Two years ago, I became obsessed with seeing the Northern Lights. Even though particularly active solar evenings have produced an aurora as far south as Albany in recent years, I’ve missed every opportunity to glimpse the display. A trip to Iceland seemed like a relatively inexpensive bet. Reykjavik sits at 64 degrees latitude on the southern end of the country. A few days in the world’s northernmost capital would satisfy my desire for shiny lights and a small taste of Nordic culture.

My tour of Northern Europe over the next two weeks will not involve Iceland or the Northern Lights, but sometimes great ideas are birthed from other great ideas. Iceland led to Iceland and Norway (a fjord tour), which led to submitting completely to a Baltic Sea cruise that hits most of the key port cities. I’ll be on Princess Cruise Line’s Regal Princess, a brand new ship that debuted just last year.

The itinerary for the trip is as follows:

• May 2 – Copenhagen
• May 3 – Oslo
• May 4 – Aarhus
• May 5 – Berlin
• May 6 – At Sea
• May 7 – Tallinn
• May 8 – St. Petersburg
• May 9 – St. Petersburg
• May 10 – Helsinki
• May 11 – Stockholm
• May 12 – At Sea
• May 13 – Back to Copenhagen

I’m hoping to keep a trip log and post my experiences from Europe. Stay tuned.