Hairy trip to the Inland Sea

We got an early start today to make up for yesterday's lack of action and headed to the south coast, first stop the tiny bay of Mġarr ix-Xini. The name translates to "the carrying of the boats" and refers to a time when pirates from the Barbary coast frequently raided Gozo and took away many Gozitans as slaves, from this bay.

Heading west, we had morning tea and a cliff top walk at Xlendi. In summer it's a bustling seaside resort, but today they were busy cleaning the streets and footpaths after yesterday's storm. We had 3 locals tell us today it was the worst weather they'd ever experienced on Gozo, including one chap who's lived here for 70 years.

We visited Xlendi Tower, the oldest tower in Gozo (built 1650), and the salt pans nearby. The salt pans are part of the centuries-old Gozitan tradition of sea-salt production that has been passed down through the generations.

From Xlendi we intended heading to the Inland Sea on the west coast. The 10km trip took us over an hour and were some of the worst roads we've experienced. On two occasions the road was so narrow and the hairpins so sharp that we had to do a three point turn to negotiate the corner. Then we reached a section of road that was completely block with roadworks, so backtracking a few kilometres was required (thankfully not down THAT hill again!).

We finally reached the Inland Sea just after 3.30pm. Also known as Dwejra, it is a lagoon of seawater linked to the Mediterranean Sea through an opening formed by a narrow arch.

We arrived back in Xewkija in time to visit the bakery for dinner - anchovy ftira for me, calzone for Oliver.Read more