Island of Gozo

This morning Joni and I were out of the house by 9am and were headed to catch the ferry to Gozo!  Gozo is an island that is part of the country of Malta but not connected to Malta physcially.  Joni and I spent the day there today and we decided we liked Malta better!  We rode the "hop on, hop off" bus throughout the island but just were not impressed with the sights... well in comparison to Malta.  It was not bad... it just wasn't as fabulous as Malta.  

Here is the island of Gozo (well part of it) from the ferry

Ferry boat

Joni and I on the ferry ride over to Gozo

Gozo has lots of beautiful farms and fields

First stop we got off on was the Savina Creativity Center that makes a lot of the food Gozo speacializes in like olive oil, honey, jams, cheeses, and...

yogurt cakes

Then we went to the Ta'Kola Windmill but it was missing its top... they were repairing it :(

Stairs to the top of the windmill (if it was there)

The grinding machine that ground the wheat to make bread

There was living quarters in the windmill:

living room and dining room

Kitchen

One of the two bedrooms

Then we walked to the Ggantija Temples

The poppies are all over here (just like in Tunisia) and gorgeous!

Then we got off to take pictures of Ramla Bay which has reddish sand... the only beach in Malta that has red sand

A beautiful church (not sure of the name)

Then we headed to Ta' Dbiegi Crafts village that is known for:

Pottery

Glass

and lace

Our last stop was at Azure Window which is a gorgeous formation in the rocks

At this point, we headed back to the ferry and drove back to Zejtun where our fabulous farmhouse is

When we got back, we walked into town to visit my favorite bakery and see what was going on.  Many streets were closed and they were announcing a church service through the streets.  We walked into the church we have been admiring in our square and there was a service going on.  The church was gorgeous!

Many different people were selling these circle breads in the square of the church. 

All of these decorations and celebration was because it was the Friday before Good Friday.  We are not sure why it was a big deal but it was!

As we were almost home, Joni spotted the procession and it was quite cool to watch.  People dressed in white robes and white caps were parading through the streets.

Then at the end men were carrying this display of Mary weeping for Jesus at the bottom of the empty cross.  Behind this were hundreds of people just walking behind as part of the procession.  It was quite soon to see in person

To end the blog, here is the bakery I love so much in our sweet town of Zejtun!