Wed 29 May  -  Gozo
Yes well, I thought if I put Marsalforn as my address you wouldn't know where to find me on the map, but you all know Gozo.
This required a very early start of 6.30am to breakfast, pack and be ready to push our way onto the bus at the main St Julian's centre some blocks away. It's hard to belief this is not yet the tourist season. There are flocks of them already. Some 20 mins later we all tumbled out and found our way to the end of a long queue to board the ferry to carry us the hour and a half trip from Malta to Gozo. The ship takes 400 passengers and is equipped with a bar and nibble nook. There was a long queue there before we set sail but people waited patiently to crack into the alcohol at 10.00am.
The trip (for those of us interested in the picturesque scenery) was splendid, affording different views of historic features that we had seen from the hop-on-hop-off bus. The most spectacular for me was the famed Blue Grotto which was unequaled for its colouring. I had been disappointed not to have time to hop off at this point yesterday, but how much better to float right into it today.
We arrived at the Gozo terminal where most of the day trippers disembarked and packed onto buses to take us to Victoria, the capital,  where our driver insisted that EVERYONE must disembark.  He would pick us all up at 2.30 to return us to the ferry. NO!!!!! We were bound for Marsalforn for our overnight stay. No, no, no, we must get off. Well, Peter refused. It was only when he took the driver's photo that he relented and said he would allow us to stay on for the drive. All this in full Italian voice with much waving of the hands.  So I passively boarded the bus again and we drove off as the only passengers  -  back to the ferry terminal. UM!!! Now what?  This required way more gesticulating and assurance that the lady would come. We didn't want a lady. We wanted to get to  Marsalforn . Eventually "the lady" arrived. Hey, she could speak English!!! All we needed to do was pay many more euros in cash and get back onto the bus again and off we would go.That easy. Forget the plastic card. Most suppliers want cash.
This time we found headsets that worked so we could enjoy the commentary - in English. How extremely interesting. What an astounding history. Xagbra has the oldest site of civilization in the world. It is not open to the public for obvious reasons. One in five families in Gozo are involved in the tomato trade. Gozalites are the first peoples recorded as practising crop rotation eg  tomatoes are planted after potatoes are havested.
We so wanted to get off at the various tourist spots but actually we needed to get to Marselforn where I had booked our room. It is an old fishing village with a resident population of 750 but a very popular tourist spot with a beautiful sea frontage. Legend has it that St Paul stopped off here on his way from Malta all those years ago. I'm not surprised. It has magnificent beach front restaurant with food to die for, like the meal we are eating right now. A lovely local chardonnay too complements the sea bass.