{"id":14982,"date":"2013-08-06T16:54:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T14:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/?p=14982"},"modified":"2018-06-06T10:21:31","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T08:21:31","slug":"gozo-sun-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Gozo in the sun: what is there to see?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, are you ready for Gozo<\/b>? \ud83d\ude42 As I\u2019ve already mentioned the island is tiny \u2013 14 km long, 7 km wide and has only 30 thousand inhabitants. But, despite all this, there\u2019s pretty much to see! You should give yourself 1-2 days for sightseeing.<\/p>\n

You can use local buses to travel (a day ticket costs EUR 2.6) or\u2026 rent a car, like we did. It\u2019s an uncommon experience and it makes travelling even more interesting: when we were in the capitol Victoria<\/b>\u00a0we saw a small, almost godforsaken place close to the bus station that had a \u201crent a car\u201d sign on it + a few locked bikes. It was closed but there was an older man sitting at a nearby bench, he quickly approached us and called his son-in-law or other relative who was \u201cjust\u201d approaching Victoria. This is how we got our old-fashioned vehicle, without any facilities such as AC, power steering, baby car seats and of course with the wheel on the right side \ud83d\ude42 The car was as wonky, as the damaged roads of Gozo \ud83d\ude42 It added a new dimension to our trip, especially when we squeezed 4 adults + 2 children inside. When it wasn\u2019t windy, we had a free sauna inside. This is the optimistic version\u2026 sometimes, especially when I was holding 11 kg of red hot Maks, when the sun was roasting, it wasn\u2019t so funny anymore, but we\u2019re the survivors! \ud83d\ude42 Additionally, this pleasure cost only EUR 24 a day for all of us, and we wouldn\u2019t have seen as much if we had used buses, although they were cheap, because there was approx. one bus an hour!<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Gozo\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
ready to go!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

We have our means of transport and we\u2019re ready to go!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the capitol town! Victoria<\/b>\u00a0(also named Rabat<\/b>) is a quite unusual \u201ccapitol\u201d \u2013 there are only 6.5 thousand residents! Nonetheless, it\u2019s the largest town on Gozo. The name Victoria comes from queen Victoria, who awarded the capital with urban rights in 1887, during her jubilee, although many townsman still use the ancient name Rabat, meaning \u201csuburbs\u201d, despite the fact that there is a Rabat also on Malta.<\/p>\n

In Victoria you have to see Pjazza Independenza<\/b>\u00a0in the town centre, also called It-Tokk, or the meeting place. <\/b>There are many souvenir shops, restaurants (we do NOT recommend the restaurant It- Tokk!), the Banca Giuratela building and a small St. James Apostle church around the square. Unfortunately, stalls cover the entire square ruining its appearance \u2013 they\u2019re highly picturesque, you can buy there beach towels, flip-flops and other touristic \u201cyuck\u201d that obviously can be useful sometimes, but why would they place it in the middle of the main square?? We leave the square behind, turn into one of the tiny streets and head towards St. George basilica<\/b>, and afterwards we recommend a stroll through the streets of il Borgo<\/b>, or the old town. They\u2019re deserted, dormant during siesta and very picturesque\u2026<\/p>\n

Finally, we recommend climbing the 17th<\/sup>-century Citadel<\/b> opposite the main artery Triq ir-Repubblika<\/b>. There\u2019s a cathedral, a few museums and lovely views. There was also a very strong wind that got in the way of our sightseeing with a little one and made it impossible to push even our light buggy uphill\u2026 so, we were admiring the Citadel mainly from afar\u2026<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Victoria,<\/a><\/dt>\n
view from a terrace on Piazza Independenzia, unfortunatelly covered with ugly stalls<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Malta,<\/a><\/dt>\n
religious Malta<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Victoria,<\/a><\/dt>\n
summer relax<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Victoria,<\/a><\/dt>\n
streets of Victoria during siesta<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Victoria,<\/a><\/dt>\n
peace<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Victoria,<\/a><\/dt>\n
“oh, a mooooped!”<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Victoria,<\/a><\/dt>\n
little travellers taking a break<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Cytadela,<\/a><\/dt>\n
the citadel in Victoria, seen from Xewkija<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Afterwards we went to Xewkija Rotunda<\/b>, or a quite large church with a giant dome. When we got there we realized that we\u2019ve already known the church \u2013 we saw it every day from our terrace close to Xaghra. From our house it looked like the church is dominating over the island and now we could see that it really is vast \u2013 it\u2019s the largest church on the island and the dome is probably the third largest not-propped dome in the world.<\/p>\n

