A tour of the island of Gozo will introduce you to the Maltese handicraft of weaving lace using bobbins. By the mid-1800s, the Maltese tradition of hand-stitched lace had disappeared and the islands were undergoing an economic depression. So an English noblewoman imported lace makers from Italy to start up a bobbin-lace cottage industry. Today, the Maltese government still sponsors trade schools that teach lace-making and other artisan skills, and the work is absolutely beautiful.