Woo-hoo! This post will officially make me up to date😂Which is good because there should be more good stuff this coming weekend.
Let me begin by saying that I drove. A car. With other people on the road. But I was in need of a sedative by the time I was done. So was my navigator! Roads are very, um, creative, here. I guess when you’re making Roman roads and cart paths into three lanes of traffic you need to be creative. But oh Lordy, was it an adventure. And we thought Google maps was hilarious with French roads. Dana (our Google maps voice) gave up trying to say the names at some point and began spelling out the words. If I hadn’t been so terrified it would have been funny. From here on out we will rely on taxis!
We did arrive in one piece. And, we lucked out because we snagged one of the last places in the free parking lot! There is a lot attendant, so cars are pretty secure. You slip him €5 and he keeps an eye on your car. Glad I had read up on this!!
We were immediately charmed by both Rabat and Mdina. The towns kind of run into each other. Back in Roman times they were one city called Melite. The Phoenicians were here too. Both towns are beautiful and definitely captured our hearts. So much so that we intend to go back for another stay in a few weeks! Or maybe it’s the gelato bringing us back. Because the gelato at Fior di Latte is really, really good. Like, I can’t imagine how it could be better anywhere else.
Once again we were struck by how fortunate we are to be able to travel like this. We have the ability to quarantine when needed because we stay for an extended length of time. So many people want to go places and can’t. As always we try very hard to be as careful as possible – eating outside, avoiding anywhere crowded, having our masks available to put on with a second’s notice. I can imagine that Rabat and Mdina are incredibly crowded and busy under normal circumstances. We have the luxury of no crowds. We also try to do what we can to help the people who are struggling with the lack of tourism. It’s a tricky balance – hopefully we are doing it well.
We did not arrive until early evening. Once we were settled into our hotel we went to find some dinner, then headed out to walk around. I had read about seeing Mdina at night, and how beautiful it is. Wow. It’s magical. The pictures don’t even capture the feeling but here’s a few (of the many many I had to choose from!) –
The next morning we headed back over to Mdina (our hotel was maybe a five minute walk from the gate) to do our actual tour. It’s still a wonderful place in the daylight.
The first thing we did was tour the cathedral museum, which is housed in the old archbishop’s palace.
Then, on to the cathedral 🤩
After touring the museum and Cathedral it was time to go to the site I was incredibly excited to see. In about 60 AD the apostle Paul shipwrecked along the coast of Malta. He was on his way to Rome to be tried by Caesar (for being a political rebel), so was on a Roman ship. After the shipwreck he was brought to Publius, who was the governor of the island. There are many stories surrounding this meeting (aren’t most legends based in some truth?), the end result being that Publius became a Christian and led the entire island to Christianity. Malta is 95% Roman Catholic, but it is written into their laws that the people have freedom of religion. In fact, there is a gorgeous mosque not 5 minutes from our house. I love driving by it (as long as I’m not driving!). Anyway, since Paul was a captive of the Romans he was kept in a large rock grotto during the three months he was here. We were going to the grotto.
Prior to going underground there was a simple museum that held some pretty incredible items!
Within the same underground system, but a little distance away is a Roman catacomb. The Romans buried their dead outside of their city walls. There was no air flow in that area – it was so hot in there! We didn’t stay for long.
Back up at street level there is a church on top of the site. This church is right across the street from the main church of Rabat. I love Malta. However, this church had been rebuilt in the 1800s😕Not my favored era of churches…but it did have this:
Also back on street level was the Parish Church of St Paul too. What if you were meeting someone at St Paul’s? How would you designate which one??????
When you consider that these two towns are small enough that they can be BOTH thoroughly explored in a day (not including going into the sites) there is an astounding number of sites of interest. But wait! There’s one more!
As I mentioned Rabat/Melite was a Roman town. Unfortunately most of the remnants of that time are gone (probably re-used in the local buildings), except for one house. The Domus Romana was the home of an important individual/family. It was quite large but only a portion of it remains. Why? Well, the British put in a railroad and bulldozed anything in their way. Sigh. What is left is a rather fascinating museum.
And to wrap up this very long post, here’s just a few favorite photos/spots:
Im still amazed with all the pictures!! What an amazing blessing, that you are able to do this, and thank you for all your post and amazing pictures!!