Our short overnight sailing from Valletta brought us to the second largest island of the small Malta Archipelago. With our early riser’s coffee, we enjoyed beautiful views of the island’s limestone cliffs in the early morning light. At 0700, we arrived at our anchorage position outside the island’s port.
After breakfast, guests were quickly tendered to shore using the ship’s Zodiacs. On the pier side, we boarded our coaches with the local guides and were transported up and across the distinctive landscape of Gozo, with its small-scale agriculture, stone fences, and villages uniformly made of the island’s soft yellow stone. Our groups toured the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ggantija, two 5-apsed temple complexes built of massive sized stone dating from 3600 BC, older than the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge! We then walked to the nearby windmill of Ta’ Kola, one of the island’s two working windmills that remain from a time when these mills provided flour and sustenance to island inhabitants as late as the mid-twentieth century. Guests climbed to the top of the tower to appreciate the finely restored and maintained windmill mechanism.
Back to the pier, Zodiacs whisked us back to Sea Cloud for our first fantastic Mediterranean lunch buffet on the lido deck. After the meal, Captain John sent sailors to the rigging for an afternoon under sail as we departed for Trapani.
In the evening, guests put on their finest attire for the captain’s welcome cocktail with officer introductions. Guests then proceeded below for a beautifully prepared welcome dinner, served by candlelight in the main dining room and lounge.