You might meet a delightful priest inside who might tell you how the present church was given an upward extension between 1951-1971 over the old church that couldn\u2019t accommodate the entire flock. Curiously enough, the church was build and funded by the residents themselves, but it becomes understandable when you spend more time on Malta and Gozo, and observe the local devout \u2013 figures of saints, many many churches (360 churches on the islands, almost 1 per every day of the year, 46 in Gozo itself), and even monuments of John Paul II\u2026<\/p>\n

I recommend mounting the top of the church and admiring the views from there. You can even climb the circuit stairs to the bell tower \u2013 in the hard version: climb the circuit stairs carrying 11 kg in 40 degrees-heat ;)\u2026 like I did \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Xewkija<\/a><\/dt>\n
the impressive Xewkija Rotunda<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Xewkija,<\/a><\/dt>\n
one of the most picturesque police stations I have ever seen<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

We drove from Xewkija to\u00a0Ta’ Cenc<\/b> to admire the local cliffs. We\u2019ve read about this place in our guidebook so I was hoping to find some tourist signs\u2026 instead, we\u2019ve been roving around Ta’ Cenc and Sannat, around the dormant villages and small country roads, and there was nobody we could ask for help. Finally, we came across locals who gave us directions, told us where to leave the car and said: \u201cAnd then you have to get there\u2026 Just be careful and look ahead!\u201d You have to be careful because the cliffs are 150 m high, beautiful and horrifying at the same time! I don\u2019t recommend it to people who are afraid of heights \ud83d\ude09 However, the views were worth all that trouble and they were even worth walking in the heat with Maks who was slowly getting ready for his due nap. And you know, when a guy\u2019s sleepy, he\u2019s angry! Anyway, both my guys are like that\u2026 \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Ta<\/a><\/dt>\n
breathtaking Ta’ Cenc<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Ta<\/a><\/dt>\n
and the wasteland around it…<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s only a stone\u2019s throw (like everywhere on Gozo ;)) from Ta’ Cenc to a small and incredibly charming resort Xlendi<\/b>. I\u2019d even call it a tiny lovely resort but I don\u2019t want to be accused of being too sweet, especially on such a hot day \ud83d\ude09 But Xlendi is like that \u2013 tiny and lovely. The bay, the blue water, little boats and little restaurants by the shore. Although its architecture is different, it reminds me of our favourite and beloved Positano at the Amalfi coast in Italy\u2026 It\u2019s different but the peaceful summer day, the taste of wine right by the water (although I didn\u2019t have any ;)) seems similar\u2026<\/p>\n

I believe that these circumstances call for a lazy lunch or even a romantic dinner in Xlendi \u2013 even if you choose a different \u201ctown\u201d to stay, it\u2019d probably be 5-10 km away! Unfortunately, we didn\u2019t have enough time\u2026 but we\u2019ll definitely make it up, if we come back to Gozo!<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Xlendi,<\/a><\/dt>\n
Xlendi<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Xlendi,<\/a><\/dt>\n
the bay seen from the promenade<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\u0142\u00f3dki,<\/a><\/dt>\n
typical Maltese luzzu boats<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Xlendi,<\/a><\/dt>\n
a small resort and a small wander around<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"klify,<\/a><\/dt>\n
nearby cliffs<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

We turned from Xlendi towards the second periphery of the island and drove for an incredible number of 9 km to Marsalforn that I\u2019ve already written about, where we had a lovely dinner in an even lovelier restaurant, but I\u2019ll give you the details in the post \u201cculinary Gozo\u201d \ud83d\ude42 However, it\u2019s best to go from Xlendi to Ta’ Pinu and Gharb<\/b>\u00a0in the western part of the island. Of course, on your way there you\u2019ll probably get to the capitol because all roads lead THROUGH Victoria. Or most of them at least\u2026<\/p>\n

