HIDDEN GORGES, WALLED CITIES AND CAESAR SALADS

A number of years ago a friend of mine left the UK to live on Gozo, a small island which is part of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean, and sits less than 100km south of Sicily.

And we're talking small here. An outline of the island fits within the city boundaries of Edinburgh, and its population is equal to that of Portobello.

Inhabited since around 5,000 years BC, in 1551 its population went down to virtually zero, when the Ottomans invaded and removed everyone, executing many and enslaving the rest. Some two decades later, led by the Knights of Malta, the island was repopulated from Malta.

Until a few years after the second world war, the inhabitants of Gozo mostly moved around on horse and cart. When the Americans arrived in 1943 to build a temporary runway to support their invasion of Sicily, locals flocked to see the giant earth moving vehicles. Today there are certainly a lot of cars, and the roads themselves are not in great shape. Sadly driving skills are not at their best, with an average of one fatality per day. I chose to travel around by bus and of course, ferry.

There is a proposal to build either a bridge or undersea tunnel connecting the two islands, but with many years having passed since talking began, I sense a quiet resistance to the idea. It would certainly bring more than the 30 cars or so per hour that the current ferries do to Gozo.

Both Malta and Gozo have changed little in looks architecturally over the decades, and it is for this reason that it enjoys a very busy film industry. The streets and small sandstone and limestone towns stand in frequently for Palestine, Beirut and even ancient Rome. On the outskirts of the capital of Malta, Valletta, it boasts the largest water tank filming facility in Europe. Films such as Munich, Captain Philips and Game of Thrones have all filmed here.

By the very nature of its location, Gozo enjoys a much quieter time than its neighbour, and I can see the attraction that many Brits see, making up almost 40% of its population. On my visit there this week it was a pleasant 18˚C, a Scottish summer in essence. At the end of my short stay it was into the low 20s and for me this was bordering uncomfortable, so I doubt I will return in the blistering 40˚ heat of summer!

Victoria is the capital of Gozo, and, like Malta, has a British influence, with the likes of Holland & Barrett on the main street. But up on the highest point of the coastal town is an ancient walled citadel, recently restored.

Walls, some 100ft high, slope at an angle, with grassed walkways at their base. The views from the ramparts are, naturally, amazing, across the vast expanse of the Med and to nearby Malta.

Within an easy short boat ride is the third island, Comino, measuring just 3.5km square, and popular with all holiday makers, primarily for its famed Blue Lagoon, a naturally formed shallow pool of water within a small bay.

My friends apartment is a recent renovation, with marble floors and modern interior. It stays cool in the summer and warm'ish in the winter months, and is also almost self sufficient for energy, with most of the roof occupied by solar panels.

Knowing a resident when you are in a foreign holiday destination is quite handy, especially when their friends are very knowledgeable of the area. On a warm and breezy afternoon, a group of four of us ventured off on a walk off the beaten track. Our starting point was the bay of Mgarr ix-Xini, a picturesque location, and where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filmed By The Sea in 2014.

A gorge then goes inland, and we followed an overgrown footpath, hacking our way through vegetation, and even a bamboo forest at one point.

After less than an hour we came to an old water pumping station built in the Victorian era. A hundred feet of building rose up the gorge walled, looking as if someone had just glued it on.

Below was a further 100feet, deep into the ground, tapping into the natural water table. Long since abandoned, it is now replaced by a more modern facility some distance away, supplying all of Gozo with its water needs.

The gorge is a magnet for rock climbers, and a few of varying nationalities were busy belaying each other as we passed. As we climbed out of the gorge we came upon a series of holes in the rock surface, clearly carefully carved out millennia ago. I was unable to guess what their use had been.

It turns out that the largest opening, roughly two feet by three feet, was used for the first stage of grape pressing, then the shallow, triangular trough for a more thorough pressing, with any remnants being squeezed out in the small circular hole to the left. All the juice then gathered in the deep trough at the base. How you then extracted all of it efficiently from there is anyone's guess.

With my few days drawing to a close I decided to spend the last night in the capital city of Malta, Valletta, starting my journey out of the picturesque main harbour of Gozo.

If the walled citadel in Victoria on Gozo had impressed me, nothing prepared me for the gigantic nature of the walled city of Valletta.

These sloping defensive walls were some 150feet high, with the entire city surrounded on all sides. Up until I reached the newly constructed entrance, I had thought I was already in Valletta, but it turns out only the walled section is the actual capital.

There was not much time to explore, and we mostly walked it's high ramparts, at times daring to peer over the edge, legs wobbling with fear. Just within the entrance they had constructed a very modern-looking sandstone building for the parliament, and I am pleased to say it fits perfectly with the old buildings, with their Venetian-style wooden framed windows and sandstone walls.

Partly because Valletta is the European Capital of Culture for 2018, a lot of money has been spent on restoring the old buildings. But one building has not been restored to its former glory; the opera house. Situated just beyond the main entrance, it suffered a direct hit in World War II and was obliterated, save for some of its stone columns. So instead of rebuilding it they have created a modern, open air structure of steel within its boundaries, within its framing, stage and lighting rigs all naked and on show. This was my favourite structure.

After a late lunch of a delicious, large Caesar salad, and with the skies darkening, my friend bade me farewell to return to her home on Gozo. I wandered a little more as the light started to fade, then retired to my B&B for the last night, down a narrow street, not far from the Grand Harbour, on the edge of the walled city of Valletta.