Mdina City of Silent

28-10-2007
Today we took a northern route bus and spent some time in Mdina (The Silent City), first seen from the bus . It is a medieval walled city in the center of Malta and on the hill top Mdina is pronounced as “Im Di Na”, as the M has different pronunciation.

Despite of the small size, it was once an important capital for Malta, but the Knights of St. John who preferred the coast line around didn’t put enough attention to this town and it eventually becomes a noble city, where most of the noble families resided.

The main gate is built in 1724 and bearing the arms of Grand Master Manoel de Vilhena.

Mdina is a very picturesque town, as I walking through the small alleys; I am like tele-ported to another ancient time.

Most building's walls are made of limestone and shown in the original lime colors. Most doors are in bright green, red colors and thus nicely contrasted the color of the wall.

There is also a city wall that surrounds Mdina and making it exclusive and the entrance is by accessing the gate. View from the city walls is impressive; we could see Mosta Dome clearly from the distance.

There is also a St Paul’s church here in Mdina, the architecture is predominately baroque façade.

We paused for snack and mid afternoon at a café called Fontanella Tea Garden, which overlooks the fields beyond with Mosta Dome standing far and away.

Although Mdina is small in size, but it has a lot to offer and this small town has definitely captured my heart and left a lasting impressions.

Mellieha Bay

View of Mellieha Bay from the Lunch Kiosk
View of Mellieha Town from my sun-bed
View of Church of Our lady of Victory at the hill top

27-10-2007 Weather Hot, Humid, Occasionally Cloudy

In the afternoon, we hopped on to a classical yellow Maltese bus embarking our journey to Mellieha Bay. The journey from St. Paul’s bay area to Mellieha Bay was a roller coaster journey, the landscape is hilly, as if the one in San Francisco. The roads are narrow and I can feel my adrenaline rush when two buses cross the same road side by side. The journey is all the way up, as Mellieha is situated on top of the hill, the bay is another down hill journey.

Finally we arrived at a sandy beach; this apparently is the Malta’s largest sandy beach. The wind starts developing when we eat our quick lunch at one of the store. There are still a lot of people at the beach. We rented a sun bed and start our beach day. The water temperature was surprisingly mild and not cold at all. In fact, I warm up further with the sea water splashed my body. There were a bit of mild wave and that made the more interesting. The water is shallow and there are no rocks or stones at all. All I can feel beneath my feet are the soft comfortable sand. One can still see the Church of Our lady of Victory standing mightily on the hill top, as if she is watching and protecting this bay over the century. According to Maltese history (or legend), the apostles Paul and Luke preached in this church during their brief stay in Malta.

A morning stroll along Qawra Promenade

27-10-2007 Weather Hot, Humid, Occasionally Cloudly

We set off for a mid morning walk along the Qawra promenade again but with the goal to reach Buggiba. The beach along Qawra is very rocky and no sand. Some patches of the water is relatively crystal clear that one can still learn how to scuba diving along the rocky coast. There are still many people in the water and that mean the sea water temperature is still body welcoming in the month of October.

Breakfast at Balcony

27-10-2007 Weahter 25C Hot, Clear sky

I really count it a blessing to be able to eat my breakfast at the Balcony overlooking the pool. Our apartment is on the 3^rd floor, also the top floor, and it is great to enjoy breakfast outdoor at the moderate temperature before it sore again in the later hour. It is indeed a blessing to slow down my pace and not to rush my breakfast but enjoy it.

Qawra Waterfront

26-10-2007

Tonight, we decided to check out the town. The weather is very damp and that you can feel your whole body is coated with a layer of moist. Humidity is very high, the mist is getting thicker and the visibilities are low. Qawra waterfront is predominately occupied by high rise holiday complexes and private lidos. A stroll at night give us a good orientation to this town. Compare to others holiday complexes, our Club Salina Wharf is pretty petite and private. Although we haven’t got the sea view room, but the pool view is equally enchanting and seafront is just about 3~4 min walk away.

Lesson 1 in Malta

Our checked-in luggage’s were severe delayed due to at Luga International Airport. There was high level of security around a cargo aircraft. At first Johannes thought there could be an aircraft hike-jack as there were hundreds of police and custom surrounding the aircraft. As a result of that, our luggage’s were severely delayed by almost an hour. Later, when I overheard a conversation, that there isn’t any hike-jack but today is the arrival of Maltese’s Euro. The cargo landed prior to ours landing carried the Maltese Euro cash. No wonder the level of security are raised. Despite of an hour delay, the first lesson learned - the art of waiting and take things easy in this island.

FYI, Malta will use Euro as it official currency effective from 1^st Jan 2008.

Southbound – Prologue

26-10-2007 When we leave home for Schiphol, the temperature is around 5C. I haven’t see sun for days, and this is normal the typical weather. These photos were taken when I board the Malta Air KM399, the sky and temperature in Amsterdam is dusted with a pinch of grey.

However, as soon as we arrived Malta, the humid and warm 25C kissed my skin, it is indeed a very warm welcome to Luga International Airport. Although the weather is a bit hazy, the heat is overwhelming us. Imagine at the point of departure, I dressed for 5C to keep myself warm in the Netherlands, now I am behave like a peeling onion, stripping layer of myself to acclimatize with the humid and sweat for the coming days.