Visiting Gozo and giving thanks to the Madonna at Ta' Pinu

View of Comino from the Ferry

This morning was up early, by 0630 I was having breakfast and getting ready since the night before I had made plans to take both my parents to Malta's sister island Gozo.  We would be taking the 0815 ferry and would arrive in Gozo in 25 minutes.  Everything went as planned and at 0815 the ferry was starting its journey across wonderfully calm waters.  The vessel's Pilot was Albert a good friend of mine and also a Scuba Diver.   I would have asked him to allow my parents to visit the bridge but my father would have had difficulty climbing the three flights of stairs all the way up, instead we sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful views of Comino and the approaching island of Gozo.  Berthed just  outside Mgarr harbour was the Club Med 2 a beautiful sailing cruise ship with its tender boat taking passengers to shore.

In no time I was driving out of the ferry and as planned headed to the other end of the Island as we were on a mission, well two actually; the first and most important was to visit the Shrine of the Madonna of Ta Pinu and the second was to do some shopping since the two main shopping Malls in Victoria are also open on Sunday.

The Shrine of the Madonna Ta' Pinu

Eight weeks ago, my father underwent a double bypass operation, he is 68 years and suffers from diabetes, a condition which can pose further complications to an already delicate and major operation as Coronary Artery Bypass.  Everything went well during the surgery and although rehab was and still is very hard for my father since he is still suffering some breathing problems accompanied by constant pain to the chest area, the surgeon is confident that he will recover fully in the coming months.  During my father's ordeal my mother wouldn't stop praying and one evening while we both sat quietly near dad in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, she asked me to make it a point to take her and dad to visit the Shrine of Ta' Pinu in Gozo. She wanted to thank the Madonna for keeping her hand on the surgical team during the operation and helping dad recover. 

The Main Alter and Painting
of the Madonna

The Shrine of the Madonna has a lot of miracles attributed to the Grace of the Madonna dating back to 1883, when a lady called Karmni Grima who was walking close to Church heard a voice asking her to recite three prayers of Hail Mary.


That's what we where up to this morning ... arriving at the Church we realised mass was being said and the church was packed with devotees, we sat for some moments and then made our way to the back of the church where the painting of the Madonna is. We said our prayers of thanks and lit the little lights that replace candles in most churches as a way of thanks.
On our way out of the inner chapel we stopped to exam all the tokens and pledges left by the faithful who had asked the Madonna to grant them a grace while other's where simply notes of thanks.  Remembrances by faithful from all over Gozo, Malta and countries as far as Australia.

One of the Corridors leading to the Alter where
remembrances are left.

More Remembrances

It was past 1030 and time for brunch ... we were close to Dwejra and that's where we went, we drove all the way down to the Inland Sea for cappuccinos and ham and cheese toasted sandwiches .... simple food served in an ideal setting overlooking the Inland Sea - today the sea is flat calm and crystal clear .... For a short moment I wish I had my diving kit with me, this is one of my favourite dive sites, but today is family day and both mum and dad deserve my full attention.  We enjoy the beautiful and unique view while chatting with Jacob a very good friend and owner of the rib, he frequently ferries me and my dive buddies to dive sites outside the cave of the inland sea.

The Cave entrance/exit of the Inland Sea, with Jacob's orange rib to the right

After that it was time to go to Victoria and browse the shops, actually two small shopping malls, both have excellent brands of clothing, shoes and accessories as well as house hold items ... i had my mental note with what i needed to get; a water jug, a can opener, some rubber seals for my preserve bottles and a pair of casual shoes .... got my trendy can opener from The Kitchen Store and my shoes from Bata the rest from a supermarket, except for the seals, instead I got a couple of complete bottles.  The seals I need are hard to come across.


Having done a spot of shopping and with lunch time fast approaching we decided to head back home, so that my father would be back in time to watch the Formula One race which was airing at 1400.  He is an avid fan Formula One and Moto GP races ... he can sit in front of the telly for hours every weekend never missing a trial period or race ... he also went to watch some events live a few years ago and I'm sure given the opportunity he would do it again.

The boat dive that didn't happen

0600 alarm is buzzing and the calendar on my mobile is alerting me that I have to be on the Marfa jetty at 0900, but I'm too sleepy, last night I arrived late after I joined my parents to a wedding of a second cousin - seriously I'm sleepy. The notion of having to set up my kit is making me nauseous.  On the other hand I haven't done a nice calm dive in weeks, 0630 I'm up, I put the kettle on and feed Will and Grace.

Will & Grace 1st day after adoption
29th May 2004

Will and Grace, are my kids well actually pets but they prefer the term kids, I adopted them from a sanctuary 7 years ago.  I pock my head out on the balcony while the water is boiling and check out the sea and the white foamy horses ... hmmm ... so last night’s force 7 wind hasn't really died down after all. I remember how my teeth where chattering in the gardens of the wedding venue that was at none other than at Dingli one if the highest locations in Malta. Brrr

Coffee ready, Will & Grace happy, I go to my little workshop and start to assemble my rebreather. At the back of my mind I'm thinking of the wind and imagining the strength of the waves while the Luzzu crosses the channel between Malta and our sister island Gozo on the way to Fessej Rock one of my all time favourite reef dives.  I go green at the thought ...

Nevertheless I pursue and continue setting up, I run my checklist from memory as my copy is at a buddy, I make a mental note to print another one. A checklist in my head isn't really a checklist, come to think of it I have one on my smartphone ... that wasn't at all practical to use.  Now if there was an app that read out the checklist as you went along, that I would be happy to download and use....even pay for!

Rebreather set up I'm about to start running my tests when my mobile rings ... its 0700 and Mario the boat dive organizer is calling. The dive is called off, sea is so rough it is washing onto the jetty at Marfa ... I'm not entirely displeased to hear this. I go back to finishing the tests on the unit, pointless leaving the task unfinished, this could also be a huge mistake when next time I go diving I think that the tests where finished and complete.

How shall I spend my morning, I finish my coffee and wonder off to bed to write this blog, SMS mum to tell her I'm not diving and grab my Games of Thrones ... A Clash of Kings ... With my window ajar I can hear the sea crashing onto the shore .... Bliss 

Author of Games of Thrones - http://georgerrmartin.com/