I haven’t fallen off the Earth or disappeared. I’ve been lost. Not lost in the sense that I can’t find my way, but lost in awe of everything around me.

There are places that have attracted civilizations for thousands of years, melding pieces of various cultures over the centuries to create something that is still today a true crossroads of the world. I have spent the better part of the last two weeks visiting one of these junction points: the islands of Malta.

When I would tell people I was going on vacation to Malta, most people had to ask me where Malta is located. For those of you who don’t know, this small country is in the middle of the Mediterranean just south of the island of Sicily. And why did I want to go there? It’s hard to say exactly.

Maybe it was the extensive history. It is believed that Malta’s first civilization settled in the islands around 5,200 BC. That’s older than the pyramids in Egypt by the way.

Maybe it was the mix of cultures that have battled for the islands over hundreds of years, each leaving their mark in what has become the Maltese culture of today. The earliest settlers may have come from what is now Sicily. Due to their location on the trade routes the islands were subsequently inhabited, sieged, conquered, or ruled by great empires including the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Normans, and the Ottomans. The Spanish, French and British played their part as well. The strategic importance of the islands made them a battleground as recently as World War II.

The Stone Age residents built monolithic temples. The Romans and Byzantines built cities. The Knights of St. John increased the fortifications around the cities and ports and constructed opulent palaces and cathedrals.

The language was greatly influenced by the Byzantine Arabs. In conversations today you will hear what sounds like a mix of Arabic, English and Italian, known as Maltese. The written language is tricky to pronounce until you learn the rules for things like x, gh, gg, and q.

You can spot Italian influence in the food offered on menus, as well as the influence of the sea. In what are considered traditional Maltese dishes you often find sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg flavouring meat, something that to me is a North African and Middle Eastern way to cook.

Malta is still a crossroads today sitting on the shipping routes between Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Atlantic. Sipping a cappucino and enjoying a pastizzi in the sunshine of a square in Valletta, surrounded by the voices of tourists speaking every language you can think of…how could you not get lost in wonder at this amazing intersection of world history and culture?