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Big 50 birthday trip- Day 6 Wed Sept 23rd 2015

After a long lie in, and breakfast on the fabulous balcony again, we decided to walk to Mtarfa and see if we could find the hospital I was born in. This turned out to be very easy as it was the large building we could see from the hotel. Originally the David Brice Royal Naval hospital, it is now part of a school. 

We stopped off at a local shop and discovered how really cheap bottled water is when you are not buying it in a tourist spot!  After that we walked to see the Mtarfa clock tower. 

Another stroll back towards Mdina and this time went to the Knight of Malta museum which turned out to be an audio tour of a waxwork museum with tableus of the most famous Knights and a summary of their deeds. Lots of the scenes were of dead and dying people and were quite gory! The Knights themselves were quite realistic and looked like they might come alive any minute. It was a bit cheesy.. It was followed by a film about the history of Malta which explained a little more. By then we were dying for a coffee and a sit down. This was then followed by another history of the people of Malta which was more waxwork scenes.

After a lunch of leftover pizza in the room , we walked over to the neighbouring area of Rabat. Home of St Paul's cathedral and the .... museum. There we explored the Catacombs underground and saw World War 2  bunkers that had been dug out by local people to escape the terrible bombing that happened at the time. They were like mini caves within the catacombs- almost like prison cells, each having their own numbers as they were their own private spots. The museum above was very warm but had a good audio guide.

We had a short walk back to the gates of Mdina and this time walked around the now very nicely landscaped moat. At the end as a bar with another great view, so we had to have a beer to take it in. After some relaxation back at the hotel we ate at another Mdina restaurant called Bacchus.

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