Almost snow, Mdina, and Victoria Lines

We were woken at 2am to a thunderstorm, with heaps of lightning and hail. When we left the townhouse about 9am, there was piles of hail in the streets and covering the footpath, and they were still there 3 hours later. The local kids were having a ball, as snow is very rare in Malta, but today was the closest they may ever get to it (Malta has not officially had snow since 1962).

Before departing Rabat we walked up to Mdina, also known as The Silent City. It's a fortified city next to Rabat and was the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city has not spread beyond its ancient walls, and has a population of approximately 300.

We walked back to the car and headed north, stopping for lunch in Gharghur, then visited The Victoria Lines. Originally known as the North West Front, they are a line of fortifications that spans 12 kilometres across the width of Malta, dividing the north of the island from the more heavily populated south (think Great Wall of China, but not so grand).
It was built by the British military in the late 19th century, to present a barrier to invading forces landing in the north of Malta, and protect the British fleet based in Valetta. Military training exercises in 1900 revealed that they were of dubious defensive value, but they were never tested in anger. By 1907 they were abandoned altogether.

Accommodation tonight is in Mellieha, a town which describes itself as a "rural village and tourist resort"Read more