Today was one of those long travel days. I got up at 5 a.m. to catch my 6:47 a.m. train from Vilnius to Siaulai.
Now before I begin I’m going to tell you that this particular trip planning kept me up at night in the months and weeks before my trip. I tried every way imaginable researching how to get to the Hill of Crosses. And I found that there’s no easy way to get there. It just requires precise planning. Hence the early morning train from Vilnius to Siaulai.
As I came down to check out from the hotel I noticed the front desk lady was laying in a cot out of view. She must have heard me coming as I could hear her stirring and getting up from whatever light sleep she was trying to maintain. I apologized to her for having to wake her up in order for her to check me out.  she didn’t seem to mind although I could tell that she might have been awoken suddenly.
I grabbed my bags and walked to the McDonalds near the train station.  Google has this McDonald’s as being open 24 hours however this was not the case when I got there as a head to wait until 6 a.m. for the restaurant to actually open. When the restaurant opened I ordered my food that is a sausage and egg sandwich in English. However the worker had to find the visual menu so that she could determine what I was ordering. And who could blame her since she was working at McDonald’s she probably did not study English well enough to find a better job therefore she was stuck working at McDonalds. This is all mere speculation and she could have been a genius but just not good at English.
I have a tendency to get anxious whenever I have a deadline to make a train. It was already 5 after and I was already starting to get nervous about my train ride which departed 42 minutes later. I ate my egg and sausage biscuit as best I could but it’s really too early in the morning for something heavy like that yet I still needed the heavy breakfast in order to have the strength to carry on a long tenuous day like this.
After finishing my breakfast I headed out to the train station. Since Siaulai was not mentioned on the marquee I had to go by train numbers that is 781. The Message Board said that it was at platform number 1 which is where I’m headed. They had not yet put down the steps so that passengers could enter the train whenever I got there. But soon after they did lower the stairs and we boarded.
Well I was waiting for the train to disembark a man smelling of alcohol in the car. I began to grow very weary of him and even felt I needed to check my wallet and stuff again and again just to make sure that everything was still there. I had wanted to use my GoPro suction cup to view the scenery from the train but my seat was not near the window and what portion of the window I could see had getting across it to where it would not have been a clear picture.
I probably should have slept along the way but it was way too paranoid that someone would grab my suitcase and backpack. So I stayed awake listening to News podcast and my mp3s from my iTouch.
The train arrived in Siaulai on time. I disembarked and made it a personal goal of trying to find the left luggage office. Now mind you that every other trip planning discussion board had mentioned that the left luggage office was away from the main train station. They made it sound like it was a separate building. However through a bit of searching I found the office was in the same building as the main train station. And I kind of a key above a suitcase indicated that it was the left luggage location. This should come in handy for those of you reading who would like to do a day trip to Siaulai well on your way to another destination. For the great low price of one Euro you can leave your luggage there all day and have someone lock it up and not give it to anyone else. The lady gave me a plastic token to use when retrieving my luggage at the end of the day.
Having overcome one of the big stressors for this particular Journey – that is finding the left luggage office – I decided to head to the bus station in order to catch the 9:45 bus to the Hill of Crosses.
I waited at platform 12 as I had been instructed to while researching this trip in the forums. I had written down Hill of Crosses in Lithuania in order to give to the driver to make sure he knew where I was going. I presented it to the driver of the bus setting in platform 12 but he said that he was not going that way or at least indicated as best he could and Lithuania in order for me to understand. I looked at the schedule posted on platform 12 and none of them had buses departing at 9:45. However on another platform there was a bus that was departing at 9:45 so I thought I would try to check that one out. That bus arrived and I showed my note in Lithuanian to the driver. He seemed to be confused and even indicated that he could not take me all the way to the Hill of Crosses which is what I expected anyway. I pointed on my Note to the actual bus stop Dominati, which seemed to satisfy him in my understand of his expectation and limitations.
