Gozo is lovely at this time of year. I went over for the weekend with Malta Ramblers and we stayed at the San Andrea hotel in Xlendi. I have avoided the tiny bay of Xlendi before because I heard that it got very crowded and busy with tourists in the summer. At this time of year, the blocks of flats that cover one side of the cliffs surrounding the inlet are still there and the tiny promenade around the beach is still dominated by hotels but the beauty of the valley, the inlet and the small, old village can be enjoyed without the crowds.
We had a very full programme of walks on Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday morning so there wasn't a lot of time to appreciate the hotel and Xlendi itself but when we were there, the food was excellent, the service great and the sound of the sea on the beach lulled us to sleep. There were over 60 ramblers on the trip and the hotel was booked out with some late comers spilling over into St Patrick's hotel next door.
I travelled over by bus and then used my KartAncjan to get free travel on the ferry across. I picked up with some of the ramblers on the ferry and so found transport to get to the hotel. To keep expenses down, I was sharing with another rambler who was also traveling on her own. Those people who brought over their cars gave lifts to those who didn't so the weekend worked well in getting to the start of each day's walk and it didn't break my budget!
I will do a separate post for each of the walks that we did and I'll add photos as soon as I've transferred from my camera to the computer.
2 comments:
You are quite right Jo the atmosphere of Xlendi is completly different this time of year compared to the peak summer season, it is quite peaceful.
Glad you could work out how to leave a comment, Steve. Many people email me to say it was too difficult to comment. This is the first time I have tried to reply to a comment.
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