Marsalforn Excursion

Our plans to go to the ancient ruins fell through today, but we were able to hop onto the hotel's free bus to the coastal town of Marsalforn. As we jumped into the bus, I looked at the driver and asked how we would get back. He grinned a little and said, "Relax! I will come back to get you around 6. You should not worry so much!" I then retorted, "6 today or tomorrow?" He laughed and responded, "Today! I promise!"

On the way to Marsalforn, I noticed a hill with a giant sculpture of Jesus with outstretched arms on the top. I asked the driver what it was and he responded, "It's Jesus!" as if he was really saying, "You idiot!" I rolled my eyes and said, "I know that! But is it a shrine or a place of worship or something?" He didn't seem to understand what I was asking and mumbled something in Maltese that I couldn't understand. Finally, I said it looked like the statue in Rio de Janeiro and he said, "Exactly!" I have a photo of it, but I don't think it will show up well.

Once in Marsalforn, we were able to walk along the waters of the Mediterranean. The beach was extremely rocky but had quite a few people enjoying it. The path along the water was lined with apartments, shops, restaurants, and bars.

One of the funniest moments occurred as we watched a little boy about Logan's age running from his mom. They were obviously having a disagreement about whether it was time to leave or not. He was still wearing his water wings as he ran away. She had gathered up her belongings and was running after him with a plastic grocery bag of clothes and/or towels in her hand. He was a little too quick for her as she chased him, so, in a desperate attempt to slow him down, she hurled the bag of clothes at him. Although it hit him in the head, he didn't miss a step and just kept going. We saw the little boy still swimming in the water about two hours later, so he obviously won that battle even though he took a direct hit!!

We settled in for lunch at a place located on a cliff overlooking some salt flats called "Otter's." As we sat there, suddenly there appeared a fairly large group of perfectly tanned boys ranging in age from about 10 to 17. They were all wearing white polo shirts embroidered with McDonald's symbols and navy blue shorts. They posed for a team photo before pulling out some yellow balls that were slightly smaller than a soccer ball and started kicking them around. As we got up to leave, we realized that they were all a part of a water polo team that played right there in the harbor! They even had to fish out the jelly fish before starting the match! The fans sat on the rocks that formed the slope down to the water. A formal scorekeeper's table had been set up and the two teams waited on their respective rocky outcroppings while cheering on those playing in the water.

Overall, it was another gorgeous day. Tomorrow we are planning to go to a beach that is rumored to be one of only 20 in the world that has red sand.