More on Malta

We have really enjoyed Malta. The picture in the last post was the boys visiting St. John's Co-Cathedral. A baroque masterpiece. I have included some additional photos below. They include one more of Malta and a photo of our ship door, fully decorated.

Malta - An Island Treasure (May 28)

Hi guys! I am sorry that I did not post yesterday we could not get a signal. The first couple of days have been amazing and exciting to no end. The food is fantastic and plentiful, (I tried lamb last night) and the servers are so great. I have also retained my family ping-pong championship title thus far in the cruise. Today, we arrived safely at Malta, where we ventured into the unknown. We had quite a detour to find where we were going, but finally, we arrived at our destination, St. John’s Co-Cathedral. After an astounding visit, we walked right back to the ship. (Jesse)

Yesterday was our first day at sea. It was exclusively a sea-day, without a port of call. We used the time to catch up on sleep, have fun, and enjoy some of the great Disney entertainment. On the other hand, this morning we pulled into the beautiful port of Valetta, Malta. After some breakfast we wandered out on our own to see some of the city. We went for a nice walk and visited St. John’s Co-Cathedral and museum. This is one of the great landmarks of the city and was a fascinating visit. Overall, Valetta appears to be a very nice city, I enjoyed it very much. If there’s anything else you’d like to know specifically about the past couple days, just let me know and I’ll get back to you. Thanks! (Jacob)

Communication Challenges

Just a quick update to share that our ability to post while we are aboard the ship appears to be non-existent. As a result, our posts will be limited to our shore visits (of which there are plenty). We just landed in Malta and will report again toward the end of our day.

Barcelona At Last (May 26)

Hi friends and family, it's Jesse! Although today was a day full of exhausting travel, we have been looking excitedly forward to boarding the ship. Before we can enter the ship terminal (due to the early hour) we are taking a bus tour around Barcelona, Spain. You can really feel the energy building up everywhere around and especially inside of me! But that isn't the only thing that is building quickly. We haven't eaten a regular meal in 24 hours, just snacks. You can well imagine my hunger for an 8:00 PM dinner, just ten hours away. That's all for now, so I will blog again tomorrow. (Jesse)

Well where do I start? The past 24 hours have actually been pretty surreal. We flew from Phoenix to Philadelphia, and then directly to Barcelona. Here we sit now almost a full day after leaving home. We had a largely uneventful trip here, but the excitement is just about to begin! We're currently waiting with great anticipation to board the ship. Our adventure has begun, and I'm absolutely thrilled. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated over the next few days. (Jacob)

I thought I would include a few details from out tour of Barcelona (it was great to be back in this beautiful city). Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, and counting the metro area, it contains 4 million people. Barcelona was founded by the Romans approximately 2000 years ago, and therefore has many architectural styles.

Barcelona is also the home of Antonio Gaudi a founder of modern (modernismo) architecture created while he lived in this very prominent city. These architectures were featured in some of Barcelona's most significant hosted events, including:

1888 International World Exhibition
1929 International World Exhibition
1992 Olympic Games

The city is also home to museums honoring the works of Pablo Picasso and Juan Miro. The heart of the old city is located by the water and features the city's cathedral (c. 1400). The city also features a famous outdoor plaza called la Ramblas (featuring street performers), a historic bull ring (which was in use until just recently and unique architecture throughout.

Join Our Fun! (Jesse)

Hello family and friends. Are you ready to follow our grand tour of Europe? Make sure that you post plenty of comments because we want to hear from you! Over the course of this trip, we will be visiting fifteen countries including Italy, Russia, Malta and England. We are all very excited to visit these incredible historic nations and remember, we want to here from you!

The Countdown Continues (Jacob)

Hello to all of our wonderful family and friends! Welcome to the Lowery family adventure blog. I’m glad that you’re here and that you’re interested in following our voyage all along the coasts of Europe. We are going to have an exciting trip, and I’m thrilled that we can share it with you. Right now we have less than a week before we depart, and things are beginning to pick up while being both nerve-wracking and thrilling. I’m starting to pull together some things that I need to take and we’re all attempting to figure out how we’re going to pack for a whole month. Well, that’s all for now. We will be sure to keep you updated throughout the whole process of our month-long adventure!

Welcome (May 18, 2010)

We would like to welcome you to our current adventure. Today marks one week until our coming departure. We are very excited about our pending travel and equally excited to be able to share our experiences. In the next few days Jacob and Jesse will provide welcome posts. In addition, as we move closer to our departure, we will try to share a few of the details regarding our efforts to prepare for more than a month of travel.

Please be sure a let us know that you are tracking our whereabouts and let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for joining our "virtual" adventure.