Geo: 54.9, 23.9We got picked up at 10 after the supreme breakfast buffet and were soon on our way to Trakai Castle, about an hour and 15 minute ride from Kaunas. We switched up the passenger order so that Barb and Irena could spend more time together along with Diana and Rokas, our faithful and talented translator.Soon we found ourselves headed toward an island castle, walking across boardwalk bridges and past numerous musical entertainers. The castle dated from the 14th century and was largely restored during several periods of the 20th century. We gathered in the castle confines for an English guide and saw several interior rooms, a courtyard, and learned a lot about the impact of Vytautas on creating the kingdom of Lithuania and of various plots to prevent said kingdom from happening. We were ... read more

Geo: 54.9, 23.9After a limo ride to O'Hare, we departed for Frankfurt and arrived at the time they thought was breakfast but felt like bedtime to us. Jake, as usual, got pulled from the security line, this time to have his hands swabbed to check for bomb-material residue. It must have been the beard or the NHS t-shirt that had the letters shown in sign language. (Maybe they thought gang signs?) Upon arriving at Frankfurt, we were confused about when to drink our beers and when to take our pills. So, we did them both. For a German breakfast of hot Italian sandwiches and radler.Following a slightly longer than expected layover, we were off to Vilnius. On the plane, Barb met a lady from South Carolina who had, literally, traveled the world and shared her thoughts ... read more

Geo: 52.2449, 21.0119Today we traveled to Warsaw. Our day started off with an uneventful ride to the train station, helped a great deal by our driver who showed us where to go, to the point of taking us directly to the platform. We thought we had it made.When our train pulled into the station, we boarded what we thought would be our car. It was full of people, many of whom were not thrilled to see us block their paths with our big bags. RailEurope sold us tickets that had no specific seat assignments. So, we were in a first class car but without assigned seats. Everytime we tried to take a seat we were pushed out by someone with a numbered ticket. We sought help from the snack car girls, then separated to get out ... read more

Geo: 51.7292, 18.516Hello again.Yesterday was a day of travel. We boarded a flight from Vilnius to Warsaw, and another from Warsaw to Krakow. Flight #2 was on a prop plane, which was interesting and small. It provided its own stairs for boarding (part of the door). It was not a confidence-inspiring aircraft. They have good candy bars on LOT Polish airlines.We arrived at Globtrotter and knew right away this was going to be a nice place to stay. Right off the main square and yet surrounding a garden courtyard behind the street, Globtrotter is like a private estate hidden away from plain sight. We were graciously welcomed by the desk attendant, Marek. He had pre-marked a map for us of good places to eat. A walk to the town's market square put a smile on all ... read more

Geo: 54.8969, 23.8924Whoa. This morning, our guide and driver showed up in an 18 person mini bus for the four of us. She and the driver had no idea about what was in store, expecting they would be taking us on a normal tour of Kaunas, Lithuania. Later, we were glad it was a bus... more on that soon.First, we had to explain to the guide that we had an appointment to meet Barb's relatives and that we needed her to be an interpreter. She said, "This is your day, I will be your interpreter." And that she was. She explained the situation to the bus driver and made a few phone calls, and about an hour later, we found ourselves at the home of Barb's second cousin, Irena. She gave us a tour of the ... read more