Where are the Jays going in summer of 2023

Your going to think that our knowledge of Geography is either very bad or very good depending on your perspective.   Let me tell you the story.  

Many months of planning go into these trips.  Carol and I like these Michelin maps to make notes of potential destinations.

During the pandemic when we were all staying inside a lot, I decided to revisit learning Spanish.   A language that I took for two years in High School and hardly remembered.   Given the time I invested using Rosetta Stone, we decide to make Spain our destination after the United Kingdom.  (See prior blogs posts from April - June 2022). As we were planning the trip, I stumbled across a cruise that would deposit us in Barcelona Spain in June.  The unusual aspect is that it starts in Singapore.     

The map is interactive, so stretch to zoom in and click on the anchor to see when we arrive and what we plan to do.  You can also go full screen.  

As in the past, we will start our journey with a short visit with Carol’s mom.   Flights from St Louis to Singapore were requiring 3 legs flying west.   Then we heard that St Louis had launched non-stop service to Europe on Lufthansa.  That’s when the crazy idea of flying east to get to Singapore was born.  While its a greater distance, its total duration time is shorter with only two segments.   Plus, I always feel the risk of delays/cancellations goes down when you have fewer segments.   So on May 3rd, we will fly from St Louis to Singapore with a layover in Frankfurt Germany.  We have 5 nights in Singapore to explore this large modern city before boarding Oceania’s Nautica with about 600 other guests.  

You ask, what are we doing after we get off the ship?

Since we were in Barcelona a few years ago, we are going to catch a High Speed Train to Madrid.    There we are going to catch our breath and enjoy Madrid for 10 days.  Then we rent a car to explore Northern Spain, the Pyrenees, work our way south to the Mediterranean for a little beach time before flying back to St. Louis for a long visit with Virginia (Carol’s mom).