Vilnius - Days 159-160

My first day in Vilnius was grey and rainy, but yesterday and today were the absolute definition of "perfect weather." Plus, yesterday was the longest day/shortest night of the year and with the sun shining, you get a better idea of just how late the sun sets. It was well past 11pm when it actually got dark...and I'm pretty sure the sun is out again around 3am. Can't say I've ever seen it rise...maybe if I stayed out late one evening.

I had to switch hosts here in Vilnius because my first host went home for the holiday (Midsummer's Eve). So I went from a 18 year old university student to a 55 year old librarian with 5 children. I'm not kidding when I say there should be a movie made about this family. If you've ever seen "The Family Stone" (one of my favorite movies), this is somewhat a Lithuanian version of that family. All her five children are grown, but the youngest still lives at home and just finished high school, so she walked with me around town for the day. We stopped by a weapons store on the way so she could by a taser for her own upcoming trip :) She's basically bouncing from festival to festival throughout Europe and volunteering. And then in town, we met up with her older sister and her couchsurfer from Finland. The sister put in her resignation and has one week left of her job before traveling herself. Then later in the day, the oldest brother joined us for the evening. He had just come back from his second 6 month trip in Asia. The youngest brother is living in London and the other brother was in Poland watching the Euro games. The mother is the coolest of them all. Her two daughters got her involved with CS because she wanted to practice her English and lessons are too expensive, and now she's addicted, haha. Not only does she accept requests, but she sits in front of the computer looking for people who are traveling to Vilnius and invites them herself - thankfully that's how I came to stay here. She didn't start traveling until late in life because of financial and also border limitations, but she's sure making up for lost time. Her kids don't like traveling with her because they can't keep up, haha. She's out the door by 8am and pretty much goes nonstop until the evening. I hope I'm that cool when I'm her age. Today she showed me a CS profile of a 85 year old in Montreal and said she hopes to be that cool at 85.

Today I took a local bus out to Trakai - a short 30 minute ride. It was once the capital of Lithuania and a very historically significant site. There is a castle built on an island and also a small Karaim community. The Karaim have their origins in Turkey but were brought back to Lithuania by Duke Vytautas from Crimea in the 14th century. The Lithuanians love to talk about that part of their history because they were once the largest country in Europe and stretched all the way from Baltic to Black Sea. How things have changed...

It was a nice day trip - not only because of the well restored castle and museum, but it was nice to be out of the city and walk in nature along the lake shores on a perfect day. 70, sunny, dry, and breezy :) Riga tomorrow. 

Krakow/Warsaw/Vilnius - Days 154-158

On the move, on the move.

So my last day in Krakow was also spent taking advantage of the free museum days. Started with the Oscar Schindler factory, which ironically had almost nothing to do with the man himself, but rather the history of Krakow under Nazi occupation. It was spectacular (even if I had to pay). Really modern, detailed, interactive displays with bits of historical information and personal anecdotes mixed together.

Then later in the afternoon came the "Rynek Underground" museum, which is located under the main town square and displayed the layers of Krakow history - literally. You could see the original wooden beams and cobble stones from the founding of the city as well as the original stalls of the marketplace. The most interesting thing was a series of documentary clips, 5 in total, that explained the periods of Krakow from antiquity to its joining of the EU. And between these two museums, I stopped for a portion of pierogies filled with sweet cheese and topped with melted butter and cinnamon...

The next day I took a midday train to Warsaw that was completely not air conditioned, so I arrived all shiny and stinky to my host who was waiting for me on the train platform. Agnes, my host in Warsaw, was probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met :) She's a 25 year old studying both ethnology and finance at two separate universities and decided to take me home to meet the parents, haha. She had to go home to Lublin for some business and kindly invited me to tag along. I never give up an opportunity to experience some authentic family life and jumped at the opportunity. As soon as I met her parents, it was evident where she got her sweetness. They don't speak a lick of English but made me feel so welcome and we were able to communicate with Agnes' help and miming. So we walked around her hometown and also a small town called Kasimierz and ate some local food and drank Turkish coffee. Then the next day evening, we came back to Warsaw and hung out with her friends at a local pub.

I finally got to explore Warsaw on my third day. For a city that was basically destroyed,obliterated, demolished, leveled...whatever word you use, it has really triumphed and rebuilt itself beautifully. The "old town" was rebuilt after the war and granted UNESCO status in 1980. It was fun walking around the city because everything is well labeled and there are plaques scattered everywhere explaining important dates and locations. If Pope John Paul II is the rock star of Krakow, then Frederick Chopin is the rock star of Warsaw. It was cool visiting the church where he used the play the organ as a kid.

Last night I took an overnight bus from Warsaw to Vilnius - 8pm to 6am. Today I spent the day with a local university student called Dovile and will spend the night at her dormitory. It's really basic conditions but I love these glimpses into foreign university life. Vilnius so far is really beautiful - so clean and well laid out with no distinct center. Tomorrow I'll change a host and blog more about the city :)