Malta (2011 & 2013)

MALTA (13)

GOZO – XLENDI

Although we’ve read that Marsalforn is the best-known holiday resort on Gozo, we’ve decided to rather take the scenic road to Xlendi, a delightful little seaside village. We’ve booked a weekend into one of the beautiful sea-view rooms in San Andrea Hotel.

The fjord-like bay of Xlendi
We’ve taken the stairs to our bedroom on the 2nd floor, which had a balcony with a lovely view over Xlendi bay
Views from our room
We’ve spent early mornings (and late evenings) on this balcony, enjoying the calmness of Xlendi

There is only a narrow sandy beach, sheltered by tall cliffs and guarded by the Xlendi Tower (one of many around Malta and Gozo to defend against intruders). This tower was built in 1658.

The bay as seen from the tiny promenade
The hotel’s restaurant (Zafiro Restaurant) is on the water’s edge

We’ve noticed some kind of walking trail on one of the cliffs and wandered towards this one morning to see where it’s leading.

The steps can easily be seen at the bottom of the cliff
Halfway up the cliff we’ve already had a nice view of the bay
A view towards our hotel in the corner of the bay – you can also see the massive bank of tourist apartments at the back

We could still see some steep stairs going up and down towards the end of the bay and walked on to see where it will take us.

Walking further on the cliffs at Xlendi bay
Some narrow and steep steps awaited us on the route
We could see the water through some of the rock openings
Exploring the walking trail
Almost at the end of the cliffs and reaching the end of the bay
The bay is guarded by the Xlendi Tower
At the highest point of the cliffs, we’ve had a beautiful view of the bay
Back at the bottom of the cliffs again

It was quite hot when we’ve visited Gozo and the clear waters of the Mediterranean at Xlendi bay looked quite inviting to cool off after our walk along the high cliffs. We’ve decided to walk to the other side of the bay where we’ve seen some people swimming.

A small boat in the bay

I’ve noticed some jellyfish in the water and was not so sure of even putting my feet in … but Berto was eager to jump in and enjoy swimming around.

The water is crystal clear … that’s how I’ve spotted the jellyfish (can you see it too?)
Berto enjoying the water at Xlendi bay
While sitting on the rocks, I could see small fish in the water

On our way back to our hotel, we’ve enjoyed a cold drink at one of the many open-air café’s. Like I’ve said, this is not the most-lively beach towns you’ll find, but it certainly has a unique character. Our visit to Xlendi was towards the end of our holiday and we just wanted to relax a bit before going back to Malta … and that’s what we’ve found here.

Before we conclude with this post, I just want to show you two more pictures that we’ve taken on our Hop On Hop Off Bus tour in Gozo.

Ta’ Pinu Basilica:

Alone in the fields in Gozo, stands Malta’s national shrine of Ta’ Pinu, a Romanesque centre of pilgrimage. Apparently, miracle cures happened in the area and from thanksgiving offerings, the present sanctuary was built in the 1920’s.

Ta’ Pinu Basilica

Ramla Bay:

Just in case you’ve wondered whether there is a decent beach on Gozo (except for Marsalforn) … yes, Ramla Bay is the main sandy beach in Gozo. It is a particularly golden-reddish sand which makes this beach different from all others in Gozo and Malta. There are even some that say this is not just Gozo, but also Malta’s, best beach!

Ramla beach – less crowded than those in Malta

We have now two more posts waiting to be published about our visits to Malta and Gozo. In our last post, we will have lots of underwater pictures of the wonderful world of scuba diving around Malta and Gozo.

And in our next post, we will show you two magnificent sites on Gozo – a visit to the Azure Window (which unfortunately collapsed in 2017) and the Inland Sea, a sheltered sea-water pool … make sure not to miss these!

We have done these trips in 2011 & 2013

Published by

wetanddustyroads

38 thoughts on “MALTA (13)”

    1. Thank you Marion. I think, because we had time, it was possible to do a bit more sightseeing (and this way, saw places we would not otherwise). Our weekend in Xlendi was definitely much more relaxing than our time in Malta – just what we’ve needed at that time 😊.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thanks Sarah. Yes, that must have been one of our favourite weekends ever 😁 … at first, the cliff walk didn’t appear like something special, but as soon as we’ve got there, I knew we would have great views!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I am very excited about your report from Malta again. I particularly like this wonderful hotel, where I would feel very comfortable. I think I would sit on the balcony every evening and enjoy the evening with a glass of wine. Maybe breakfast in the morning with coffee. Thank you for taking me on the trip.
    Rosie

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Oh Rosie, you know how to enjoy yourself … that is exactly what we’ve done most of the time in Xlendi! We’ve had a really great time here and I’m glad you’ve enjoyed this post – thank you for coming along 💐.
      Take care, Corna.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  11. Wow, what a room! In such a lovely place! The water is amazingly clear in Xlendi Bay, and Ramla beach looks perfect. I so enjoy reading your posts & seeing your photos, because they’re all about exploring, which has been a big, important part of my life. Wishing you a laughter-filled week ahead, Corna! 🌞

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh Lisa, I’m telling you … that room … devine!! We’ve really enjoyed our time in Xlendi (I wish I could sit there right now – so bitterly cold here in South Africa 😬). I’m so glad you’re enjoying our Malta posts – we love exploring too!
      You say a “laughter-filled week” … I like that a lot!! The same to you dear Lisa!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. I have been lucky enough to stay in some wonderful establishments in some stunning locations all over the world but, I have to say, that hotel room with that view is about as good as it gets. If I had cooking facilities in there, I could happily see out my days in that place.

    You mentioned in an earlier post that Gozo provided most of Malta’s produce (I know Malta is notoriously poor land for agriculture) so what was the food like?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. As you might know by now, we don’t normally stay in hotels … but this one was a sure winner! We’ve spent long mornings with coffee on that balcony and late evenings with a glass of wine – pure bliss!
      We’ve enjoyed great cuisines at this hotel – great meat cuts that were always served with a wide variety of vegetables. Oh yes, and I remember now how fresh their salads were. Thinking back, their food was probably better than their bigger sister’s food (don’t tell Malta I’ve said so 😉).

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. It’s OK, your secret is safe with me.

        Did you get to try rabbit either on Gozo or Malta, it is the Maltese national dish?

        Although I barely eat I am fascinated by cooking (which is why I keep asking you for Berto’s braai secrets) and I had a superb rabbit dish in Sliema one night. I had not eaten rabbit for over 30 years when we used to out shooting them as their population was running wild on the farms and I had forgotten how good a well, low-cooked rabbit stew could be.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Oh, don’t start with the rabbit!! There’s a story coming, you know it!
        On our first visit to Malta, we’ve walked past a small shop in one of the narrow alleyways and I saw this cute bunny in a little cage outside the shop. I’ve oohed and aahed until the owner of the shop came out and in broken English asked me whether I would like the bunny. And totally innocent, I said “No, it’s alright. I’m from South Africa and it will be difficult to travel with this little bunny”. He must have thought I did not completely understood him and we went through the same conversation twice … until he realised I was looking at this little one as a pet and until I realised he was looking at the same little one as a delicious dish 😂.
        Needless to say … no, we did not try the rabbit dish (because I could only see that little bunny’s face in the cage) …

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I don’t understand this. You love braais to the extent that you have written a whole brilliant and mouth-watering series here.

        When you cook that beautiful side of beef beside the fire as I saw you do in a braai episode, do you not think it was once a lovely friendly little “moo cow”? Either become a vegan (virtually impossible for a Yarpie, I know) or get used to the concept of dead bunnies, lovely moo cows and little baa lambs. I’ll bet you love a lamb chop as much as I do!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. 😂😂 Funny Fergy! But a rabbit is just so cute! I know, I do not understand it myself … a little lamb is cute too, but I like a lamb chop that is crispy fried on the fire – weird!
        It’s a case that when I see the specific animal before I eat it, I give it a name in my head (and then I can not eat it) … but if the meat is completely chopped up and in the store, then I have no problem eating it. If I ever lived on a farm, my animals would die of old age!

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Beautiful pictures and a very nice presentation of the picturesque village Xlendi. The island of Gozo is truly a gem well worth exploring and relaxing on.
    We often went there over a weekend to get a break from everyday life.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much Anita! Oh yes, we loved our time in Xlendi … and in Gozo. I’ve heard from several Maltese that Gozo is the perfect getaway place 😉. Thanks for reading, I’m glad you found that we’ve done justice to the beauty of Xlendi ☺️.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s