Malta - Mdina: Following Game of Thrones

Today was a bit different: the day started off promising weather-wise, but ended up quite wet. Today's itinerary included the former capital of Malta: Mdina. To get there, we had to drive to the center of the island. From afar, you can already see the city with its mighty city walls. Once we arrived, finding a parking spot in Rabat, which is right next to Mdina (as there is no car traffic in Mdina itself), proved to be very difficult, if not impossible. Since we couldn't find a parking spot, we decided to first drive to the Dingli Cliffs nearby. Unfortunately, it was quite cloudy and the visibility was poor, so the cliffs didn't make much of an impression. We briefly considered leaving the car here and taking the bus, which seemed to be running, but we couldn't figure out the schedule. After a while, we decided to make our way back to Mdina or Rabat, hoping to find a parking spot. At first, it seemed like we would be disappointed, and we even thought about skipping Mdina and doing something else. After a long search, we finally found a gap in a side street on the hill. Once again, we managed to find a free parking spot, and we followed the crowds of tourists towards the city gate. Incidentally, this gate served as the gate of King's Landing, through which Prince Joffrey rode in the first season of Game of Thrones. Mdina itself also served as a backdrop for some scenes. Upon closer inspection, I recognized the respective locations where we had already stood. Funny! :D Malta is full of filming locations for GOT, and we were supposed to visit another one on Gozo, but more on that another time.

Through this gate, we entered the city. Unbelievable but true: we were done after just 10 minutes. Mdina is indeed very labyrinthine with its many narrow alleys and has a great medieval atmosphere, but it's really not big. From the city walls, you have a magnificent view of the landscape. However, the city was described as 'quiet and original', which is probably true once the sun goes down and the crowds of tourists disappear, but during the day, Mdina is really just a tourist magnet, and so the small town was completely overcrowded with tourists, which was neither quiet nor original. I wonder what it must be like for the locals? Oh, and despite the fact that Mdina is supposed to be car-free, there were quite a few parked cars around here, and we often had to dodge a passing car, which is not easy in the narrow streets. Apparently, the residents are allowed to drive to Mdina. Unfortunately, it started raining at some point, and finding a place to sit in Mdina is not that easy, as there is not much choice. So our stay in Mdina was not very long. We also visited the St. Paul's Catacombs in Rabat, which were just a 10-minute walk away.

So, for those who plan to spend a whole day just visiting Mdina: it's better to combine it with other nearby sights, as you can't spend a whole day here.