AROUND THE WORLD

FROM WELL BELOW FREEZING TO REALLY HOT AND HUMID IN ONLY 24 HOURS OF TRAVELING

Yesterday's view of our deck in snowy Boulder, Colorado

If you squint and perhaps at cocktail time, it is kind of pretty looking out the patio door.

After temperatures in the 70s (low 20s Celsius), winter finally hit Boulder, Colorado. Record snow accumulation of 50 inches in February and temperatures around 0 degrees F (18 below C). A few sunny days aren't helping much.

 But we have a solution.

Itinerary of spring 2015 cruise: traveling East to West ensures a bunch of 25 hour days.

We are coming up on our long flight to Singapore, we we will spend a few days soaking up the heat and humidity and then embark the 296 passenger Silver Wind for a 32-day cruise to Athens. This itinerary is very similar to my first long cruise almost 25 years ago on the 170 passenger Song of Flower. A couple of years later, I was engaged as an enrichment lecturer on this wonderful ship* for yearly month long cruises from Aqaba, Jordan to Singapore pretty much along the upcoming cruise's route. It will be nostalgic to see these places again.

Originally holding only 170 passengers, Seven Sea's converted ferry design Song of Flower introduced all inclusive top end cruising in the early 1990s. The ship, now renamed Ocean Diamond, still sails for Quest Expeditions in Antarctica.

Silver Wind is one of the two original smaller luxury ships of Silversea Cruises. The upcoming cruise will duplicate the route of my lecturing engagements on Song of Flower. I suspect there will be fewer than 250 passengers on the 32 day cruise.