Itinerary – June 2017

May 31 – Fly from Fort Myers, FL to Seattle, WA  –  Hotel –  Westin Seattle

June 1 – Transfer to group hotel – Four Seasons Hotel Seattle – Visit Chihully Exhibit – Cocktail reception and welcome dinner

June 2 – Transfer to Seattle Airport – depart for Kyoto Japan – tech stop in Anchorage AK – cross the international date line -tech stop in Sapporo Japan – final into Osaka Japan – transfer to hotel – Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto

June 4 – Tour of Kyoto’s spiritual landmarks – 10,000 red torii gates leading to Fushimi Inari Shrine for a blessing ceremony – visit to Sanju-Sangendo, a Buddhist temple displaying 1,001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy – Shabu-Shabu lunch.  We then have a private car and driver to take us to the Miho Museum.

June 5 – Nara City tour – 8th century capital – visit to Todaiji Temple, the world’s largest wooden building set in a deer park and seeing an enormous bronze Daibutus Buddha that weighs 550 tons – visit Kasuga-Taisha shrine – lunch at a local restaurant.  In the afternoon, tour Nijo Castle, a remnant from the feudal era.

June 6 – Transfer from Kyoto to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – hotel – Shangri-La Ulaanbaatar

June 7 – Visit the Gandan Monastery where 150 monks reside – see the tallest indoor Buddha, 87 feet inlaid with over 2,000 precious stones – visit the National History Museum – besides paintings and sculptures we will see complete dinosaur skeletons unearthed in the Gobi – lunch at a local restaurant – transferring to Gorkhi-Terelj National Park – hotel – Terelj Hotel

June 8 – Tour the national park – seeing the massive statue compound dedicated to Genghis Khan on the banks of the Tuul River – this will be led by a local historian – lunch at the hotel before visiting a local temple – afternoon choices include horseback riding or hiking or a visit to a local nomadic family.

June 9 – Return to Ulaanbaatar – for lunch and traditional entertainment – visit a Cashmere factory – fly to Irkutsk, Russia – tour of Irkutsk – visit the Znamenskaya Cathedral seeing the graves of the Decembrist revolutionaries who launched the 1825 uprising against Tsar Nicholas I – drive to the city’s old quarter to see the ornately built houses and the Church of the Savior and the Epiphany Cathedral as well as Volkonsky Manor – check into hotel followed by a special dinner at a local restaurant – hotel – Courtyard by Marriott, Irkutsk City Center

June 10 – Transfer to Lake Baikal – touring St. Nicolas Church – either visit an open-air market or the Ecology Museum – visit the lakeside village of Listvyanka and embark on a cruise on the lake – lunch at a local restaurant with a blessing by a local shaman – in the evening go to historic 130th District for dinner

June 11 – Transfer to airport for flight to St. Petersburg, Russia – after arriving lunch at a local restaurant – visit Catherine Palace in the town of Tsarskoe Selo – transfer to hotel – Four Seasons Hotel Lion’s Palace St. Petersburg

June 12 – Visit the Hermitage Museum before it opens to the public – see the winding of the Peacock Clock – lunch at the hotel – visit Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, whose walls are covered in intricate mosaics – visit the Faberge Museum, recently opened, to see 9 of the famous eggs and other objets d’art – after dinner attend a performance by the Mariinsky Ballet

June 13 – Visit the gardens and fountains of the Peterhof – after lunch visit the Hermitage Museum to see the Impressionist Collection – dinner is at the Vladimir Palace located on the Neva River with entertainment

June 14 – Transfer from St. Petersburg Russia to Alesund Norway – lunch in the center of town – followed by a guided tour of the city’s Art Nouveau architecture – transfer to hotel – Storfjord Hotel

June 15 – Bette will spend the day exploring Norway’s western fjords – taking a ferry to the port town of Hellesylt to cruise the Geirangerfjord – lunch in the scenic Valldalen Valley after traveling on “Eagles’s Road” – then to Gudbrandsjuvet Gorge to see underground waterfalls – ending by traveling on Trollstigen Road with lots of twists and turns

Bob will sea kayak in the morning on “Great Fjord” Norway’s purest fjord – picnic lunch – then in the afternoon he will hike the Black Hill Rise getting fantastic views from the 1,000 foot vantage point

Dinner at our hotel with entertainment

June 16 – Transfer to airport for flight to Reykjavik Iceland – lunch at the Lava Restaurant at the Blue Lagoon – with an option to spend the afternoon there to soak in the waters – lecture at the hotel before dinner – hotel – Hotel Borg

June 17 – Tour of Iceland’s scenic wonders Pingvellir National Park, Geysir Hot Springs and Gullfoss, the widest and most impressive waterfalls in Europe – after lunch at a local restaurant – transfer to Langjokull to explore one of Iceland’s largest glaciers by snowmobile

June 18 – Hike through the Heilmork Nature Reserve – after lunch – photo journey with National Geographic Photographer Sisse Brimberg  – in the evening transfer by ferry to Vioey Island for dinner and entertainment

June 19 – Transfer to airport for flight to Kangerlussuaq Greenland – divide into small groups for flight to Ilulissat – seeing the dramatic Greenlandic scenery – free afternoon – hotel – Hotel Arctic

June 20 – Scenic flight to see glaciers, fjords and rocky coastlines – meet dog sled team – visit the Inuit settlement of Sermermiut with time to explore and learn about Greenland’s 4,000 year old indigenous culture – cruise to one of Greenland’s impressive glaciers – cocktails and dinner

June 21 – Charter flight to Kangerlussuag – lunch before flying on to Boston MA – festive farewell dinner – hotel – Four Seasons Hotel Boston

June 22 – Transfer to Srivastava’s

June 26 – Return to Fort Myers FL