After our first day in Malta, A Beautiful Afternoon on the Maltese Islands of Gozo and Comino, we got up early to take advantage of the limited amount of time we had on the island. As we'd had some experience riding as a passenger in a car past some of the places we were visiting on the way from the airport, we weren't too worried about driving our rental car. The day with the rental car was the best day we had on Malta as we were able to see a lot in a short amount of time. Driving is not too bad as long as you watch out for others and drive sensibly.
Our first stop was Rabat. As it was a Sunday, some of the tourists attractions were closed, but we were able to visit St. Paul's Catacombs and have a quick look around. We were able to see the cathedral and glimpse through the doorway, though it and St. Paul's Grotto were closed to tourists. I wanted to visit St. Agatha's Catacombs, which are meant to be better than St. Paul's Catacombs, but they were also closed. Despite some places being shut on Sundays, we were able to have a look around. The town was busy, particularly outside the cathedral, and there was a street market set up not far from the cathedral.
After visiting St. Paul's Catacombs, we had a quick look around Rabat before continuing to Mdina, the ancient walled city, which is a short walk away.
A cat drinks from a pond outside St. Paul's Catacombs. There are many cats in Malta, and we counted six of them in the grounds of the catacombs.
These purple flowers were growing near one of the entrances of St. Paul's Catacombs.
These lilies were also growing near one of the catacomb entrances.
On our way up the hill to Rabat, we passed the walled city of Mdina. There are amazing views from those walls, and the view stretches out to Valletta. A nice place to sit and admire the views with food or drink is a small restaurant located on the walls.
Many buildings have Christian symbols on the outside walls in the form of sculptures, prayer concaves, and signage. This building had Christian figures of baby Jesus and his parents poking out of the wall, which I thought added a nice touch to the building.
St. Paul's Catacombs are winding, dimly-lit passages filled with many different tombs in various shapes and sizes. They were originally lit by terracotta lamps, and I imagine the flicker on the walls with bones and decomposing bodies in the tombs nearby would have been a bit frightening and smelly. (I would have found it frightening as I have always been afraid of bones.) Today, there aren't any bones in the tombs, or at least in the section that is open to tourists. There are many more mazes that are not open to tourists. Some drawings can also be seen 'painted' onto some tomb walls.
The façade of the cathedral in Rabat; a depiction of Jesus Christ welcomes all with open arms.
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