Andre and Wendy: Dingli Cliffs Hike and Mdina and Rabat

19,600 Steps

Started off today by taking a bus to get us close to the Dingli Cliffs. There are loads of walking trails in Malta, and this one seemed close to where we were doing a walking tour of Mdina and Rabat this afternoon so decided to give it a try. Busses here are 2 Euro a ride that last for up to 2 hours with transfers. Very cheap, but expensive compared to Mexico.

Weren't sure exactly where to get off the bus, and once a bunch of people got off we followed along. Happened to be near a public park with open washrooms, so a good start. Off to the beachfront but really not much of a walking path. Lots of nice views but you are mostly walking along the side of a road. It is not a busy road at all, 1 bus an hour passes by, but there are some gravel pits so we did see a few trucks. Narrow road, and we have to keep remembering that they drive on the opposite side of the road from us.

We walked a little over 3 km along the ocean side, it is very very windy today, hats needed to be tightened up and also taken off and held at some points. There is also some fog on the coast which was strange, we hadn't seen any fog at all up to now.

Hilite for us was definitely the bronze age encampment that we came across. Absolutely fantastic views and some interesting circular holes. A little history plaque at the entrance but that was about it. Place for a few cars to park, but most people seemed to be out for a walk. The limestone cliffs view was fantastic, reminded me a bit of Cliffs of Dover, but maybe even better because of the views we could get from the shore by walking out to the encampment.

Started walking back to where we got off the bus as we knew there were more buses that went by there, but we were very lucky to catch the 1 bus per hour that went by just as we were getting to a pick up point. Bus was packed but not so far to Rabat which was where we got off.

Off to find some lunch. Decided on a sit down place to get a rest, plus we had 2 hours until our next tour started. Found a very nice spot and had good mushroom risotto and rabbit pasta, you can guess who ordered what. This is a very pretty city, well a small city, lots of tiny streets, and they are getting ready for the celebration of St. Joseph later this month so lots and lots of decorations going up.

After lunch we met up with Ben and about 20 other people who were also on the free walking tour. Ben gave us the tour of Valletta yesterday and we enjoyed it so much we have signed up for 2 more free walking tours with him, this being one of them.

We started off in Mdina, which at one time was capital of Malta. It is a walled city which now only has about 120 people living in it. Mdina and Rabat are right beside each other, if you didn't know it you would think it was just one city, actually most of Malta seems to be like that, one town just running into the next.

Mdina was another beautiful city, lots of cobblestone windy streets. They still have horse drawn carriage rides here, so had to step out of the way more for these than cars. Lots of history again today, along with interesting stories.

After Mdina we walked over to Rabat and pretty much walked the same streets that Andre and I walked earlier this afternoon looking for lunch.

A very interesting biblical story, this is where Paul was shipwrecked and eventually beheaded here. One of the places to visit was the caves were he was kept, but closed by the time we finished our tour. This is definitely a Catholic country, but interesting they don't seem to be doing anything for Jubilee.

End of the tour and we make our way back to Valletta by bus. The bus is packed, Andre has to stand for most of the ride. This may be our preparation for Italy, urgh.

Pick up some aracini and pastelli for supper at the apartment, we are not overly hungry after our big lunch.

It is going to be an early night. Bottle of wine finished that they left for us at the apartment. First load of laundry done, only 2 hours. Must find the rapid button for the next load.

Looking forward to our last tour with Ben tomorrow, a free walking tour of the 3 cities.