The last two days were going to be dedicated to last minute errands, shopping, walking, and general winding down before the trip back. Friday morning we decided to check out both open-air markets, the one by the train station, and one on Kalvariju. The former was smaller. The main hall had mostly produce merchants and the adjacent hallways housed clothes and tchochke peddlers. My attempt to take photographs was met with suspicious eyes and negative remarks, so I had to abandon it. (Yes, I’m there to take photographs of your funky sweatshirt and immediately submit them to my manufact [View Full Entry]

---

---

In the morning of Wednesday it was raining pretty hard so we had a late start. First, we went to visit where I (Denis) grew up until we left for US (17 years ago). It was quite amazing how little the neighborhood changed since that time. The changes that are noticeable are mostly not very good ones. The central doors to the complexes used to stay open all the time, they did not have any locks in them. Now, key or number combination locks. Pretty much all lower floor balconies are fenced up. A lot more graffiti is visible around (actually [View Full Entry]

---

---

Monday brought rain and what felt like chillier weather but by the time we made it out and about the rain had mostly stopped. First on our agenda was to visit the building Denis' mom grew up in only a few blocks away from where our hotel is in Old Town Vilnius. It was really a powerful experience to see it. We ate at an Italian restaurant and confirmed two of our suspicions: 1. You pretty much have to ask for the check when you are done, the service is prompt and all, but once you get your items the staff [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our trip began with an uneventful four hour flight to Chicago, followed by a 3.5 hour layover which was pretty boring except that we saw Matthew Lesko in the airport. You know the crazy guy with the question marks all over his suit and the thick glasses - who explains how to get free money from the government? (Apparently he has more time to travel now….) Next we boarded the airbus for our 7 plus hour flight to Copenhagen which at first seemed like it was going to be really nice since we were seated right in front of the lavatory. [View Full Entry]

---

---