Good Morning!
Today I took a small boat from Mgarr to Comino Island. I say small because if you describe any boat, I get seasick, and this one was pretty small. Small is worse. And sure enough, the sea was rough. I stared so hard at the horizon that I got a headache, but I was not seasick.
This is the bay that we pulled into. Look at that magnificent water. Uninhabited Comino Island, isolated and having many caves and cliffs, was an ideal place for pirates during the Middle Ages, where they used it as a base to raid passing ships.
Just after I got there. I saw this rescue helicopter drop a person down. I waited to see if they were rescuing anyone, and it appeared to be a training exercise. As soon as the person's feet hit the ground, he/she was pulled back up and into the helicopter.
It is easy to take incredible photos of such beautiful turquoise water.
In 1618, the Knights of Malta built a tower on Comino to serve as an early warning system in case of invasion. It was also used to keep pirates from hiding on the island.
The island was used to punish knights who committed minor crimes. It was a lonely and dangerous task to man the tower.
Comino has a long history of hermits living on the Island. After wandering all over the island, I wondered how they survived. I saw no edible vegetation. I guess they ate food from the sea.
A little pond in the middle of nowhere.
The Abandoned Hospital: One of the most significant historic buildings on Comino Island is the Hospital, which the British constructed in the 1890s. This served as a quarantine place for British troops arriving in Malta from the cholera-stricken Levant. It is now abandoned.
Barricks for the military on the Island.
I walked about nine miles, counting a few misjudgments, which were to be expected. I had to climb over one fence to stay on my trail, and when I got to this abandoned hotel, it was completely blocked off. I wasn't about to turn around and go four-plus miles back. The last boat to the mainland was at 2:15, and I had already heard significant thunder. I created my own path and finally found the road to the dock in plenty of time to catch the boat. I already spent the night beside a glacier on my last hike, so I certainly didn't want to spend the night on a deserted island.
There were no restaurants, but these guys were selling pina coladas from a food truck. Don't ask me how they got a food truck to the island. I had to order one for the whole island experience.
It was a comely cocktail, but it lacked so much as a sniff of coconut milk and maybe rum. It was mainly a cold and refreshing drink of pineapple juice.
On the way back, the boat captain gave us a tour of some caves. We went into the mouth of the caves for a quick look.
I will let you enjoy the photos.
This water was about 10 feet deep and clear as clear can be/
I really enjoyed my trip to Comino. It is the romantic and famous blue lagoon of many films and movies.
We headed back to the shore after a wonderful day. I had to take two buses to return to our B&B.
The food just gets better and better. We ate at a Michelin-starred restaurant called Al Sale.
Our Amuse-Bouche was this fresh bread accompanied by local peppered cheese and tomato confit. And of course, we had some wine to go with it.
We ordered a starter of baked brie in puff pastry. OMG. I have died and gone to heaven. It was topped with Gozo honey, figs, and hazelnuts. I don't particularly like figs, but everything about this was perfect. The golden brown puff pastry is made in-house by the chef. I love to bake, but making puff pastry by hand is admirable.
I ordered tagliolini pistachio and burrata. Just a taste of heaven and then some.
Dennis ordered sea bass al sale, which translates to cooked inside a salt shell. I had read about this technique but had never seen it on a menu. The server had to chisel the salt off the fish and then debone it. It was delicious and not at all over-salted.
Both our meals were served with potatoes and vegetables.
Once again, we waddled back to our B&B - happy as larks and sorry that we leave this island tomorrow morning.
Good Night and God Bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment