Our outing today is to the Silent City, Mdina. Just like the Acropolis is to visiting Athens, Mdina is the same when visiting Malta; you just have to go. Eve especially likes going because it is a fabulous place to sketch. Mdina is a fortified city that served as Malta’s capital from antiquity to medieval times. The Phoenicians were its original settlers, and it has been a Roman city, a Norman city, a Spanish city, and a Byzantine city, among others. It stopped being the country’s capital when the the Order of St. John Knights moved administrative activities to Birgu, near the present capital Valletta. Mdina has kept its medieval allure. As a matter of fact, in 2016 during our 3-month stay in Malta, Christine and I spent a wonderful day in Mdina during the annual Medieval festival. That was a great experience and even now, I can still hear the clip clop of horse hooves as a large steed with a knight astride came through a narrow passageway right upon us that day. Today, you can also hear the same sound as karozzins, Maltese carriages, carry tourists on rides through the streets. The distinctive thing about karozzins is their bell sound when the driver rings it to get tourists out of the way. It’s a very distinctive and special sound.
Our day in Mdina was really nice. The weather really cooperated, as it wasn’t too hot, but sunny and very pleasant. Of course, we took the bus and had to figure out what bus and when to transfer to another bus. The first bus we wanted was too full so we couldn’t get on. Eve used Google maps to figure out other bus routes and so we got on the next bus and transferred at Burmarrad. Even though the buses are often crowded, I enjoy riding them. It’s a great way to see the country and to people watch.
Entering Mdina is always a special experience.
A big difference today was the number of cars in Mdina. We have never seen this before. There are some 300 inhabitants still living in Mdina. This was a Friday, so possibly that is a day that cars can enter. It was rather annoying to have cars driving on the main street and parking all over St. Paul’s Square.
Despite the cars, I love wandering around Mdina. Once away from the main street, the very narrow side passageways are just beautiful.
Once you walk from the city gate to the farthest point away from the gate in the tiny city you are standing at the top of the bastions and you get a fantastic view of Malta.
From the bastions in Mdina you can get a good view of the beautiful Mosta Dome. This is the dome that experienced a bomb strike during WWII. A bomb fell through the dome, hit the center aisle of the church during a mass with the church packed. The bomb skidded down the aisle to the altar steps and never exploded. The only damage was a hole in the dome. It’s an amazing story and a beautiful church inside and out.
I took the photo below, which I have taken in the past, to document this scene again. A friend of Christine’s gave her a painting of this very scene that she found in an antique store. When the friend saw that it was a scene in Malta, she bought it for Christine. Seeing the painting, I went through photos from 2016 and found a photo just like the one below. Our photo also included Eve sitting on some steps painting the very same scene. We sent a picture of the painting and my photo to Eve because we thought she’d get a kick out of it. Eve wrote back to us with a picture of the very same painting that she has hanging on her wall in London along with her painting of the scene. What a coincidence all around.
We met up with Eve after a while and scoped out a place for lunch. We were going to go to the Xara Palace restaurant in their courtyard, where we had lunch with Eve before, but I didn’t really like the look of it this time. It seemed too dark underneath their awning. So we went to the Mdina Restaurant, which happened to also be run by the Xara Palace Hotel. We sat in a lovely little courtyard and had an absolutely scrumptious lunch. We really enjoyed ourselves, and ate too much because it was so good.
It was a wonderful few hours in Mdina. It truly is a special place and I’m sure we’ll be back.
We made our way back to Xemxija on the bus. We stopped in at the store to buy water and a couple of other things and made our way back up the hill to the flat. We spent a nice time having a light dinner on the terrace and enjoying seeing the lights around the bay reflected in the water. An nice end to a very nice day.
This is my first comment but I wanted to make sure and tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying reading your blog every day for the last month! The pictures are beautiful, the commentary is providing new knowledge and the fact that you guys are there makes it all the more special! Like I have my own personal time magazine to read. It’s been something to look forward to doing each day. Hugs and love and enjoy the last couple weeks of your many adventures!
Thanks, Ronna. I’m so glad you are enjoying the blog. Hugs and love right back at you!