Sign In
Page 9 of Vilius Travel Blog Posts
Italy vs Lietuva, Amsterdam
Published: August 14th 2007Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Hoofddorp
August 14th 2007
So as it would be too difficult to recap the happenings of the last two months of my travels, the following few entries are mostly photo galleries to give a glimpse of what I have been up to. ... read more
August 13th 2007
So it has been a long time since I have written. This entry is simply to state the obvious, to say that I am still alive and well and here in Lithuania. For those of you who don't know, I was back home in NC for my grandpa's 90th birthday. While home I was interviewed by the News & Observer, a Raleigh newspaper, about my experiences in Lithuania. here is the link: http://www.chapelhillnews.com/sports/story/8934.html (just cut & paste into your web browser) I was also coming home to help with the estate sale, to sell all of the things left in our house from Pleasant Green Road (did you know we moved??). Here is one of our last pics at the house, 'welcoming home' the new family that would be moving in. More blogs are on their ... read more
Kevin Slowey: A Tribute
Published: May 31st 2007North America » United States » Minnesota » Minneapolis » Uptown
May 31st 2007
Kevin Slowey, my good friend and one of the newest subscribers to this blog, sent me a package to France with a new baseball glove and some under-armour baseball clothing. I wrote him an email to thank him for his gracious gift, and he said that he did not need any thanks, but that if I ever felt obliged I could feature him in one of my blog entries. Well, that time has come. This morning I was reading an article on ESPN.com, an opinion piece giving a rundown of the latest happenings in Major League Baseball, and unexpectedly the article started talking about Kevin Slowey. I took this as a sign that it is time for the 'Tribute to Kevin Slowey.' Kevin is a professional baseball player, grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. I met ... read more
May 30th 2007
It is clear that we are a battered team at this moment, only two days into the Lithuanian Championship. I strained a muscle in my right shoulder sliding back into first on Saturday; right now I am wearing a brace and the doctor has told me to not play for at least one week. I was at practice, though throwing and running a bit. Marijus Dargus was back at practice even though he is recovering from knee surgery and cannot do anything more than walk. He apparently called Sigitas immediately after he heard about our devastating 22-5 loss saying that he would be ready to pitch the following week. He was out at practice on monday (it was the 13-15 year old practice, not even our team) throwing to hitters. We learned that over the ... read more
May 29th 2007
I continue to learn more and more about baseball here in Lithuania. Last Sunday at the games in Utena I was playing first base when a ball was hit to the shortstop, who threw a wild throw to first wide to the right. I went to catch the throw and was toppled over by the Utena runner as he ran past first base. I tumbled once and landed on my feet, and impulsively said ‘Aziprasau,’ (sorry). The Utena guy said ‘hey man, sorry ‘bout that, you alright?’ And I said ‘you’re not Lithuanian.’ ‘Nope,’ he said. So how did I go a full season in Lithuania last year, playing in Utena numerous times never having met this other American playing baseball in Lithuania? As he stood on first, we began to chat. I learned a ... read more
May 29th 2007
Last year I wrote about the great Lithuanian baseball tradition (in fact Kaunas baseball tradition) that if you hit a home run you are obliged to buy beers for the whole team. I commented initially that this was an incredible tradition, but a rather expensive one for the few players who most often hit the home runs. On our first day of games last weekend Aivaras hit the first homerun of the Lithuanian championship. And I learned that in fact this year the team has changed the tradition because some guys complained about having to always buy the beers after games last year. The new tradition, more along the lines of what we do in the US, is that the team buys drinks and dinner for the home run hitter after the game. ... read more
May 28th 2007
Things have not gone as expected and hoped for here in the Lithuanian Championship for the Kaunas Lituanica squad. Just a little background; in 2006 (last year), Lituanica won the championship easily losing only three games all season and winning the final series 3 games to 1. At this point last season, the team was 6 and 0. Right now our record stands at 2 and 4. True—we are not the same team as we were last year. Three of our best players are not playing, others are injured and only half-strength. In addition it appears that the other teams in the championship have improved. Also, more than half of our team are hitting with wooden bats to prepare for the European Championship; Utena and other teams in Lithuania all hit with metal. All that ... read more
May 21st 2007
This past week was ‘Kaunas Days’ in Kaunas, a whole week to celebrate the greatness of Kaunas. It started off with a bang last weekend with two full days of music, artisans and vendors from all over Lithuania coming to Kaunas to sell their art, foodstuffs, to show off their trade. There were three music stages, and a big carnival with carnival rides, cotton candy (the literal translation from Lithuanian was ‘Sugar Cotton’), and bumper cars. Of note is that all of the ride names, the signs and words on the sides of this portable carnival show were French or English. Also of note was the thousands and thousands of people who flocked to the city for the event. Just a few pics from kaunos dienos. As usual, the photos fail to capture the event ... read more
Last summer I was playing baseball in Lithuania, coaching in Moscow, hitching through Bavaria, and working construction in the South of France. Who knows what this summer will bring.
Read my blog... full info
| Joined | June 6th 2006 | Trips | 0 |
| Last Login | December 16th 2010 | Followers | 0 |
| Status | BLOGGER | Follows | 0 |
| Blogs | 181 | Guestbook | 145 |
| Photos | 890 | Forum Posts | 4 |
Options
Blogged From
TravelBlog Awards
Top Photos
Tot: 0.145s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 15; qc: 77; dbt: 0.0619s; 1; s:apollo w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 6.5mb
© 2013 TravelBlog.org & Bloggers