We get up and take one last stroll in Barcelona. Then we call a cab and ½ hour latter we are boarding our ship the Brilliance of the Seas. The ship was built in 2002 but is very classy. Our room on the cruise ship is bigger then the hotel room in Barcelona. There are a few pools onboard including one indoor pool.

At Sea | Posted by Don
Tuesday – December 1, 2009

Karen spends a lot of time at the pools and I’m just relaxing, listening to music and basically chilling. Weather started off this morning with rain, but by noon the sun was out. Dinner for two tonight and then a show with an Elton John impersonator. Can’t stay up late tonight. Up tomorrow at 6:30 to go 4×4ing through the mountains of Malta.

Here's a video about our ship the Brilliance of the Seas..

Malta | Posted by Don
Wednesday - December 2, 2009 – Malta 4 x 4 Adventure

Did you know that Malta consists of 7 islands? Did you know Malta has been inhabited for over 7000 years since Neolithic times? Remnants of the earliest civilizations still remain on the island in the form of large stone temples at Tarxien, Hagar Qim, Mnajdra, and Gozo. Some of these temples are believed to have been erected around 1000 years before the famous pyramids of Giza and are the oldest freestanding monuments in the world. After the disappearance of the Neolithic culture around 2000BC the island was conquered by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans. Well enough with the history lesson. Karen and I jump into the back of a 4×4 with 2 other people. We head up into the mountains to explore areas of Malta, not visited by many tourists and get to see some beautiful parts of the Maltese countryside. We begin by driving to northern part of Malta. We continue on to Mellieha, drive past Red Tower towards Anchor Bay & Golden Sands (This is when the movie Troy was filmed. The movie sucked but the area is beautiful). They seriously need to pave at least some of this island. Our driver is flying down the road. We drive through the small towns of Mgarr and Fomm ir-Rih and stop for a photo stop at Dingli Cliffs. On the way we pull over to look down on the quirky little town that looks strangely familiar. Our guide calls it Popeye Town and it hits me! This is where they filmed Popeye with Robin Williams. We drive to Mdina. Perhaps the best preserved Middle Ages town, the narrow alleys and wonderful to walk through.