Ta’ Pinu<\/b>\u00a0is a national shrine of Malta, incredibly looking even from the road. According to the legend, at the end of the 19th<\/sup> century, local village man heard the voice of Virgin Mary here, and subsequently many miraculous recoveries of health took place due to the prayers addressed to Virgin Mary. People peregrinated here and, similarly to the situation in Xewkija, a small shrine became insufficient \u2013 in the 1920s a church was built (you can see it at the picture) and the shrine \u2013 again, like in Xewkija \u2013 was \u201cfit into\u201d its interior\u2026<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Ta<\/a><\/dt>\n
a sacred place for Gozo inhabitants – Ta’ Pinu<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Ta'<\/a><\/dt>\n
Ta’ Pinu<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

You can see another church just a stone\u2019s throw away from there \u2013 in the village Gharb<\/b>. We are once more visiting a dormant town with a lovely square, a church (remember that there\u2019s as many as 46 of them!), an English phone booth (did you know that Malta was dependent from England for many years?) and a picturesque police station.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Gharb,<\/a><\/dt>\n
a mandatory square and church<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Gharb,<\/a><\/dt>\n
souvenirs of the Englishmen<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Gharb,<\/a><\/dt>\n
I am an English man…in Gozo<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"dziecko<\/a><\/dt>\n
a short break<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Gahrb,<\/a><\/dt>\n
sleepy Gharb<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

The last stop on our way for so-called desert is Azure Window<\/b>\u00a0in Dwejra Point.<\/b>\u00a0Do I have to explain its name? \ud83d\ude42
\nIt\u2019s a must-see on Gozo! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Azurre<\/a><\/dt>\n
Azure Window<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Azurre<\/a><\/dt>\n
tired after the whole-day trip, but happy!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Azurre<\/a><\/dt>\n
the cliff conquerors<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

When you travel around Gozo you might also want to visit Xaghra<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 there\u2019s another charming square with a church and quite a lot of restaurants (for Gozo). However, the best, very local. family restaurant is located by a common, ordinary street. It\u2019s called Tal-Furnar<\/b>\u00a0and you\u2019ll definitely hear about it from us because we found it to be almost perfect.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a Neolithic complex Ggantija Prehistoric Temples<\/b> close by. The funny thing is, that our house was next to the ruins so we saw heaps of tourists coming in coaches and walking towards the ruins in the heat every day. But we decided not to visit it after a Polish girl we met on the bus put us off (not much to see, expensive tickets). If you\u2019ve been there, share your impressions with us.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a beach, we recommend Ramla Bay<\/b>. It\u2019s big, spacious, with red-golden sand. We don\u2019t have any pictures because when at the beach, we enjoy the water, sand and waves + of course we chase Maks, and don\u2019t take pictures \ud83d\ude09 Please, forgive us! So? Wanna visit Gozo? I\u2019d like to go back! J<\/p>\n

PS. Do you know where the name Gozo comes from? I must admit that I\u2019ve just read it while writing this post! \ud83d\ude42 And its origin made me extra happy: the Arabs once called the island Ghawdex, which means joy, but is pronounced in a strange way as o\u0142desz.\u00a0<\/i>So, when the Spanish got to the island (15th<\/sup> c.) they translated the name into Castilian and that\u2019s where GOZO comes from\u2026 of course meaning JOY in Spanish.<\/p>\n

PS 2. Now I like GOZO even more \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, are you ready for Gozo? \ud83d\ude42 As I\u2019ve already mentioned the island is tiny \u2013 14 km long, 7 km wide and has only 30 thousand inhabitants. But, despite all this, there\u2019s pretty much to see! You should give yourself 1-2 days for sightseeing. You can use local buses to travel (a day ticket […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2982,3009,2981],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGozo in the sun: what is there to see?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We go through all the Gozo attractions for you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gozo in the sun: what is there to see?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We go through all the Gozo attractions for you.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tasteaway\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-06T14:54:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-06T08:21:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/08\/New__DSC3313.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Tasteaway\",\"description\":\"The most popular food&travel blog in Poland\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/08\/New__DSC3313.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/\",\"name\":\"Gozo in the sun: what is there to see?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-06T14:54:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-06T08:21:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dc868655589e8a642903872504924ca8\"},\"description\":\"We go through all the Gozo attractions for you.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/06\/gozo-sun-see\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dc868655589e8a642903872504924ca8\",\"name\":\"Natalia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5203418a5f7f6d86ea2d6b1f95c16db9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Natalia\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14982"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16040,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14982\/revisions\/16040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}