Tues Oct 1, 2024
Hi Gang! Happy October! Can you believe we’re three quarters of the way thru 2024? Time flies when you’re traveling the world!
Today we are anchored off the island of Gozo in Malta. That means we have to take tender boats to get back and forth to the island. Luckily this ship is really small so it doesn’t take long for the tender service. Plus we were the only ship in port so that made it faster too!
After the island of Malta itself, Gozo is the second-largest island in the Maltese archipelago with a population of 32,000. It’s one of 21 islands that make up the archipelago. Inhabited for thousands of years, it shows evidence of historic immigration and rule by the Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Sicilians, French and British, among others. It’s known for its Neolithic Ġgantija Temple ruins. Gozo is also considered one of the top diving destinations in the Mediterranean.
Our tour today took us to several villages on the island. First we visited the Ggantija (Place of Giants) Temple that is a megalithic temple complex from the Neolithic era (3,000 BC). This temple is older than the pyramids in Egypt! It is more than 5,500 years old and the world’s second oldest existing manmade religious structureafter Göbekli Tepe in present-day Turkey.
After that we went to the Capitol of Gozo which is Rabat. There we saw the huge Citadel complex as well as several beautiful churches. We were ready to leave there when the tour guide noticed two people were missing and they had been sitting near us on the bus. Kathy, being the good person she is, volunteered to go with the guide to find them (since she remembered the pretty outfit the lady was wearing!). She found them right away and we were on our way again!
We then went to the small village of Dwerja along the coast where we saw a lookout tower, a cute little church with amazing mosaic tiles inside and a view along the rocky shoreline.
After that we went back to the ship where we grabbed some yummy Chinese food at the buffet at La Veranda and chilled a little after lunch and got some sun. Yes, the weather was perfect again today. Sunny and high of 75 with a light breeze.
After “sunning” we got cleaned up and attended the “Block Party”. That is a Regent tradition where you hang out in the hallway outside your suite and meet your neighbors. The Captain and cruise director also come thru and meet everyone. It was a fun activity and our neighbors were all very nice!
That’s all for now. I’ll post an update after dinner. Happy Tuesday to all!
The Wandering Italian 