Medieval Mdina

Pictured above is the medieval Maltese city of Mdina. Mdina's history dates back more than 4,000 years. In recent years, it has served as a filming location for Game of Thrones. It's also a former capital city. Click here for photos from our walk to and through Mdina and it's many narrow, maze-like streets. People still live within the city's walls. 

We also celebrated the birthday of the U.S. Marine Corp this weekend by attending the Marine Ball, an annual November event that takes place at every U.S. Embassy around the world. It was a nice way to get to know members of our new community. 

A few things we have learned about Malta so far: 

• Stray cats are everywhere around the island and are well cared for by locals who put food, water and even small cat houses in public areas for their use.
• You can walk from one side of the island to the other in just a few hours - it's about 19 miles. 
• It occasionally gets as cold as 50 degrees during the winter months, but 70 degree weather is more the norm.
• There are structures on Malta that predate the pyramids and even Stonehenge.
• Malta is one of just four European countries where people drive on the left. 
• It ranks as the 8th most densely populated country in the world, so traffic problems are very real.
• Malta was a British colony until 1964 and joined the EU in 2004. 
• For a relatively tiny island, there is an unusual abundance of churches - 365 in all and almost all of the Catholic variety.