After the rain stops, September is the most beautiful month of the year in Lithuania. Temperatures are normally in the high 60′s in the sun, the skies as blue as Christmas Day in Aspen. The trees begin to turn yellow, orange and red, so that even the slightest breeze has them sparkling in the sunlight. It also turns out, that despite how small Vilnius is, it actually is possible to spend all afternoon people watching and not see a single person you know.
On such a day, I love to fill my backpack with my book, a couple notebooks, my newest Harper’s and my journal, and set out to find a nice table in the sunshine to pass the afternoon…
There are obviously a few places in Vilnius where you can get Lithuanian food, but the quality and authenticity vary drastically from place to place. Here’s a round up of the best potato pancakes, šašlykiai and dumplings in the city and around the country…
Travel magazines love to publish articles about road trips around New Zealand. The reader can imagine themselves in a shiny new BMW, the top down, speeding across the lush countryside or along the Tasman Sea…
After four months in New Zealand, I’ve come to understand that most roads are less “German car commercial” and more “dangerous muddy mess.” Don’t let it stop you though… it’s a hell of a ride!
If I had written this email this morning, I would have said, “Hello from Sunny New Zealand….” But now it’s in the late afternoon, it’s no longer sunny, the wind they predicted is picking up, the rain is falling horizontal, and my fire is struggling to stay lit.
The school holidays are over, and I had a three day weekend thanks to a closed day last Saturday at Turoa due to limited visibility and wind. I spent much of Sunday chopping kindling and bringing in firewood to dry. Three weeks ago I was the worst fire starter in the world. These days, I’m practically a professional…
The thing about living in a small country in north-eastern Europe, is that no matter how much you love being there, you’ll always want to travel a lot.
It’s not as easy as it used to be though with FlyLAL going bankrupt, and Air Baltic routing all flights out of Vilnius through Riga. The bus takes forever, but fortunately the roads through Poland are slowly getting better. I dream of the day that there is a real four lane highway from Lazdijai to Český Těšín!
When you do manage to get out of town, the excitement will turn into an energy pulsating throughout your body, like a sparkler on the Fourth of July. As you cruise down the bumpy roads of northern Poland stuck behind a 19th century tractor, you’ll dream about all the wonderful things we don’t have in Lithuania… snow-capped mountains, the warm water of the Adriatic sea, department stores with glittering perfume counters, and Burger King. The big yellow letters of IKEA will stand out from the grimy city of Warsaw like a dream and you’ll think, “Why am I living in Vilnius?”
Many many years ago – in 1997 to be exact – when I first came to Lithuania Ponių Laimė was on Gedimino g. I remember it for it’s pink and red interior, grand piano, clean, free toilets (a rarity at that time in Lithuania) and delicately decorated cakes. Together with Hanna, my Finnish classmate at Vilnius University, we would skip our afternoon conversation course to spend the afternoon drinking coffee…
Partying in the car on the way from Vilnius to Klaipeda has always been expected behavior. But, traveler’s beware, as of October 1st, 2007, it is NO LONGER LEGAL to have open alcohol containers in a moving vehicle. If pulled over, you’re likely to be in some serious trouble!
And, in case you don’t already know this, the drinking and driving laws are just as strict in Lithuania as in the rest of Europe. So, be careful, pick a designated driver, and party when you get there – not on the way!
