Mom and Dad by a cannon - maybe a new piece of art for them (or what it is: a cannon at the Citadel in Victoria). Still not at the top of the Citadel. We spent a bit of time walking at top the walls and around the Citadel complex. It’s hard to get a sense of the place because there are a lot of buildings, passageways, courtyards, what appear to be fields, and more.
--September 18, 2026 at 11:16 AM.
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▶️ Play Enjoying the pool at the Grand Hotel Mom is easily seen while Ken swims by. His first swim since shoulder surgery 11 months ago.
The morning dawned with a swath of dark and heavy gray clouds massing in the sky. Soon it began to rain. As we got ourselves ready and went downstairs for breakfast fog rolled in completely obscuring even close by buildings from view. Since we didn’t have a big walking excursion planned it was fine to let the rain and fog pass on by which they did within a couple hours. They left behind the usual heat and a fair bit of humidity and a modestly cloudy sky which would, throughout the day, lessen.
It was time to catch a bus to Victoria (formerly Rabat) and see a bit of the capitol city of Gozo. Buses run frequently and they feel like they run fast. Perhaps that’s because we are inside the bus and the roads seem narrow. I think the speed limit was 50KPH and the bus was sometimes moving closer to 60KPM. I know Dad thought it was faster. Perhaps this is a case of being unfamiliar with driving on the left side of the road or just how people drive in general here. Would they feel anything odd driving curving American roads? I’m not in a position to judge. We got to Victoria in less than 25 minutes. We found a busy terminal station with traffic moving all around and little room for pedestrians to move on the one-person-wide sidewalks. Result: you have to step into the streets. This is a place not made to comfortably share space for pedestrians and vehicular traffic as far as I can tell.
Our goal was to pretty much follow the suggestions from Inntravel about some things to see in Victoria. That boils down to working our way to the Citadel and seeing things along the way. Through bustling car in streets too narrow - no doubt centuries old - lanes where if a car came down you would have to squeeze tight against a building wall, we worked our way through various plazza (like Pjazza San Gorg) to reach the Citadel. People, locals and visitors I am sure, moved about stopping at shops or having a bite to eat in one of the many eateries. We continued on.
I don’t really have much to say about the Citadel itself. We elected not to spend the money to get tickets for the museums in the Citadel. They might be worthwhile to visit but we just decided to explore the massive complex and absorb what we could. It is huge. As we moved up and then around the tops of the uppermost walls we gazed out across Gozo. I wonder what it must have been like for Gozitans to have to sleep within these walls for protections centuries ago. The Citedal has attempted to provide that for thousands of years though obviously it was far less substanial ages ago.
After some time just strolling through the twisting lanes between massive structures we eventually headed back down to the city proper. We were able to find a nice place for lunch called Manouche Bakery and Bistro. They’re open only for breakfast and lunch. My grueyere and ham toast was a far better meal than breakfast at the hotel. Mom and Dad had omelettes with tomatoes and mushrooms respectively and I’ve no doubt they were far happier with them then the hotel fare.
More exploration with a purpose: heading to the Ecco shoe store. While we didn’t quite follow the best path our mistake took us through a lovely park that we’d not have seen otherwise. Getting off the high-traffic road with its narrow sidewalk was a delight. After all, after we left the park with its trees surrounded by what seemed like higher-end apartments we had to return to another bustling road. Our quest to find the store was a success and I was able to replace a rather worn out pair of sandals with new ones: they sure feel better underfoot.
One final short walk, mostly on the edge of the bustling road where traffic squeaks by you, to the bus terminal and the waiting 301 bus that would take us to within a few hundred meters of the Grand Hotel. Hurray.
By this time the clouds has not gone away altogether but the sun was out and the temperature had risen several degrees. It was time to get spend the next few hours relaxing either in our rooms or at the pool. It might feel like we did not fill our day with a lot but it was a nice enough day nonetheless.
Photos
Lest you think it’s all sunshine and heat throughout the next couple hours it rained. During part of that time thick fog rolled in as well.
--September 18, 2026 at 7:23 AM.
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Victoria, formerly Rabat before the official name change on the Jubileeof Queen Victoria, is a city with narrow lanes like this and wide streets. At least here I don’t think cars come often though a slow-moving motorcycle could pass by. On the busier streets count yourself lucky to find a sidewalk now much broader than you are. Photo by Jonathan.
--September 18, 2026 at 10:35 AM.
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View looking northwest from the uppermost wall of the Citadel.
--September 18, 2026 at 11:25 AM.
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From a wall on top of the citadel here in Victoria, Gozo. This photo give you a sense of the size of the place, but it only gives you a sense since it’s only looking in one direction. In athe distance towering over everything is the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Madonna.
--September 18, 2026 at 11:25 AM.
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