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Published: September 20th 2018
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Woke up this morning to the sound of construction from a building across the street but opened my curtains to see the beautiful bay of Xlendi, so all was good with the world again. I headed downstairs to breakfast and it was so lovely to be sitting right by the water, enjoying a coffee and something to eat. There was no rush today so I enjoyed the moment.
Around 11ish I caught the local bus into the town of Victoria as today I wanted to eat to the Red Beach in Ramla. Regardless of where you want to go on Gozo, all buses connect at the Central bus station in Victoria. You purchase a ticket on board for €2 and that will cover you for the next couple of hours, which makes getting connecting buses easy. When I arrived in Victoria, I checked the bus schedule for Ramla but the next bus was 45 minutes away. I decided to make use of this time and visit the historic part of the town (and also pop into a pharmacy to buy some ear plugs as I think the construction isn't a one off). It was an easy walk and suddenly you
stepped back in time. All the buildings are made from sandstone and are usually only two stories high. The streets are cobbled and it is a lovely place to just wander through. It isn't a big area but does lead to the Citadel which I didn't have time to explore today. It was soon time to head back to the bus terminal for my connection to Ramla. The drive only took about 30 minutes but I thoroughly enjoyed the view along the way. The landscape is quite arid and dry and everything blends in with the sandstone coloured villages. It's quite the sight though! Soon we arrived at Ramla and it was a short walk down to the beach. This beach is the only sandy beach on the island so is quite popular. I found a nice spot on the sand and was grateful I had bought a Turkish beach towel in Sorrento - it has certainly come in handy. The next few hours were spent sunbaking (with sunscreen on!), swimming (lots of swimming!) and listening to my podcasts.
Eventually I thought I should get something to eat and take a rest from the sun, so I wandered up
to the beachside restaurant. I ordered the tuna salad and a big beer and it cost me less than €8 - finally a country where it's a decent cost to eat! The salad was amazing! The Maltese put green beans, capers, white beans, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce and white onion along with tuna into the salad and it is a lovely combination of ingredients. It was around 3:30 by this time so I decided to head back to Xlendi and have another swim there. I timed the bus ride just right and when I got to Victoria, there was a bus to Xlendi waiting there which left pretty soon after.
Back in Xlendi and I went straight into the water! It was so lovely to cool off in the bay, although I did have to dodge a couple of jellyfish! After a good swim I walked back to my hotel and showered and relaxed for a while before heading downstairs to dinner. There are numerous little restaurants lining the bay so tonight I tried the one next to my hotel. I wasn't really hungry so had a starter serve of prawns and calamari that had been marinated in herbs and
a touch of chilli and then grilled. Very nice! I also ordered a half bottle of a local rosé which was delicious and only €4.50. I am very impressed with the reasonable costs to dine on this island!
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