Malta according to Edward Debono (3)

In the final part of an interview with Andrew Spooner of the UK Independent, lateral thinker Edward Debono describes Malta's special features:

Even these days, despite my constant travelling and apartment in London, Malta is still my official residence. My house on Malta captures much about the nature of the island. It was built in 1635 by a freed slave woman. Apparently, she was a bit of a racy character and managed to earn enough money to build the house. After she died, the Jesuits occupied the house until they were kicked out of Malta and it fell into private hands and was passed down the line to me.

The island is rightly noted for its great climate – ocean breezes keep it from getting too hot and you never need an overcoat in winter – and an easygoing, friendly population. When I'm on the island the people and sunshine always help me feel immediately relaxed. When I arrive on Malta, I don't make special plans: I just like to go and see friends, hang out and have dinner.

The island is well known for its great seafood and stuffat tal-fenek, a rabbit stew. It's supposed to be made with wild rabbit but there are very few of those on the island. Maltese wine is very good and I love Maltese bread; I think it is the best bread I've eaten anywhere. A tip: it's supposed to be good for freezing.

The landscape of the island, although not spectacular, has its own character and is filled with fields and tough stone walls. There are dramatic, high cliffs and a few decent beaches – the best can be found at Mellieha and Ghajn Tuffieha – but Malta's outstanding feature is its history. All of its sites are in such a small area. You can go from the Stone Age to the Greeks, Romans and onwards to the Knights and the Baroque period in just a few miles.

Stone Age temples were recently discovered at sea, demonstrating that the Mediterranean must have been much lower. Who knows? Maybe Malta was once a sacred mountain?