Maltese on Gozo

I spent this morning collecting some impressions of Maltese bloggers who were drawn to Calypso’s island this summer. I’m surprised but happy to say that most appear to be in agreement with the letter ‘Dreaming of Gozo’, which I quoted yesterday – and which struck me as tongue-in-cheek rather than sincere. Perhaps I need some time off the island to re-discover its charm??

• For Reesa, who visited at the end of July, “it was 3 days of bliss,” and she speaks highly of Gozo’s service, food and even shopping opportunities on her blog. Her conclusion: “Can't wait to go back. After we save up again.”
  
  
• Coemgen and his friends chose the same weekend; unfortunately, for them, the bliss factor apparently remained buried under a string of lowlights. These included ending up “in a studio flat suitable for 1-2 persons, not for 6!” and non-existent nightlife (“there is nowhere to go and have fun after 11pm”) as well as an apparent lack of breakfast opportunities on the morning after the Qala feast.
  
  
• For Fengy (beloved moderator of Malta Forums) Gozo was a place to fall in love with, even if she and her family came only for one day. In spite of being ripped off with a miniature portion of king prawns at a Marsalforn restaurant, she concludes: ‘What a great place to bring your kids up’, I thought. And this idea grew on me. I don't think I'd mind living in Gozo if push came to shove.”
  
  
• More recently, Jessica, a talented photographer and fellow German who is now living in Malta, visited Gozo a few days ago for a “mini vacation” and has only kind words for the island: “As soon as you reach the shores it becomes apparent that this place has kept its charm and beauty of the old days.”

I intended to include one more opinion, but unfortunately Darryn has been designing and re-designing his blog for many weeks, which obviously resulted in his post on Gozo to vanish in some black cyberspace hole. I recall him bemoaning the fact that Gozo had become too expensive, when compared to other destinations abroad. Well, what a coincidence: I also found it was cheaper to spend a week’s holiday in Tunisia, when compared to a stay in Malta.

The topic ‘value for money’ in connection with Gozo, appears sporadically in the local press. In one recent letter to the Times of Malta (unfortunately not recent enough to be still online), a Maltese gentleman demanded rather bluntly: Gozitans ought to lower their prices if they want to keep visitors from Malta coming. Excellent idea. Coming to think of it, let’s go for it and extend such scheme to the whole of Malta! After all, Gozitans need weekend breaks, too. There’s a little snag, though: where would all these people stay once the last hotels and restaurants close their doors due to bankruptcy?