Malta

Malta is another country we threw out there to do in conjunction with the Food and Wine Festival. Malta lies in the Mediterranean, just off of Italy's Sicily.  So while it's no surprise this tiny island country doesn't have it's own booth at the festival, it's neighbor to the north has a whole pavilion and a booth, so we can get our fare share. Sicily is just 50 miles from Malta, and you can even get there by ferry. (Before the last ice age, you could walk there.) 

Usually, when you here of Malta, people are talking about the 'Maltese Islands'.  Malta is a collection of islands, but only three are inhabited: Malta, Gozo and Comino. 

Malta is the most southern island, and home to the capital city of Valletta. Malta island is the largest, accounting for 95 square miles of the countries total  area of 122 square miles. It has the largest population (about half a million people call Malta home, making it a very densely populated country), and sees the most tourists. 

Comino is the middle island, the most isolated and the smallest at just 1.4 square miles. As far as saying it's an inhabited island, it is-- but just barely. Mostly a nature reserve and a bird sanctuary, it has just three permanent residents (a fourth died this year). A police officer and a priest (it's a pretty religious country-- 87% are Roman Catholic) commute daily from nearby Gozo Island. The isolated island is named for the Cumin seed that used to grown there in abundance. 

Gozo is the northernmost island, and comes in at a whopping 26 square miles. It's more rural and known for it's rolling hills, gorgeous beaches (and a top diving spot), and amazing natural backdrops. Of those backdrops was even featured in Clash of the Titans and the first season of Game of Thrones: The Azure Window, a 92 foot tall natural limestone arch that dropped dramatically into the blue waters below. But, you'll notice I said 'dropped,' as in past tense. It's been deteriorating since the 1980's, and despite the government telling people to keep off of it (though not everyone listened).  Then, on March 8th of this year, some storms came through and the whole thing crumbled into the sea.  

Gozo is also know for it's rich history. It's home to our landmark, the Megalithic Temples. These prehistoric temples were built between 3600 BC and 700 BC. (The first people to come to Malta were Neolithic Farmers who crossed the 50 miles of straights that used to be walk-able from Sicily to Gozo). They are considered the oldest free-standing structure in the world. (Turkey's Gobekli Tepe Complex is largely buried, so it doesn't count). The Megalithic Temples are older than the Pyramids of Giza. 

The temples aren't the only old structures still standing in Malta. The walled city of Mdina is 4,000 years old. Fun fact for you, only the residents of Mdina are allowed to drive their cars on raods within the city. 

Malta is full of history. It's renowned for those temples, and it's crusading knights. The Knights of the Order of Saint John arrived in Malta in 1530. The knights later fought in the crusades, where they won an epic battle with the Ottoman Empire's Turkish soldiers,despite being outnumbered 700 to 30,000. The Knights are so revered in Malta, their emblem, the Maltese Cross, is not only a symbol of the country, but also displayed on the flag. 

While Malta doesn't have any rivers, so the only place for the Luzzus, or traditional Maltese fishing boats, is out on the Mediterranean sea. The boats are brightly colored and have eyes painted on the front. 

The lack of rivers coupled with very little rainfall makes fresh water hard to come by. Over centuries, the Maltese have had to perfect the desalinization process. The tap water there is safe to drink, but because of the process, the water tastes pretty awful. Tourists find it hard to drink, it tastes so bad. 

Oh, and if you're wondering if the Maltese dog is from Malta, the breeds dogs to actually originate from there. 

The boys made their postcards. 

Calib's featured the Azure Window. 

Peyton's featured the brightly colored fishing boats. 

And Hayden included the Knights of Malta in his. 

We were headed to the Food and Wine Festival for our Malta meal, but it just so happened we were behind on our Cyprus meal the day we learned about Malta. It kind of fit in, since they're both islands in the Mediterranean. 

But for our Malta meal we headed to the Italy booth at the Food and Wine Festival. Usually we skip this one, because I despise paying a lot of money for pasta, and that's usually what is offered. But, I was trying to get countries in while Asa was at work, and cross reference those with the Food and Wine Festival, so I made Malta worked with Italy. 

We passed on the pasta (with shrimp and a vodka sauce), and decided to go with the Spezzatino con Polenta. 

This Beef Stew with creamy Parmesan Polenta, didn't look impressive. (The pictures of it looked more beef stew like, and less soup like). I'm not sure if we had a bad serving or what, but we had litterarlly two pieces of meat and two carrots in our 'stew', and the polenta didn't really taste like much (not that polenta is real strong in flavor to begin with). 

This one earned three spoons up.

Asa, Calib and Peyton said it was fine. And, I mean, it was 'fine'. It wasn't like I would refuse to eat it if given the option. But, at $7.50 it is one of the most expensive tasting plates at the Food and Wine Festival, so it should 'wow' you. It didn't. Not at all. 

Again, maybe we just got a bad serving, but skip this one and save your money- there's way better out there at the Festival than this. Besides, why eat at Italy during the Food and Wine Festival when they have a permanent home in the World Showcase, with MUCH better options? 

We made three red dots for Malta just below Sicily in Italy. 

That's 131 Down, 65 to go! 

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