As I boarded I noticed there was a shoe box sitting on the front seat. This was the seat I wanted because he could easily show me where we were at so that I could signal the driver and ordered it for him to pull off and let me out. There were two other stops before mine. And The shoe box’s placement soon came to mind at one of the stops. An elderly lady was catching the bus at the second stop in the shoebox was there to save the seat for her because she had trouble walking. The driver removed the shoe box and helped her up the stairs as best he could in order for her to sit down on the front seat. We made it to the hill of crosses bus stop quickly. It was even earlier than the expected 10:39 a.m. on the time schedule. As the driver let me out he pointed to the road beside the bus stop and said that it was two kilometers away. I signaled that I understood and got out to walk to the hill of crosses. Had this been July it would have been a really difficult walk but the weather was good enough to where it wasn’t too hot and I was able to make it without too much trouble. It had help that I have purchased a water bottle at the bus station before departing. During the first few hundred feet you cannot see the hill of crosses therefore some people who did not plan or did not look at Google Street View might have thought that the hill of crosses with just a myth and turned around and went back to their hotel. As I walk to the hill of crosses a tourist bus passed me. The wheel started turning in my mind to see if there was any way I could maybe catch a ride back to Siaulai buy sweet talking the driver or tour bus operator and allowing me to do this. I thought the chances were slim but always was trying to keep myself open to the possibility.
I could see the tourist office parking lot before I can see the hill of crosses. Obviously Siaulai was trying to make it a bit easier for tourists and to promote the town by using the hill of crosses.
The road leading to the turnoff for the hill of crosses is marked with crosses itself.
Now comes the other stressor of my day. That is taking enough pictures and videos before needing to head back to the bus stop to meet the 12:12 bus. But I figured that since the bus was early to drop me off there was a chance that the return bus could also be early. There was really no way to plan.

There were thousands and thousands of crosses in all shapes and sizes and ages. I managed to get a GoPro video and regular flip video in before a large group of Turkish students invaded the hill of crosses. They weren’t ready or anything but I really wanted to get an empty view of the crosses without so many tourists. In one portion of the hill of crosses there is I’m recording being played over some hidden speakers. Since the crosses obscure the view in a way it almost sounded like a religious Spoken Word by someone physically at the hill of crosses.
Now mind you the Hill of Crosdes is amazing. I’m glad I went but after a while you can only see so many crosses. It’s kind of like when I go to decoration at my mother’s Hometown in Sparta, Tennessee. At first you’re excited to see the gravestones but after a while it kind of leaves a bad feeling in your soul. It’s kind of like the mortality of man. This is the only way I could describe being at the hill of crosses and that after a while it kind of reminds you of death after all many of the crosses contain crucifixes of a carved replica of Jesus. Plus in a way the crosses themselves are very much a Catholic thing. That is somehow worshipping or valuing a man-made replica of a religious act. that’s one thing the Catholics seem to have lost that is putting stock and carved images rather than what is in one’s heart.
I decided to head back at 11 a.m. having spent about 30 minutes at the Hill of Crosses itself. On my way out I asked some German motorcyclist to take my picture so that it would be less like a selfie and more natural. They obliged and I tried my best to use some respectable German phrases.
I then walked back to the bus stop. I made it back at around 11:20 which is a good 45 minute buffer zone from the 12:12 bus.
Now this is the part of the trip that stressed me out the most. That is how to get back from the hill of crosses without being stranded in a rural part of Lithuania indefinitely. Plan B If no bus arrived I was going to walk back to the tourist centre to ask them to call me a taxi. I had also entertained the idea of asking for a ride back to town by fellow tourists at the hill of crosses. But I realize that this is extremely dangerous depending on the person giving the ride even though I had read before that hitchhiking is frequent in Lithuania.
I managed to do a video while I was waiting. At 11:30 a.m. the bus arrived.I wasn’t even sure if it was the 12:12 Bus running early Or completely different bus. Regardless Of which bus it was I am glad that it stopped and I gleefully paid the Attendant the 1.44 Euro for bus fare. I indicated that I needed to go to Siaulai bus station, which another passenger was able to loosely translate In order to get the attendant to understand what I needed.
We made it back and a sense of relief Filled my worrisome head.I thought to myself I can handle this. I can kill four hours in Siaulai Until my 16:45 bus.
About the only fast food place in Siaulai Is a local chain called “Hesburger.” I ended up getting a cheeseburger fries and large Sprite. Had I gotten the small size it would have just been a step up from the cup they give you at the dentist office for rinsing.
Also I had to pay 0.10 Euro for ketchup. Why? Because this is Europe and they always have to want to make a dime off of someone. And don’t get me started about the pay toilets in Europe.
As I ate there was a country music song on the radio which made it seem like I was back home eating at a McDonald’s.
Siaulai’s Bus station is unique because it is attached to a mall. The mall is mostly cell phone carriers and resellers.
I decided to head out to look at a church and a fox sculpture. The church Easy to spot as its power dominated the skyline when you came close to it. I took some pictures on the outside and entered very quietly on the inside. The thing about Europe is if you’re looking for a place to cool off Sans liquid beverages, go into a old church.There always very well air-conditioned and provide a seat. In short when I’m on vacation in Europe I always look for churches.
