I went to Malta on a last-minute whim over New Year 2014/15. After a lovely fireworks display at midnight, the weather was terrible on 1st Jan - raining all day. We managed to explore the small city of Valletta when the sun came out over the next few days, basing ourselves in an Airbnb apartment right in the centre.

Valletta is south of two African capitals: Tunis and Algiers – making it one of the most southerly reaches of Europe. It has a fascinating history, having been ruled by a who's who of civilisations since Antiquity.

St John’s Co-Cathedral was a highlight for me, notable for housing two of the finest paintings from Caravaggio’s oevre. The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist is said to be the first depiction of a ‘tragedy’ in post-Classical art.

On a different note, I regret to inform Paul Tanner that Malta's buses are no longer so characterful - they have been replaced by boring green Arriva buses of the sort you might find in Wales.