I have only been to Malta once, but it continues to linger in my memory. Perhaps it was because it was a school trip and my first taste of freedom at fifteen. I had been chosen to go as part of a group performing in a concert for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). In the midst of GCSE’s, having ten days off school to spend it in a warm country seemed like a dream come true. I had travelled to Europe before on various holidays with my family, but Malta was a whole new experience. And although my teenage attitude meant I was more interested in getting drinking Maltese liqueurs than soaking up the culture, this unusual country got under my skin.