While I was there I could see old women praying silently. I try not to disturb them whenever I enter a church have her my camera can be somewhat loud when clicking the shutter.
Next using my Google Map Locator I attempted to find the fox sculpture.I came across an amplitheatre theater and a pillar with a golden archer on top of it. I later found out that this golden archer is actually the mascot of the city’s regional basketball. I spotted the Fox from further away. Along the side around the mouth of the fox couples had left locks on it symbolizing their unending love for each other.

The fox has an interesting history. It mysteriously appeared one night – I believe Christmas Eve or similar holiday. It was finally revealed that a local artist had built it. Within the Heart of the box contains a time capsule for future generations. I managed to get a few selfies and with the help of a mother with a small child who took my photo with my camera. Whilr my photo is being taken a small child ran past me who I tried to stop which provided a unique candid photo of the scene.
Afterwards I went to a cemetery nearby to rest and cool off. While I was cooling off I looked at the Selfies and discovered they weren’t my best pose therefore I’m just vain enough to go back to that fox and take a few more selfies. Which I did.
I walked back the way I came pausing to capture some artsy photographs of tulips with the church in the background.
I walked around the commercial area of the city. It was an area where cars are allowed to travel in. Here’s a hit whenever you’re traveling in Europe. If you need something to drink always look for a supermarket as the prices will be less than at your usual tourist attractions. And this is what I just did. I went to a supermarket and got a popsicle and Sprite. I sat down and ate them on a park bench near a vegetable stand.
I went by the tourist information Centre at the town but the lady working the desk did not seem very friendly. I noticed a shirt and flag which I would very much like to have but I decided at that point not to get it. I continued walking around getting way past the tourist area. I decided to head back to the tourist information center and get the T-shirt. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t. I bought the t-shirt and flag. The lady at the tourist information Centre gave me much more pamphlets than what I ever could use.
I decided to head back to the train station to retrieve my bag. I got to the train station and gave the lady my plastic claim ticket and she retrieve the bag for me. I then headed toward the bus station with my bags in hand.
I waited at the bus station for the Eco lines bus but after a while it was apparent that the bus had not shown yet. I went into the bus station to inquire about it. The lady at the bus counter for international travel spoke in broken English but indicated the platform which the bus will arrive at. After several minutes the bus still hasn’t arrived and I begin to ask those around me about the situation. A lady said that the bus would arrive and I asked her if it was late. She said yes. In my state of confusion guy from Hong Kong ask me if I was going on the bus to Riga. I said yes he said that he was on the same bus and was a little worried that it was late. I was glad to find someone else who spoke English who was on the same bus. It’s always good to find someone else in the situation that you’re in so that in case you get lost you can find a solution together.
The bus finally arrived 20 minutes late. I gave the bags to the bus driver who then marked it and my ticket with a particular number so that I could retrieve my bags later.
When I got on board the bus my seat was taken by someone’s stuff. This person was asleep so I did not feel like waking him. I ended up sitting with my new single serving friend the Hong Kong guy. As it turns out he had been studying astrophysics in Scotland. He made for some good conversation while we were on the bus.
We had difficulty finding the plugs to charge our cell phones. When we ask the stewardess instead of answering our questions she felt the need to go into the whole spiel about the features of the bus just like she had practiced.
On the monitor on the seat in front of us there was an option to watch the buses current location or watch movies or play games. I had wanted to use my GoPro on the buses window but I realized there was too much mud on the bus at this particular point late in the day. I managed to see the border crossing into Latvia which was a big thrill to me.
We arrived in to Riga at the bus station. I said goodbye to my single serving Hong Kong friend and headed toward my hotel using Google Maps. After going down the wrong Street. I found my hotel. My hotels name was the Monte Cristo. It had a sea theme to it. It was almost as if I was sleeping in a Long John Silver’s. Each room door had a porthole with a mirror in the center.
I headed out to Pizza Hut just down the street. Has an incredible Stroke of Luck I found that it was buy one get one free pizza night at Pizza Hut. Therefore I got 2 pan pizzas for the price of one. One of the pizzas was supposed to be a to-go order however I was able to eat them both in one sitting. I briefly walked around the old town before heading back to my hotel for a restful night’s sleep before exploring the town of Riga tomorrow.

After enjoying a breakfast at the hotel I decided to go ahead and buy my train ticket to Siaulai and afternoon bus ticket from Siaulai to Riga. I just wanted to get everything out of the way so that I could easily travel tomorrow without worrying about buying tickets.
