Melting in Malta: Mdina and Rabat

for the second leg of the trip, we were now headed towards game of thrones territory. i did watch 3 seasons (i think) of this HBO hit and like most fans would like to see the filming locations because well, i was already in malta anyway. 

Mdina at Daytime

we stayed in mellieha for two nights and then moved to an apartment close to mdina. i got lucky by booking a small room that is so close to the mdina gate, you can see the gate when you exit the apartment. 

of course, there was no way we could take a photo of just the mdina gate because every other soul was trying to do the same thing. who could resist getting a selfie in the place where the starks bid their farewell in king's landing? 

this old, walled, former capital of malta might be small, but there are plenty to see. we walked past st. paul's cathedral but to go in, you'll have to pay 5 euros. knowing lovro's displeasure with visiting churches there was no way i would pay that. it might not be so unreasonable when you find out that you could visit the museum as well, but that wouldn't fly with lovro either.

even if you haven't religiously planned your trip to mdina, you could just as well walk around and get lost. everything was beautiful. even the door knobs and knockers they sell.

it was impossibly hot in midday and it was time for lunch, so i wanted to find a place that would have a nice breeze. luckily there's this rooftop restaurant that the apartment owner recommended: fontanella tea garden. i couldn't help myself so i tried a local brew. not bad, but nothing compared to belgian beer. 😁

post lunch i managed to convince lovro to visit one of the churches because it will be colder inside. so we went inside carmelite priory. he behaved for a few minutes before finally making it known that it was not cool what mommy tricked him into. he was at least considerate to let me take a few photos before complaining. to be fair, i didn't lie to him, it was really colder inside! 

we roamed for another hour or so, until it was time for his nap. poor boy was exhausted! normally i would let him nap in his pram so i could actually enjoy sight-seeing but at that moment, with that weather, i was worried his legs would be sun-burnt. back at the apartment, i realized it was definitely a good decision.

Mdina at Night

cat had been saying that mdina is quite charming at night too. that in fact with this kind of summer heat, visiting at night is better. so we decided to come back one evening. that weekend there was a food festival so the gate was pretty lit. literally.

i have to agree that it felt more mysterious at night. and because i didn't have to fear burning and melting, we walked slower and more enjoyably. i managed to take more photos of the places i wanted to see, including more film sets of GoT like the mesquita square where jamie and ned fought and littlefinger's brothel. the pictures i took didn't do them justice, but this square was really pretty.

Rabat

just outside mdina's wall is rabat: home to some very important archaeological sites and relics in malta that are a must-see in most tourists' lists. if you've done your research then you'd know easily of the catacombs of st. paul and st. agatha that were used as burial sites during the roman period. we visited the st. paul's catacombs, but since i'm not much of a history buff, and it wasn't exactly fun for lovro, we didn't spend as much time there as, say, my boyfriend would have. 😀 

another place we visited in rabat was this courtyard where cersei famously coined the quote "when you play the game of thrones you either win or you die" - st. dominic's convent. we went on a late afternoon, and was pleasantly surprised that there was nobody there at all. we were the only visitors. hurray! 

mdina and rabat make the quintessential part of a maltese trip especially if you're out for some culture and history. malta has a lot of beautiful beaches and coastline but the old capital is definitely not something to skip.