TWICE AROUND THE WORLD: Part 2

Remember, did you move your clock forward by one hour?  We are now into daylight savings time, and New York is 6 hours ahead of Hawaii.  3 hours for the West Coast.  The time difference between Tokyo and Honolulu is always 5 hours because we remain at standard time.

One more point of remembrance.  Wednesday, March 17, is St. Patrick's Day.  There was an actual character named Patrick, who was born British around 460 AD.  However, all you've heard about him is probably false, such as chasing snakes out of Ireland.  He was never canonized.

March 17 is a public holiday in Ireland.  However, we do more celebrating in the USA.  In Ireland, they have Dublin Coddle (right), a layered dish consisting of bacon, pork sausage and potatoes.  Or Irish Stew, which consists of lamb, potatoes, onions, leeks and carrots.  Here are 18 more Irish dishes.

If you subscribe to Music Choice, they are already featuring Irish songs.  If you go to Dublin, the most memorable song is Molly Malone, by the Dubliners. 

My personal favorites are I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen by Deanna Durbin and When You Were Sweet Sixteen.  The song was written by James Thornton in 1898.  That was a 1901 recording by Harry Macdonough.  This song was sung by 14-year old Shaniah Rollo in Ireland's Got Talent.

I report about St. Patrick's Day today because 15 Craigside happened to have Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner, so I had a pre-celebration with four different Irish whiskies:

Of course, I'm not the only one celebrating an early St. Pat's.  It is my day, so I can do anything I want.  Unexpectedly Chicago surprised everyone by coloring their river green on Saturday:

I yesterday fantasized about having a truly final global odyssey by going twice around the world.  Today, I'll make a rough guess about how much this will cost, and show a more detailed possible itinerary.

This Ultimate Global Adventure (UGA) would begin on October 25 with a Star Alliance flight from Honolulu to Tokyo.  My experience with this mode of travel shows the following costs:

• Economy:  $6000 or so
• Business:  $12,500
• First:  $21,000

I've done this twice, but I can't recommend First Class anymore, for many airlines have seriously cut back on First Class flights.  As this will most likely be my final such journey, I'll go Business Class.  Typically, you cut your cost by a factor of two if you plan wisely.  For example:

• Honolulu to Tokyo:  $2160
• Singapore to Dubai:  $1807
• Dubai to Zurich:  $3081
• Amsterdam to Dulles, DC:  $6367

At this point, the business class flights just for these four legs add up to $13,415.  Theoretically, I will still have 9 more flights left (you need to deduct one each for the open leg between Tokyo and Singapore, and between Zurich and Amsterdam):

• Dulles to Chicago:  $311
• Chicago to Montreal:  $681
• Montreal to Las Vegas:  $856
• Las Vegas to Vancouver:  $813
• Vancouver to San Francisco:  $327
• San Francisco to Los Angeles:  $278
• Los Angeles to Honolulu:  $978

This itinerary adds up to $4244, or a value of $17,659.  Two more cities can be added.  As for example, if I decided to return from Europe via Mexico City:

• Frankfurt to Mexico City:  $8598
• Mexico City to New York:  $627

Which would jack up the actual cost of the individual legs to $26,884, or double the cost of the Around the World fare.

Thus, the twice around the world itinerary would be :

• Honolulu to Tokyo on Star Alliance:  October 25, 2021
• Stay at Sheraton in Yokohama
• Keep baggage in hotel, and take something light on Japan Rail Pass from Yokohama on October 28 to Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Niigata, Nagoya and back to Yokohama on November 3
• Yokohama to Singapore on Celebrity Cruise:  November 4
• 16-days in Aqua class for $4000/person, which includes free drinks, unlimited internet and more
• Arrive Singapore:  November 21, via  Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Kochi, Kagoshima, Jeju Island, Hong Kong, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)
• Singapore to Dubai:  November 26
• Dubai World Expo and other attractions:  November 27, 28, 29 and 30
• Dubai to Zurich:  December 1
• Zurich to Basel via?:
• Crystal Cruise from Basel:  December 5
• Arrive Amsterdam:  December 11
• Amsterdam to Dulles, DC:  December 14
• Hotel (?)
• Leave baggage at hotel and Amtrak to New York City:  December 18
• Amtrak to DC:  December 21
• DC to Chicago:  December 23
• Christmas in Chicago
• Chicago to Montreal:  December 26
• Montreal to Las Vegas:  December 29
• Las Vegas to Vancouver:  January 2
• Vancouver to San Francisco:  January 5
• San Francisco to Los Angeles:  January 9
• Los Angeles to Paso Robles on Amtrak:  January 11
• Paso Robles to Santa Barbara on on Amtrak:  January 14
• Santa Barbara to Los Angeles:  January 17
• Los Angeles to Singapore on Island Princess:  January 19
• Balcony from $27K/person
• Mini-suite from $40K/person
• Might be worth it if we can get free drinks, unlimited internet and tours for the full global cruise.
• We currently have reserved a balcony room with free drinks, internet, gratuity for $15.7K/person from Los Angeles to Dubai
• Stopover in Honolulu:  January 25
• Pago Pago:  January 31
• Auckland:  February 6
• Christchurch:  February 10
• Sydney:  February 15
• Adelaide:  February 19
• Perth:  February 23
• Bali:  February 27
• Singapore:  March 2
• Kuala Lumpur:  March 3
• Colombo, Sri Lanka:  March 7
• Abu Dhabi:  March 12
• Dubai and World Expo, again:  March 13 and 14
• Oman:  March 17
• Petra, Jordan:  March 22
• Suez Canal:  March 23/24
• Jerusalem/Bethlehem:  March 25
• Crete:  March 27
• Ephesus, Turkey:  March 28
• Mykonos, Greece:  March 29
• Athens:  March 30
• Malta:  April 1
• Sicily:  April 2
• Naples:  April 3
• Rome:  April 4
• Florence/Pisa:  April 5
• Genoa:  April 6
• Monte Carlo:  April 7
• Provence, France:  April 8
• Barcelona, Spain:  April 9
• Spanish Morocco:  April 11
• Seville, Spain:  April 12
• Lisbon, Portugal:  April 13
• Morocco:  April 15
• Canary Islands, April 16
• Tenerife:  April 17
• Madeira:  April 18
• Bermuda:  April 24
• Ft. Lauderdale:  April 27
• Cartagena, Colombia:  April 30
• Panama Canal:  May 1
• Costa Rica:  May 3
• Nicaragua:  May 4
• Huatalco, Mexico:  May 6
• Puerto Vallarta:  May 8
• Los Angeles:  May 11

Hotel in Los Angeles at airport.  Leave Los Angeles for Hawaii on May 12.  Twice around the world.  At this point, this is just pure fantasy.  If plans materialize, details will be provided.  Of course, you are encouraged to join us for portions of your interest, or the whole global adventure, twice.

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