Diana and Brian's Holidays: Rabat, Mosta and Mdina +sightseeing

We did lots of sight seeing both under our own steam and organised events. We visited Mosta on a couple of occasions, once for an organised evening dinner, not something I was looking forward to as sometimes these events can be a bit naff, but this evening went very well indeed.

We also visited Mosta on one of the excursions which included going into the Rotunda. This was hit with a 500lbs bomb in the second world war, during mass, which penetrated to roof and landed on the floor but failed to explode. The replaced tiles in the ceiling are still visible today a slightly different colour.

While we there they were preparing the statues of the risen Christ to be carried through the town on long shafts on Easter Sunday , depending on the size of the statue the number of men carrying it on their shoulders would be between 4 and 10

When we went independently we had lunch by the Rotunda and workmen were busy erecting illuminated crosses ready for Easter . There are two clocks on the front of the Rotunda, one standard and the other a calendar.

From here our included excursion took us to Rabat where we visited St Pauls Grotto below the Church of St Publius, which is said to be the birthplace of Christianity in Malta. It is also said that St Paul used the Agape Tables for religious ceremonies During World War II the catacombs were extended into air raid shelters as Malta was very heavily bombed and held under siege almost starving the population.


	Church of St Publius

We had bit of a walk around the town and lunch, which in our case was a very good freshly baked pizza eaten while sitting on a low wall watching the lizards. One thing I have never seen before is a Foundlings Wheel where a mother would ring the bell, the wheel in the wall would rotate to open the door so that a new born baby could be placed inside, the wheel was then rotated and the baby removed for the other side to be cared for, never to knowingly see its mother again. The statue is one of several on Malta by Anton Agius

On our way to the Mdnia we called in at a glass factory in a modern industrial park as excursion tend to do. They had a rather splendid glass Christmas tree outside. It also gave quite a good view of Mdina on the hill in the distance .

Our travels continued on to The Mdina. This sits on the highest part of the island and was once the capitol for its defences. The views from its wall are quite spectacular and on a clear day you can see to the coast . Note the twin clocks again in the bell towers, very common in Malta.