I belong to a minority group. I am one of those people who do not go gaa-gaa and dewy-eyed every time somebody mentions Gozo.

I don’t think that Gozo is any different from Malta or that the Gozitans are any different from the Maltese.

As far as I am concerned, Gozo is an extension of Malta or vice versa.

I know they have their own set of rules, like putting stop signs on roundabouts, giving precedence to oncoming traffic instead of the other way about. But what the hell if they want to be different from the rest of the world? Who am I to comment?

I don’t understand how you can ‘get away from it all’ by going to Gozo. You get the same newspapers, TV and radio stations that you get in Malta and, even if you do not buy the papers or switch on your mobile, tablet, radio or TV, someone will always comment on what Robert said and what Bernard answered or vice versa.

Someone will always bring up the subject of corruption, rule of law, Egrant, direct orders, building and construction, tower cranes, traffic, etc., etc.  Someone will want to discuss the pros and cons of the flaming tunnel or what assorted bloggers said or wrote or what this minister or that parliamentary secretary told them in confidence.

If I want to get away from it all, I’ll hop on a boat or a plane and go to Sicily and beyond, where whatever is published or broadcast in the media does not interest me or affect me directly and where I can avoid anybody who speaks Maltese like the plague.

I don’t understand people who leave comfortable homes in Malta to spend weekends or summers in a flat or farmhouse in Gozo but, then, I don’t understand people who leave their comfortable homes to spend the summer living rough in boathouses in Ġnejna, Mellieħa or caravans all along the coast.

I don’t like what Gozo has become. It’s become over commercialised and overbuilt- John O'Dea

I can understand people who spend a weekend in a luxury hotel in Gozo because there are some magnificent hotels there with amazing views and superlative service. However, the prices that they charge are astronomical and are, sometimes, equivalent to a holiday abroad including airfares.

The sea around Gozo is as polluted as the sea around Malta and the beaches are as crowded as the beaches in Malta, so if I have to swim in sewage or chlorinated water I might as well swim in Malta and save all the hassle of queuing for the ferry.

I love the boat ride but the thought of spending half an hour on a vessel with a gaggle of noisy, smelly day-trippers and their screaming brats gives me the jitters. Having said that, I would rather take the ferry to Gozo any day than drive to/from Gozo in a claustrophobic undersea tunnel.

I refuse to accept that restaurants in Gozo are any better than restaurants in Malta.

There are a few restaurants that are good, some that are average and others that are mediocre and also outright rip-offs. Some do have spectacular views, though. I’ll give them that. There isn’t one restaurant that I would specifically travel to Gozo for, whatever anybody says.

Some people tend to forget that hotels and restaurants in Malta and Gozo get the bulk of their raw materials, apart from fish and seafood, from the same sources, as do all retail outlets.

One constant source of amazement to me is how some people who wouldn’t be caught dead in a souk in Malta are drawn like lemmings to the souk in Victoria. I suppose it has snob appeal.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Gozo. I’ve had lovely times in Gozo and I have very fond memories of Gozo but I don’t like what Gozo has become. It’s become over-commercialised and overbuilt and has lost most of its rustic charm. 

I suppose that’s progress for you. I very much doubt that all of Calypso’s wiles would have kept Ulysses enthralled for long today.