Saturday/Sunday, 19./20. October 2019

At the weekend we had some time off and could explore Malta. At first we went to Bugibba. It´s in the north from Malta and a popular place for tourists with a lot of bars, restaurants and hotels.

In the evening we had again a tour with our guide Tracy. This time we visited the "Three Cities of Malta", which the Maltese also call "Cottonera". The cities were founded by the Knights of the Order of Saint John in the 16th and 17th century and are called Birgu, Senglea and Bormia They are well known for their historical and cultural wealth. Tracy told us some stories and informative facts. We even visited a workshop for the famous boats which are used for the "Maltese National Regatta". This is a rowing regatta hold bi-annualy and draws thousands of spectators year after year. 

On Sundy we visited the island Gozo. The Republic of Malta comprise in total seven islands. Only three of them are inhabited. Gozo is the second largest islands of the archipelago. At first we encountered that the public transportation system is not very reliable. After one hour of waiting for the bus we called a cab. I think that´s part of the southern snugness. ;) We ferried over the Gozo channel and were also able to have a look at the famous "Blue Lagoon" at the island Comino. 

At Gozo we took a Hop-on-Hop-off bus to see most of the islands. In comparison to Malta it´s much greener, less populated and it felt much calmer. We stopped here and there, took a walk through the city Victoria (Rabat) and had some delicious food.