Mdina and Rabat

My mum lived in Malta between the ages of 5 and 10 and has many happy memories from her time there. Luckily for me, this means she's been able to give me some great tips of places to visit now that I'm living here for three months! One of her top recommendations is the old walled city of Mdina, so I made sure to visit it as soon as possible.

I made use of my bus pass to get to Mdina, which was a bit of a lengthy journey when you consider the short distances involved, but that's something I'm getting used to when travelling around Malta! In any case, the destination was worth the journey.

When you approach the city from the road, you get a really amazing view of all its buildings and fortifications. If I get the chance, I'll try to come back to the area at some point before leaving Malta, in order to have a look at Mdina from a proper viewpoint (and get a better photo!).

Edit (03/08/2023): Photo taken from bus replaced by better one taken from Ta' Qali National Park!

I got off the bus in the town of Rabat and walked over to the main city gate of Mdina. This is definitely the best-known sight of the old city - apparently it was used in Game of Thrones. I've never been particularly interested in watching that TV series, but I can see why the gate was used in it, as it's so well-preserved, and really gives you the sense of walking into the past.

 

The city itself is really small and can be walked around easily. The most famous building inside is St Paul's Cathedral, which is quite close to the city gate.

All of the city's buildings are old and golden-coloured, and reflect a range of architectural influences (which is something I learnt more about later in the day). There are plenty of palaces, churches and pretty squares and passageways to see. Overall, I really enjoyed just wandering around the city and soaking in its atmosphere. While there were a fair number of tourists there, it definitely wasn't packed out, so my visit there was nice and relaxed.

The city also has a second city gate, called the Greek Gate. This one isn't quite so photogenic because there's a carpark in front of it! But it's still nice to see.

After exploring for a while, I had a nice lunch in the Mdina Experience Medieval Tavern. This restaurant really does make you feel like you've stepped into history, and it even has a gorgeous kitty!

The Mdina Experience is both a restaurant and a touristic attraction - it has a little cinema where you can watch a film about the history of Mdina, and that's what I did next! The film teaches you about all the different groups of people who ruled the city over the centuries, and there were a lot of them. I don't remember all of the information, but I remember that the city was ruled by Romans, Arabs (which is how Mdina and Rabat got their names), Normans, the Knights of St John, and the British (I think there were more rulers who I've forgotten!). That explains why you can find such a mix of cultural influences in Malta.

After my time in Mdina, I spent the rest of my day out in Rabat. I had noticed on Google Maps that there was a Roman villa (Domvs Romana) not far from the Greek Gate, so I decided to check it out. It was definitely worth visiting!

The outside of the villa is obviously a modern recreation, but inside, there are plenty of artifacts from the actual Roman era, including mosaics, statues, and much more! I've always found the Roman times to be an interesting period of history, so I really enjoyed exploring the museum, and was surprised at how good the selection of exhibits was.

There are also Roman catacombs that you can visit in Rabat, but by this point in the day, I felt all museum-ed out! But I may come back in the coming weeks depending on how much time I have.

After visiting Domvs Romana, I picked up some vegan gelato from La Brioscia gelateria and went for a walk around the town, seeing interesting sights including the Basilica of St Paul and Casino Notabile.

Overall, I had a great day enjoying the historic sights of this part of the country. One thing I like about living in Malta is that there are so many historical places here as well as beautiful beaches - two of the things that interest me most on my travels!

At the time of writing, I've just passed the halfway point of my internship and now have a little under 6 weeks left here. I've seen quite a lot of the country (and even a bit of Italy!) by this stage, but of course there's still plenty left to explore! 

Next up I'll be writing about my time in Sicily, where I also saw some fantastic historical sights!

A Day Trip to the Blue Lagoon

I decided to make the most of the Sette Giugno National Holiday here in Malta to take a day cruise over to the Blue Lagoon on Comino Island. This, of course, is considered to be one of the country's most beautiful attractions, so I wanted to go as soon as possible - especially because it's only going to get busier in the coming weeks!

I went down to the harbour in Sliema in the morning and got a ticket for 25 euros, which seems to be quite a reasonable price compared to other offers I've seen. The trip took a couple of hours, which meant that we got to see quite a few different sights around the country, starting with the modern architecture of Saint Julian's.

We then sailed up to the north of the country, past the town of St Paul's Bay.

And then we entered Mellieha Bay, which has some of the most popular sandy beaches in Malta. It's on my to-visit list!

At the very northern tip of the island, we passed these beautiful cliffs and caves with turquoise water beneath them.

And then we finally approached Comino Island, where the Blue Lagoon is located! We came round on the east side, which meant we got to see Elephant Rock. As its name suggests, it's a rock that looks like the head of an elephant. It's a bit hard to make it out in my photos, but it was cool to see!

We also passed this natural archway on Comino. There used to be another, more famous natural archway called the Azure Window on Gozo Island, but it collapsed in 2017, so this one is a sort of alternative.

Shortly afterwards, we arrived at the port of Ghajnsielem on the island of Gozo, which is the second largest island in Malta. Some people on the boat, who had bought more expensive tickets, got out here to do a quick tour of the island before joining the rest of us at the Blue Lagoon later.

Personally, I feel like one afternoon isn't really enough for both Gozo and the Blue Lagoon. At some point in the coming weeks, I plan to get the bus to the north of Malta, take the ferry to Gozo from there, and then spend a full day or possibly a weekend on the island.

But it was nice to see a little bit of Gozo for the time being!

About 10 minutes later, we finally arrived in the Blue Lagoon! Getting off the boat, climbing up the rocky pathway, and looking down at the amazingly blue water below was such a memorable moment. It really is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places I've ever seen.

However, once I walked further into the lagoon and closer to the places where the sea is more easily reached, I was a bit disappointed, but not surprised, to see how incredibly busy it was.

All the same, that wasn't going to stop me from going for a swim! After I had a little walk around the area, I walked back to the boat to buy a snorkel (I feel like it's something I'm going to use quite a bit in the future!).

I swam in two different spots in the lagoon: the main part with all the people, and a rockier bit closer to the boat. I was a little bit nervous about going in, as I'd had a very nasty sting from a jellyfish while swimming in the sea close to where I live the previous week. But while I noticed one jellyfish floating past, and saw someone else getting stung by one, fortunately I wasn't attacked again! The water in the Blue Lagoon is so clear that generally you can see them coming.

I did use my snorkel a little bit, but only saw some tiny fish (it really couldn't compare to snorkelling in Brazil). But overall, it was a wonderful experience to swim in this perfectly blue sea under the baking Mediterranean sun.

After my swims, I bought a rather pricey veggie burger from a food truck for my lunch and also spent 10 euros on a piña colada in a pineapple (very expensive, but an important part of the Blue Lagoon experience!).

I used the last part of my time on Comino to walk up towards the north of the island. This area was very quiet and peaceful with some lovely views of the countryside and the sea.

After nearly four hours at the lagoon, it was time to get back on the boat. On our way back we sailed around the west side of Comino, seeing some interesting caves and rock formations.

To conclude, I don't think I'll return to the Blue Lagoon this summer or quite possibly ever again (maybe if I ever find myself in Malta during the winter I will!). It was just too crowded! But having said that, I did really enjoy the experience of seeing this beautiful place and swimming there, and I'm glad to have done it. 

It was also great to see various interesting places around Malta during the boat journeys. I'm looking forward to discovering even more of the country in the weeks to come!