Today we head for the opposite of Valletta. The bus to Cirkewwa where we get the ferry to Gozo. They run every 45 minutes during the day and take about 25/30 minutes to cross to the harbour of Mgarr. Our destination today is to take the bus to a few of the small towns away from the main city of Victoria. With our hop on hop off day pass we get off in Nadur. As the bus pulls away we are left on an almost empty, quiet street. We stand there looking around and both say, Yes! This is where we want to be.
These are mobile fruit and vegetable trucks. They travel around open like this and stop anywhere it seems. They might have designated areas but to us it just seems random. Not sure what a Quack Bar is but it's apparently a little early to find out.
We wandered streets til we came to the square. If you want to find the center of any town you just have to look for the dome or spire that indicates the parish church. It is noon and the bells start ringing. They are being rung by two young boys who wave to us as we take pictures. Our timing was off as Wednesday is market day but it's over at noon and everyone is packing up. Maybe we will come back next week.
I get a cappuccino and pastry while Bob goes to see inside the church. The weather in Malta is just as I had envisioned but some days it seems we spend too much time in the shade and I crave the heat from the sun. It's never too hot that I have to take off my jacket, maybe my scarf. But to feel the sun on my face is wonderful.
Many homes place Christmas Cribs, or Presepji Tal- Milied, in a window for people to view. We had seen a sign about a collection on display in the local community office, or Konsill Lokali. We found it almost by accident and were allowed to go upstairs to see them. There must have been 30/40 different designs, many of which were constructed by school children and/or local groups. This one is made of match boxes, some are made of tinfoil, wood, styrofoam, anything at all. Very beautiful and creative.
Another door for my collection.
On and off the bus again. We spend more time waiting for busses than actually traveling. Next stop is the seaside town of Marsalforn. We had lunch and a beer in the sun, a walk along the beach front before getting back on a bus heading for the town of Gharb and a basilica named Ta' Pinu. The day is getting late and we are visiting more out of the way communities so the busses are not running as often. We check when the next bus will come and the driver says in one hour. After enquiring from locals we are told it is only about a seven minute walk to Gharb. We follow a stone road down a hill across a small valley that shows us where they quarried all the rock for Ta' Pinu. The side of the hill also shows where people had dug into the cliff to provide shelter from bombings during WWII.
The view across the little valley to Gharb as the sun sets.
It is a beautiful, extremely clean and well maintained town but there is no one around. It is Christmas Eve after all. By now it is almost 5:00pm and getting dark. We are no where near the bus stop we got off at so we are looking for another one. We find a stop in the square in front of the church. We have 40 minutes to wait:(. The doors of the church are open and we sit listening to the mass inside. No complaints about the bus service. No matter where you are they run on time! We are happy. We have been gone since 10:30am and we are running out of steam. Our bus takes us to Victoria terminal where we wait another 30 minutes for the bus to the ferry. We've seen the better side of Christmas Eve today. This is a strong Catholic country and Christmas is a lot more that shopping. We've seen the churches decorated, the uniquely beautiful Cribs, heard many bells ringing and listened to Mass in Maltese.
A few last pictures.
Santa has no chimneys to climb here so he has to scale balconies.
A very long but wonderful day. Days like this are why we are here.
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