In 1585, the Knights of Malta, charged with defending Christianity against the Ottoman Empire, withstood a siege by Suleiman the Magnificent. Thanklessly the Knights were later kicked out by Napoleon. I could still see the Maltese Cross at St. John Co-Cathedral. Everybody was here in Maltese history, some for hundreds of years – Phoenicians, Carthagians, Romans and of course the British who have been everywhere. No wonder that Malta is nowadays happy to sell passports to everyone (who pays)… I was in Malta for just two days on a business trip in 1994. Unfortunately I did not make it beyond La Valletta. The capital felt to me like a little London here, a bit of Paris there and maybe a touch of Rome. The origin of my dinner was clear though: Rabbit stew in rich tomato sauce, as good as in Sicily.