English holiday courses: Gozo, Malta

A lacemaker of tradition

In the transparent light of morning, an old blue ferry has just left Cirkewwa. A miniature crossing which leaves Comino behind on the starboard side and already, another land appears. It is amusing for the eye to distinguish the houses which play hide-and-seek with the cliffs which are as golden as them. It begins to count the church steeples, spots the grey cupula of the Ta'Pinu Basilica, one of the four largest in Europe and makes out, from afar, the imposing outline of the citadel of Victoria, the main city. In a mint cordial whirlwind, the ferry docks and Gozo offers its perched villages, its countryside taken care of like an elegant garden. In Gozo, the second island of the Maltese archipelago, the population is essentially made up of small farmers. Here, traditional handcrafts have endured longer than on the large island and, in the shade of the shacks, the women continue to juggle with their spindles. From Hondoq Bay to Dwejra Bay, passing by Ramla and the Ta ‘Cenc Cliffs, intimist Gozo abounds with proudly guarded treasures, including fascinating archeological remains, built a millennium prior to the pyramids of Giza, preserved and peaceful beaches surrounding heavenly sea depths, tasty cuisine which has retained the best of Italian, Turkish or North African influences and welcoming and convivial taverns for going out amongst friends. Once upon a time, according to the legend, Ulysses arrived on these shores and Calypso managed to retain him for many years in the grotto which overhangs Ramla Bay. Far from pretence, the island of the nymph promises you language-learning holidays with a taste of paradise!

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