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I don’t know if it’s the Maltese heat that makes me sleep this late, but I’ll miss it. Even though I started the day after 10 AM (and after a copious included breakfast!), it was a very active one.

First, I went to visit the Ġgantija temple ruins in Xagħra, which, at the fine age of about 5,500 years old, is none other than the second oldest known religious building in the World, the oldest being in Turkey. Not that many explanations in the museum, but still quite a few exhibits. It’s crazy that this much of the temple survived, although I think some parts were rebuilt. Its name comes from the legend of the giants, who supposedly built these temples with large megalithic stones.

On a side note, the Maltese language is fascinating. Being the only semitic language in Europe, meaning it has closer ties with Arabic and African languages, it is also heavily influenced by Italian, French and English.

After waiting the bus which was 30 min late, I was off to Rabat [Victoria, Malta], the main city of Gozo island, located in its center. It is home to a great citadel on its heights, which is free to enter and roam around. Not only it’s a beautiful complex of white limestone, but once you’re all the way up, you’re greeted  with a full view of the entire island!

I stayed there for a while, until it was time for my next destination: the Dwejra nature reserve. This large area of flat rock, dotted with natural holes with salt deposits was the site of the famous Azure Window, a natural stone arch, which sadly collapsed (naturally!) in 2017. It is  still a fantastic place to visit, with enormous cliffs dominating the sea, and the Blue Hole, a small pool separated from the sea by a small barrier of rock. It still comunicates with it though. There were plenty of people swimming in there. I wanted to join them, but first, it was tricky to find a path that was seas urchin-free (there were in every holes!). Then, suddenly, the rock gorund dropped dramatically, basically as an underwater cliff. Part of me wanted to jumped in there and enjoy the water, but mostly I was way too scared. I’m really not good with water, quite phobic honestly. So I just sat on the ridge, water up to the hip, enjoying the waves.

And this made me think of something that comes regularly to my mind about this trip: do I sleepwalk my life away? Shouldn’t I do more things that I never experienced before during this journey? Why not try snorkelling or something? The answer is often that I’m either too scared, or not super interested, or both. Will I regret it? We’ll have to see later.

After an hour there, I take the bus back to Żubbeġ, walk again to the cliffs in the North, and set for an early night. There’s music and fireworks outside, but I’m busy writing and too tired to get out again. It was already an amazing day anyway.