got to the salt flats. Malta originally made salt. And at that time they called it white gold. Nowadays I think it is pretty much just a tourist destination. Next we drove to the Blue Window which is absolutely incredible and you’ll have to look at our pictures to see what we mean. The ocean is so blue and beautiful and turquoise. It was so windy that the ocean was crashing into the rocks. Made for more dramatic pictures for sure. Tom tried to get me into the ocean so that we could have some action shots but I think the only action would have been my body being smacked into the rocks. But you can see that the land has been shaped by so much wind. And there are some amazing natural sculptures as you drive by. And after the wind and the jeep my hair – should I opt to dye it black and white – looked rather like Cruella de Ville’s hair.

Then we bounced over to lunch. Did I mention that the jeep was really high and I had to literally climb into the jeep on my hands and knees? And that when I got out I had to sit down on the bumper and sort of fall out of the jeep on my rear end. Man that was so slick of me – and believe me nobody was laughing at me. Okay almost everybody was. But hey we’re on vacation!

So after that we walked down to the bay and some people stuck their feet into the Mediterranean. It was way too cold and choppy for me to do that. I’ll have to try again in Capri. Tom says that the water in our cabin is desalinated water from the Med so I am bathing in the Med every single day. If the water doesn’t get warmer and calmer than this I am going to have to go with that explanation.

So we got back into the jeep and bounced and sped back to the harbor and caught the ferry back to the mainland of Malta. Then we came back to the ship and dinner tonight was a Caribbean theme. And the food was delicious. I had a lovely grouper and shrimp dinner and Tom had a jerk seasoned steak. And the dessert was delicious. They have an option called the sweet sensations where they give you small bite sizes of the three most popular desserts. So now to bed. The swell now is running against us so the vibrations are different but I think after this day after all the wind and all the climbing in and out of the jeep we will be fine. And tomorrow – Tunis and Africa!! Oh and tonight’s towel animal is either a dinosaur or an elephant. We’ll let you be the judge. Oh, and with each towel animal at night, we also get gold chocolate mint doubloons.