Fall 2010--Iceland, Finland, Russia, Lithuania, and back to Finland

This trip was taken in conjunction with Valerie teaching classes in Vilnius, Lithuania. We flew from home to Boston to Iceland (where we spent a couple of days). We enjoyed meeting some friends who were teaching there and walking around town. We flew to Finland from Helsinki where we spent 3 days looking at sights close to the rail station and our hotel. We then took a train to St. Petersburg where we met our Russian cruise that went up the waterways to Moscow. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and kept pinching ourselves over the freedoms we were given in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Who would have thought we would ever be standing inside the Kremlin? From Moscow we flew to Vilnius where we lived in an apartment provided by the school for about 6 weeks. We left there and headed toward Santa's Village in Lapland, Finland. Unfortunately, the trip had a very dramatic ending with Sharon slipping on the ice and being knocked out for about 20 seconds. We went off to the emergency room where they kept her overnight and then back to Helsinki with another trip to the emergency department at the neurological hospital. The doctor gave her some good meds and permission to fly, and we decided to go back as far as Iceland and test the waters there. Sharon did OK--the flights were relatively shorter being that far north than flying directly to NY or home. We had planned to spend several days in Boston, which we did, with Sharon mostly in Mass General in Boston. Her story of falling in Santaland entertained the emergency room and doctors for several days. When she was released, we flew to Lexington, KY to pick up Rosie and headed home. We hope you enjoy the ups and downs of our trip.

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Trip Length: 10 weeks
Blog Entries: 12
Photos: 286
Words: 9959

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Blog Entries

Date	Blog Title	Location
August 31st 2010	A few days in Iceland	Europe » Iceland
September 3rd 2010	September 1-3, 2010--Helsinki, Finland	Europe » Finland » Uusimaa » Helsinki
September 4th 2010	Helsinki, Finland to Saint Petersburg, Russia--September 4, 2010	Europe » Finland » Uusimaa » Helsinki
September 5th 2010	Sunday, September 5th, 2010--Saint Petersburg, Russia	Europe » Russia » Northwest » Saint Petersburg
September 6th 2010	Monday, September 6th, 2010--Saint Petersburg, Russia	Europe » Russia » Northwest » Saint Petersburg
September 7th 2010	Tuesday, September 7th, 2010—Cruising Lake Lagoda and Verchnie Mandrogi	Europe » Russia » Northwest
September 8th 2010	Wednesday, September 8th, 2010--Kizhi Island	Europe » Russia » Northwest
September 9th 2010	Thursday, September 9, 2010--Goritsky	Europe » Russia » Northwest
September 10th 2010	Friday, September 10th, 2010--Myshkin and Uglich	Europe » Russia » Northwest
September 11th 2010	Saturday, September 11th, 2010--Moscow at night and sights along the way	Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow
September 12th 2010	Sunday, September 12th, 2010--MOSCOW	Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow
September 13th 2010	September the 13th, 2010: Last day of the tour: Moscow	Europe » Russia » Northwest » Moscow