Baltics 2010: Overview

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United States flagPublished: July 28th 2010North America » United States » Washington » Burien
August 26th 2010

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Baltics Overview
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Map Title: Baltics Overview
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Seattle to the Baltics (and Belarus) via Reykjavik

I've been using TripIt.com to organize specific travel plans, and a Google Docs spreadsheet to track details and compare options, but neither one of them works well at all as a trip-sharing platform to let other people know the obvious basic questions: where am I going, for how long, and why?

Without further ado:

Seattle, Washington - depart Aug 26


IcelandAir flight FI680 from Seattle to Reykjavik, 7 hours

Reykjavík, Ísland- Aug 27


Iceland Express flight AEU267 from Reykjavík to Gdańsk, 4 hours
(Operates on Fridays in summer only - this is the last flight of 2010 - wish me luck!)

Gdańsk, Polska - Aug 27 to 31

  • English name: Gdańsk, Poland
  • Language: Polish
  • Time zone: CEST (UTC +2)
  • Average temperatures: 75F high, 56F low
  • Also known as: Danzig, Germany until 1945
  • Staying at: Gotyk House
  • Why it's interesting: German/Polish history & culture; Baltic beaches; very important WWII and Cold War sites; my Rehbein ancestors (probably) emigrated from Danzig, Prussia to USA in 1882
  • Side trip: Malbork Castle

PKP train Pospieszny D7 from Gdańsk to Kaliningrad, 6 hours

Калининград, Россия - Aug 31 to Sep 4

  • English name: Kaliningrad, Russia
  • Language: Russian
  • Time zone: EEST (UTC +3)
  • Average temperature on these dates: 69F high, 50F low
  • Also known as: Königsberg, Prussia until 1945
  • Staying at: Hotel Paraiso
  • Why it's interesting: German/Polish/Russian history; Baltic beaches; WWI and WWII sites; parts of Kaliningrad were closed to foreigners during Cold War; geographically oddly disconnected from Russia today
  • Side trip: Baltiysk (Pillau) and Svetlogorsk (Rauschen)

Belavia Belarusian Airlines flight B2-1950 from Kaliningrad to Minsk, 1 hour

Мiнск, Беларусь - Sep 4 to 8


Belavia Belarusian Airlines flight B2*-413 from Minsk to Riga, 1.5 hours

Rīga, Latvija - Sep 8 to 10

  • English name: Riga, Latvia
  • Language: Latvian
  • Time zone: EEST (UTC +3)
  • Average temperature on these dates: 64F high, 48F low
  • Staying at: Hotel Ekes Konvents
  • Why it's interesting: Latvian/Slavic/Germanic/Russian cultural mix; Old town German Art Nouveau architecture; forcibly annexed to USSR in 1940; was among first Soviet states to declare independence, in 1991, leading to breakup of USSR; ethnic Russians remain a majority in many areas

airBaltic flight BT343 from Riga to Vilnius, 1 hour

Vilnius, Lietuva - Sep 10 to 13

  • English name: Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Language: Lithuanian
  • Time zone: EEST (UTC +3)
  • Average temperature on these dates: 64F high, 46F low
  • Staying at: Bernardinų B&B House
  • Why it's interesting: Lithuanian/Polish culture; forcibly annexed to USSR in 1940; was the first Soviet state to declare independence, in 1990, leading to breakup of USSR; minority Russian exclaves remain
  • Side trip: Kaunas

airBaltic flight BT331 from Vilnius to Tallinn, 1.5 hours

Tallinn, Eesti - Sep 13 to 15

  • English name: Tallinn, Estonia
  • Language: Estonian
  • Time zone: EEST (UTC +3)
  • Average temperature on these dates: 60F high, 45F low
  • Staying at: Valge Villa
  • Why it's interesting: Russian/Scandinavian/Finnish cultural mix; forcibly annexed to USSR in 1940; was among first Soviet states to declare independence, in 1990-1, leading to breakup of USSR; minority Russian exclaves remain

Tallink Silja Line ferry Star/Superstar from Tallinn to Helsinki, 2 hours

Helsinki, Suomi - Sep 15 to 17

  • English name: Helsinki, Finland
  • Language: Finnish
  • Time zone: EEST (UTC +3)
  • Average temperature on these dates: 56F high, 47F low
  • Staying at: Hotelli Finn
  • Why it's interesting: Finnish/Scandinavian/Russian cultures; ultramodern architecture, economy, infrastructure; interesting Cold War political history as a wedge between west & east

IcelandAir flight FI343 from Helsinki to Reykjavik, 3.5 hours

Reykjavík, Ísland- Sep 17 to 18

  • English name: Reykjavík, Iceland
  • Language: Icelandic
  • Time zone: GMT (UTC +0)
  • Average temperature on these dates: 51F high, 42F low
  • Staying at: 1912 Guest House
  • Why it's interesting: volcanoes! location between Seattle and Europe! irresistible IcelandAir fares!

IcelandAir flight FI681 from Reykjavik to Seattle, 8 hours

Seattle, Washington - return Sep 18




Cheryl M Hammond
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Trips
Euro 2005
June 7th 2005 -» July 4th 2005
Island Time
October 21st 2006 -» October 28th 2006
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March 30th 2009 -» April 6th 2009
Baltics 2010
August 26th 2010 -» September 18th 2010
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Comments
Date: 6th August 2010

Interesting trip!
Looking forward to seeing your travel blog descriptions and pictures! Have a safe and enjoyable trip!

From Blog: Baltics 2010: Overview
Date: 10th August 2010

Awesome!
Wow Cheryl... that looks like an amazing trip! I am suitably and horribly jealous and will figure out some way to get even with you. :) Pictures and stories when you return will be required, pretty please.

From Blog: Baltics 2010: Overview




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