7-1-15: Baltic Bash!

Starting July 2, 2015..
Clyde here...
We should all be a little concerned about the travel decision this year. You see, it has been our custom to call upon the wine god Bacchus for guidance. But this time we fumbled about with thoughts of Italy (too hot), Patagonia (too cold), Canada, (save for when we get old). Iceland? Well, I hear that is beautiful and perhaps we make a short trip this year and save money for France and Spain early next year. OK, let’s do it!

Then we get together and pour the wine and the trip begins to expand. Norway and Russia and Estonia and Ferries and snowmobiles and volcanoes and trains and pretty soon we have another trip of a lifetime and a month of new sights and experience waiting.

And no wine. Think of it – no wine. We hold out little hope for great wine in Norway or Iceland or Russia. No problem. We are taking along a case of wine and have a bottle waiting upon our return.

Ahh, but the sights we have waiting for us! Stuff we have dreamed of seeing since we turned pages of books as little people in school. Places we saw only in movies. Wonderful sights from places we can only imagine. This is going to be some adventure!

Tina here....

Clyde mentioned how we were worried about the heat in July, and where to go, and that was absolutely why we went with a Baltic trip for 2015. I've always wanted to go, as my mother's family was from Sweden and Jim's family was from Sweden and Finland. A couple of years ago, we ran into a lady from Iceland and she told us how beautiful Iceland was, and...she said that you could fly Iceland Air and hub up to 7 days in Iceland for no additional cost before heading off to your destination. Sounded good. Our friends from Ingolstadt Germany thought it sounded good too, we asked them along and they said, "OK!"
Let me introduce you to Tommy and Gisi Jansen, our travel mates during our time in Iceland.

So here is the schedule:

• July 2, head to Iceland, Sacramento, Seattle to Reykjavik, Iceland
• July 3, arrive at Reykjavik at 6:45 AM and head for our Reykjavik House, unpack and check out the town
• July 4, Iceland South Tour with a champagne stop to celebrate the 4th of July!
• July 5, Snowmobiling on a glacier and tour of the Golden Circle
• July 6, Keflavik Tour, museums, hiking, hot springs
• July 7, Tour, Inside the Volcano https://insidethevolcano.com
• July 8, Clyde, Krim, Tina and Jim Fly to Helsinki, Finland; Paulo, our tour guide will pick us up from the airport and take us to tour the Helsinki area
• July 9, Fly to St. Petersburg, Russia; tour city center and shopping!
• July 10, Tour St. Isaac Cathedral and Church of Savior on Spilled Blood
• July 11, Tour the Hermitage Museum
• July 12, Tour Peterhoff Palace
• July 13, Tour Pushkin & Pavlovsk (Palace of the Imperator Pavel) and fly to Tallinn, Estonia
• July 14, Old town Tour
• July 15, Depart on Ferry back to Helsinki to catch ship to Stockholm, Sweden
• July 16, Arrive 9 AM in Stockholm. The Vasa Museum and Old Town Walk About
• July 17, Royal Canal Tour and then tour of some old palace, there is a bunch of them
• July 18, Fly to Oslo, Norway
• July 19, Oslo, Norway - Tour undetermined
• July 20, Train from Oslo to Bergen
• July 21-26, Bergen, Norway
• July 26, Fly from Bergen to Reykjavik, Iceland; stay at Blue Lagoon Clinic Hotel
• July 27, Fly to Sacramento, arriving about midnight on the 27th to the Brooker Hilton