(I'll write about Easter when I can get pix of them off of my stick) The family took me to one of the outdoor museums the day after Easter. It was sort of a reoccuring theme during my stay that I felt like I was intruding on their holiday but not sure how to act. And if they were going to go to the museum only for my sake, then I would've felt like I was wasting their time. But Renata says that they always go around Easter time, so that made me feel better about going. The outdoor museum is [View Full Entry]

---

---

It was hard for me to imagine what a "traditional" Easter would be like here in Catholic country because back home, Easter's been diluted down to "spring break" and I don't even know anyone who goes to church. Bunch of heathens! I arrived Saturday morning at 4.07 at the Kaunas bus station. Renata and her Dad, Sigmund (sp), picked me up and took me back to their house. After I took a much needed shower, Renata and I went back to sleep until almost past 10, when her Mom woke us and had a yummy breakfast ready. Ohh... It was yummy... [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hotel: Radisson SAS Riga +Trakai +Siauliai We got off to a slow start out of Vilnius this morning. We almost missed breakfast after sleeping in until nearly 10:00. The restaurant had tiled images on the walls of stylized Soviet workers. There was a basket of beautifully decorated Easter eggs sitting at the bar. The breakfast at the Scandic was Ok and had the basics of fruit, sausages, and Lithuanian pancakes (blynai or blintzes). We had planned to rent a car today and drive up to Riga via the Lithuanian towns of Trakai and Siauliai. I had made a reservation with Alamo [View Full Entry]

---

---

I'm staying with Santiago's wife's sister and her family here in Kaunas. Renata and her father, Sigmund (sp) were so nice and they picked me up from the bus station last night, at 4am. 4 AM! I felt so guilty... but I couldn't help it, that was the only bus that was available. I'm going to be making them dinner in a little bit. Oh the pressure! They fed me this morning a yummy beet soup with kefir and eggs. And tea and bread. I gave them the contraband mushrooms from Taiwan and they asked me to cook it. So here [View Full Entry]

---

---

Here are a few pictures for now until I have time to write more. Enjoy! I love and miss you all! [View Full Entry]

---

---

So far we have had two concerts in Lithuania. They were both sponsored by the same church. One was in thier city and the other was at a school in a neighboring town. At the first concert one of the dancers hurt her foot right before the concert. We all prayed for her and she was able to dance for half of the concert but the next day found out she tore a tendon in her foot and can't dance for 3 weeks. So be praying for her. There were also even more obnoxious mockers but that is just a sign [View Full Entry]

---

---

Another couchsurfing adventure. Lithuania was friggin awesome. Seems like a cross of Denmark with Poland. i.e. Every other chic is beautiful, people are very well dressed, suprisingly very modern and clean BUT dirt cheap. Like £1 for beer, £1 for shots, dinner was £2.50. Kaara and her friends are amazing. We spent the weekend drinking, eating, playing pool, going to a blind museum, watched a children's play, a walking tour of the city, to an underground rave, afterparty with drum & bass djs and more. I think we did more stuff in one weekend than some people do in an entire [View Full Entry]

---

---

And now the change of plans….I don’t know if I’d mentioned that I was planning to go directly to Moscow from the Ukraine or not, but that was the original plan. However, as I was sitting in Lviv and considering my options, I realized that about anything was a better option than a 33 hour train ride from Lviv to Moscow. Now if you look at a map, you’ll realize that Lviv is incredibly close to Poland; and if you travel north from Poland, it takes you to the Baltic states which then in effect connects to the Western-most part of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Country Count: 35+2! Rides: Parnu to Riga: One motorhome all the way to the centre of Riga. Riga to Vilnius: Two cars, one truck and a Lexus! Weather - Sun! We've had sun! At last! You meet strange people on the road. While we were standing on the road outside Parnu waving our "RIGA" sign at passing traffic, an older gentleman with long white hair came up to us, asked us where we were going, gave us a photocopy of an article about himself from a German newspaper, and then stood 15 metres behind us with a large "BERLIN" sign. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

Even though I am writing to you from Riga, the blog is all Vilnius. I had a long bus ride (more on that later) to think about my time in Vilnius, and my time in the Baltics in general. And this is what I came up with (based on an article I read recently about traveling being a lot like dating): If the Baltic capitals were all men in my life, the following would be true: Tallin, I would call up when I wanted a night of class and culture...some theater, maybe a nice coffee on a terrace somewhere. Tallinn and [View Full Entry]

---

---