Eve had mentioned that she might like to go to Gozo. When we were there for our whirlwind Hop On Hop Off tour we had stopped at Calypso Cave and had a fantastic view of Ramla Beach and saw that it was a beautiful beach. So, we decided that it would be fun to go to Ramla Beach for the day. Christine really wanted to go via a cruise that stopped at 3 different beaches, but we didn’t pursue that. I checked out the ferry and bus schedules. We could get a bus right from the Mgarr (Gozo) ferry terminal to Ramla that would put us within a 10 minute walk to the beach. So, that’s what we decided to do.
We set off early, on the 7:25 #222 bus to Cirkewwa. Once again, with our good luck charm with us, we boarded a nearly empty, air conditioned bus, so we had a good 50 minute ride to the ferry terminal. Unfortunately, we entered the terminal just as they closed the gate for the 8:00 ferry, so we had to wait for about 30 minutes for the next ferry. Christine and I got cappuccinos. We were the first in line for the ferry and over the next 30 minutes, several tour buses arrived and the terminal filled up.
We got on the ferry and enjoyed the 25 minute ride to Gozo. We took in the sights of Comino and the rugged coastline of Gozo. Our arrival in Mgarr didn’t coincide very well with the bus schedule to Ramla. We would have had to wait for about 45 minutes for the bus. To avoid waiting that long, we got a taxi. A very nice Gozitan, Joe, chatted with us during the ride and we learned about his family and Christine related her family information, especially about emigrating, as Joe’s family also had emigrated, but now had returned. All the while this conversation was going on, Joe sped through very narrow village streets at breakneck speed. It should take about 15 minutes from the terminal to Ramla Beach. We arrived in just under 8 minutes. Even speeding, though, the ride down the hill to the beach provides breathtaking views of the fertile farming valley down to the blue Mediterranean Sea. Just gorgeous!
As it turned out, today was not a good beach day. Upon arriving, Christine and Eve rented sunbeds, but the vendor was not renting out umbrellas due to the wind. We thought that if we walked to the left down the length of the beach to the base of the hill, we might get protected from the wind a bit. So the guy carried the sunbeds down to that end for us. The boardwalk enters the beach with about one-third of the beach to the left and two-thirds to the right. The other reason we picked going left was that to the right, there was a school group of about 200, probably elementary age, kids playing organized relay games and they sounded like a huge, noisy, gaggle of geese, so we wanted to avoid that.
As soon as the sunbeds were set down, the wind came whipping down the entire length of the beach sandblasting us. You could literally see the waves of sand approaching in the wind. Within a minute, it became very clear that this was not a good idea to be on this beach today. However, having come so far, and the beach being so beautiful, I wasn’t ready to give up. All the way at the other end of the beach at the base of the hill, there were some rocks that looked like they might afford some protection from the wind. The wind seemed to be coming the length of the beach from that direction, so maybe we could be out of the sandblasting down there.
Christine decided to go back to the restaurant area in the shade. It was already 90 degrees and with relentless sun beating down. But Eve and I walked down to the other end and plopped down behind a few rocks. We even had a wee bit of shade from some shrubs and small trees on the hillside. Unfortunately, our thought that the wind wasn’t coming in our direction was short-lived and we still got a little sandblasted. Eve went in the water for a swim and enjoyed it immensely, which hopefully made this whole trek worthwhile. Ramla really is a beautiful beach and bay. And it just might be the only beach I’ve seen having a huge religious statue on the beach.
I walked back down to where our sunbeds were, thinking that I might carry at least one to where Eve was positioned. That thought flew out of my head as soon as I tried picking one up. It was too hot to struggle with it all the way down the beach. I then went in search of Christine, who was under the awning at one of the restaurants. It was pretty hot there, too, even in the shade. I told her I was going to see if I could rent an umbrella that we could use as a wind screen and that we’d message her if that made it bearable to be on the beach. While getting the umbrella, I told another guy about our sunbeds and he said he’d talk to the first guy and see if he’d carry them down to us at the other end. That never happened. The umbrella did help somewhat, providing a bit of a wind screen and protection from blowing sand and it gave me some shade as well. We texted Christine and suggested she come join us.
When she got to us, she then held the umbrella while I went in the water. It was so very refreshing! When I came out of the water, it was Christine’s turn. I think Eve also went back in. Thereafter, we decided to call it quits on the beach and we packed up and trudged back up the beach to the boardwalk. I tried to get a refund for the unused sunbeds, but no go.
We then sat at a table at Rosie’s Restaurant, doing business at Ramla Beach since the 1950s, and had lunch. It was apropos that the name was Rosie’s, as Christine’s mother’s, and Eve’s grandmother’s, name was Rose. So Rose was with us at least in name, but she was probably with us in spirit as well.
We called Joe, our taxi guy, for a pickup, and he came in 10 minutes and then sped us back to the ferry terminal. This time, we were the last people to board the ferry as we entered just as the gate agent was shutting up. There were very few people on the ferry at that time of day, I think we were on the 1:30 ferry, which was also a good sign for an easier time for getting on the bus. Again, we enjoyed the ride back across the channel, taking in the beautiful sea views and the Gozo, Comino and Malta coastlines.
We did have an easy time getting the #222 back to Sliema, once again thanks to our lucky charm, Eve. The bus was again nearly empty and air conditioned, so we had an easy ride back to Sliema. Then it was time once again for a nap before going out for dinner.
If you recall, I had received a call from that tapas restaurant and given a secret word which would have entitled us to a bottle of wine or extra food. We walked around the esplanade looking for this place, La Vida. When we found it, it didn’t appeal to us as it was tiny and the football game was blaring from a large screen TV and there were several guys sitting and watching the game.
We then wandered around trying to decide where to eat. We settled on Ta Kolina, which I had read has some of the best “real” Maltese food. It was a very quaint place and we enjoyed the atmosphere inside, which was all limestone blocks and curved, vaulted ceilings. We did have a very good dinner, although I don’t think we ordered anything “real” Maltese, but the food was delicious. I had the second best plate of mussels I’ve ever had, the first best being in Montreal with our cruise 6-pack.
We did solve one mystery that has been on our minds, and that is just where the old Meadowbank Hotel was located. We had stayed there in 1985. The hotel and all the buildings that had been around that area have been torn down and tall apartment buildings have been built. It doesn’t look anything like what we remembered of the area. We couldn’t figure out just where the Meadowbank had been. I thought that maybe the gentleman who was probably the owner of Ta Kolina would know. Christine asked him how long he’d owned the restaurant and he said 43 years. She then asked him if he knew where the Meadowbank had been and he said he lives in the building that was built on that spot. He said it was directly across from the Surfside, and Christine had been right in her guess on which apartment building was on the Meadowbank location. Mystery solved!
After dinner, we headed back around the esplanade. On Thursday evenings there is a bar in Balluta that has a jazz night. Christine has wanted to go, and there now being only 2 Thursday left in our Malta adventure, we had better go. The place is called Electro Lobster Project and it has a nice restaurant upstairs in the beautiful old Balluta Building, and a little bar down from the street level. There was a 3-piece band playing and we got drinks and sat listening to the band set. It was a drummer and an electric and bass guitar. They were okay, not what I would have really called jazz, but they played mostly American tunes upon which they improvised.
When the band took a break, we left and made our way back to our flat, said goodnight to Eve, and headed to bed.
Even though our Ramla Beach experience wasn’t the greatest, it still was nice to have seen the beach and swim in the beautiful bay. Next time, we’ll heed the wind speeds and go when there won’t be any sandblasting going on. But spending time with Eve is what this week is all about and, other than getting sandblasted, it was an enjoyable day.