Today we are going on a hike along the coast and through the countryside, from the fishing town of Marsaskala to the port of Marsaxlokk. We want to get an early start to beat the heat.
We got up a little late, went to breakfast, and then to the bus station where it took us an hour in a very slow line to get our week long bus pass. Unlimited rides for €21.
Just as a point of information if you come here, we later learned you can buy these passes at any of the souvenir or tobacco kiosks around the station.
So with all of that, we managed to get off the bus and start our hike at the sun-ripe hour of 11:30, just entering the hottest part of the day.
As you head out from the bay to open water, the rock shore is lined with shallow salt pans, carved right out of the rock. Most are not in use, and people suntan along here. There are ladders bolted to the rock so you can climb in and out.
We walked around the St. Thomas Tower, built on a point of land to guard both bays.
Did I mention it was the hottest part of the day?
And getting hotter?
We came to St. Thomas Bay, where St. Paul was ship wrecked (though there is another bay named St Paul’s Bay). Out at the mouth of the bay there is a nice section of beach, then you curve into, and pass through a dusty village, maybe called Tal-Muxar. There are shacks here, and odd, home made trailers, and the beach is small, but there are no stores, bars or services. It is a poor looking hangout, but again, no trash or graffiti. A neat and clean slum, so to speak.
Did I mention how hot it was?
We were really broiling here, sweating gallons, but there is no where to take a break, so we press on.
Past an old church, then an abandoned gun battery with a couple tunnels. It looks like a homeless guy is camped here, and this is the one place we saw trash on the ground.
The old Fort Tas-Slig has been turned into an abandoned dog shelter; the compound has only one entrance, so once the gate is closed the dogs can run around together.
The path, now paved, meanders around the fields, and now in the distance we can look down on the harbor of Marsaxlokk. We keep dropping slightly, until we hit a road that leads to the ironically named Our Lady Of The Snows Cathedral.
We turn left and follow the road into Marsaxlokk. The harbor is filled with a bobbing rainbow, the traditional luzzus. We walk along past a nice town square with church, colorful doors and a red telephone box. Down by the waterfront we choose a restaurant where the view of the bouncing luzzus is as good as the food is bad. So we had bad shrimp, but lots of cold cold water with ice, and white wine, and a chance to sit out of the sun and sweat less.
The best part was the bus home. It was air conditioned! Boy, did a cold shower feel great after that.
The hike was 9KM total.
And it was HOT.
We had dinner at Angelica’s, you can read about it in the day 34 post.