Blogs from Lithuania, Europe - page 5

The pre-dawn flight to Vilnius arrived there at 11am, picking up two hours on the timezone difference. The airport is in old and new halves, and inexplicably they have decided to assign the Soviet-era-mausoleum half as the arrivals hall and the sparkly new half as departures, which to us was not good impression management. Anyway, the information desk was helpful, explaining that we could take a no. 88 bus to a stop very close to our hotel for one euro ($1.60) each “possibly with a charge for bags”. That actually turned out to be a mini-bus, with a driver who was surly but not unhelpful. It was Sunday, and on the way in we gave up seats to two grateful and voluble (in Lithuanian) old ladies. They and a number of others were being ferried straight ... read more

We left right after work on Friday and drove over 4 hours to the Belarus-Lithuania border north of Grodna, Belarus. The sun was in and out of the clouds. We drove through forest and fields and small villages. Roads were freeway near Minsk and Grodna, giving way to two-way roads in poor condition. They were expanding the road to 1 1/2 lanes each way. We experienced this type of road in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia earlier this year on our Baltic road trip. Drivers are expected to drive on the wide shoulder as faster cars pass by. You are rewarded with two flashes of caution lights from the passing car as a thank you. Darkness slowly enveloped us as we passed through Grodna. We were stopped briefly at a police checkpoint in the middle of a ... read more

Today we did not bike, but walked a lot. Warm to hot, depending if you were in the shade. Nice wind if up at higher elevations. Definitely a sunblock day. Ate breakfast at our flat. Walked to National Cathedral and Museum complex. The climb to the upper castle was easy on this very hot day. It provided a commanding view of Vilnius. Went to the top of the tower, looked at various exhibits here. Then went to the National Museum. Looked artifacts and castle remnants mainly from 1350 to 17th century. Very interesting Lithuanian history lesson. Later had lunch at Japanese restaurant and sushi. I had "warm" sushi, which was very good. Later went to Museum of Genocide. This the building where the Nazis and Soviet era KGB performEd their ghastly work. Overall pretty depressing. They ... read more

Biked about 2 miles today for a total of 432 miles. Sunny and warm to Hot. Cooler in the shade. Absolutely no rain. Got up at 6:30 am to catch the 7:30 am bus to Vilnius. Road with Ecoline bus service - free coffee, tea, WiFi. Straight shot from Riga to Vilnius on freeway. Arrived at 11:15 am. Left our gear at la ocker, as our AirBNB room would not be ready until 3:00 pm. We went on a walking tour in the old town and in the fictious republic of Uzupis, created by drunken artists and now celebrated by locals and tourists. Good overview of Vilnius centrally. Had a difficult time finding our new home, but it was worth it. It is a studio apartment near the only left gate to the old city called ... read more

Our first stop on our summer 2015 quest-trek is Vilnius, Lithuania where Ray taught a Strategic Management course at Mykylo Romerio University. This was our first visit to Lithuania, but hopefully not our last. We loved the people we met, places we visited and the teaching opportunity at MRU. In addition to teaching his class, Ray was also invited to present a Plenary Session at the International 5th Practice and Research in Private and Public Sector Conference hosted by the MRU Faculty of Economics and Management. We were graciously entertained during our stay, and loved every minute! A big thanks to the collaborating faculty, staff and students with whom Ray worked who went out of their way to ensure we had a great experience. A special thanks to Egle Malinauskiene, Ilona Bartuseviciene and Dovile Kurtinaityte and ... read more