Today we head across the strait to Maltas second most populous island, Gozo. I should probably put that in a bit of context; according to the ever reliable Wikipedia the permanent population of the countrys third most populous island, the mighty Comino, is two; no, not two thousand, two people. In fairness, Gozos population is a respectable 30,000 out of the countrys total of just over half a million. Weve visited the island a couple of times before and really liked what we saw, but weve never stayed there, so were really looking forward to the experience.
Ive never thought that working in a rental car office would be all that interesting but it seems it might have its moments. As I wait in line at the office at the airport I hear the guy behind the desk ask a group of Spanish girls very politely to please not go swimming with the car keys in their pockets, something that he says happens all the time.
Strange as it may seem for an island thats a whole 27 kilometres long (and the airports not right at one end, its somewhere in the middle) were in definite need of the
Google machine to guide us to the ferry terminal. It seems to have picked a slightly interesting route. Were directed to turn into a street against a do not enter sign, the exceptions being if you happen to live somewhere along it or youre providing an essential service to one of the residents. I dont think taking a short cut to the ferry terminal qualifies as an essential service, but we plough on regardless. I hope thats not a police car following us. It seems theres good reason they dont want cars in here; theres no room for them. We find ourselves inching our way along between stone walls seemingly millimetres away on either side and its surely only a matter of time until we part ways with a mirror. Im not too keen on the prospect of reversing several kilometres out of here, so if we meet the other way I hope Issys bought her best steely glare with her today. If this is the quickest route Im glad we didnt take the alternative.
Our apartment is in the seaside village of Marsalforn, and its on the first floor above a restaurant with excellent views from
a small balcony out over the harbour. I head out for a late afternoon stroll. As was the case in Marsascala, salt pans seem to be a real feature of the coastline here. None of the ones I pass seem to still be in active service, but theyre impressive nonetheless - hand carved out of the soft limestone rock.
It seems far more multicultural here than on the mainland, and few if any of the wait staff at any of the restaurants seem to be Maltese. As is currently the case at home weve heard that theres a real labour shortage in Malta at the moment, particularly in the hospitality sector. Tonights waterfront restaurant seems to have adopted a slightly interesting approach to the issue. Its full, but there still seem to be about twice as many staff as they really need, and most of them just seem to be wandering around aimlessly looking for something to do. The only explanation we up with is that the management here has decided on a strategy of hiring as many staff as they can get their hands on in the hope of starving out the opposition. Interesting tactic if