The lady that worked at both the bus and train terminal did speak some English so it made my purchase easier.
I decided I needed to go to a church with a beautiful interior. This church, St. Peter’s and Paul’s Church is located a bit further away from the rest of Vilnius. Therefore I decided if I wanted to see it it is best to go first thing in the morning. The church has an ornate interior with lots of white carvings. The outside of the church is not all that special and without reading a travel guide a tourist might pass it by or not even look for it since it is someone away from the main tourist attractions. While riding the bus there a lot of passengers got on making the bus extremely crowded and I was a bit worried that I would not be able to get off in time at the particular stop for the church. But I was able to get off in time no problem.
I caught a bus going back the other direction and got off at the funicular to go up to the Castle Hill. It was only 9:15 and the lady at the gate said that the funicular opened at 10 a.m. I went into Cathedral Square looking for other things to do. I noticed the clock tower also did not open until 10 a.m. . So I started walking toward the Castle Hill figuring I could walk up to it and then just take the funicular down. But walking kind of defeats the purpose of taking the funicular up. Looking on my travel guide I noticed the Hill of the Three Crosses was nearby so I decided to climb the hill in order to get to it. At the foot of the hill where some tennis courts with a few people playing tennis or doing tennis practice. The steps going up the hill or in poor condition and it might be difficult for someone much older than me or with some physical disabilities to make it up the hill. It took a while but I managed to make it. At the top of the hill was a Japanese tourist group. I was able to get one of the group members to take my picture at the crosses. 

He seems to know what he was doing even positioning the camera too make the light come in more as where I was standing was in the shadows. There was a lady there, apparently a native, who is talking to the Japanese man who took my photo about how Lithuania has not only Christians but also those of the Pagan religion which she was apart of. This Pagan religion has always caught me off-guard no matter its context. Always see if someone is a made-up religion was no specific doctrine. But that is a blog for another day. I took a different route down and made it to the funicular to go up to Castle Hill. But I had trouble with the ticket and the man had to let me through the day without me going through the turnstile. I managed to use the suction cup device on my GoPro to hopefully get some good shots going up the hill and also down the hill. At Castle Hill you can even climb the steps to the top of the tower for a great view of Lithuania. It’s kind of the national symbol of Lithuania. It seemed I was immersed into the patriotism of Lithuania whenever I saw the Lithuania flag gently waving in the wind at the top of the tower. I managed to take a few pictures before heading back down to the funicular. I positioned the GoPro camera at a different angle along the side and hopefully it will make for some good videos.
I wanted to eat at Boom Burgers and as I walked in at 11 a.m. I was told they weren’t open until 11:30 a.m. so I decided to go to the Clock Tower in Cathedral Square and climb to the top. There were some really beautiful views of the city and of Cathedral Square with the castle tower in the background.
I ate at Boom Burgers which had some really good burgers and fries all for a lunch special of 5.99 Euro. The only problem is that the drinks never satisfy me. it is usually not enough or they’re just not cold enough. That’s one thing that I really miss about America when I’m in Europe. That is the lack of free refills in Europe. After eating at Boom Burgers I came out and immediately bought Sprite at the drink stand across the street. I’m sure it was much cheaper than if I had decided to buy a drink at the restaurant.
I decided to do some exploring around and also look for souvenir shops and visit tourist attractions that I may have missed my first couple of days.
Vilnius has winding cobblestone streets that I really enjoy getting lost in. I found myself and I souvenir shop. I probably paid too much for my Lithuanian t-shirt, but it’s too late now. Also I found out that in Lithuania if it says large it really means medium. But the shirt still fits for now as long as it doesn’t draw up too much from washing it.
Also at the souvenir stand I bought a Christmas ornament. I have a rule when visiting a place overseas. I try to buy a Christmas ornament however the Christmas ornament must always mention the name of the city otherwise it is just another handcrafted ornament that I will forget where I got it at.
I also ended up buying a Lithuania street sign which I plan on putting up in my upstairs bonus room. I already have many other signs so this will serve as a complement to the other signs. Not wanting to carry around this oversize sign with me for too long I decided to head toward my hotel and eventually drop it off. I figure this metal sign may cause problems with the X-ray machines at the airport so I will probably take it out and let them x-ray it separately upon departure. I had the same problem with the same that I bought in London and I had to always remove it whenever I was going through security.
After a short rest at the hotel I decided to go back out again this time visiting the Gates of Dawn which is just a short walk from my hotel. They were beggars in the gates and this was the first time I had seen beggars out. They did not bother me however.
I went to various churches and viewed them from the inside. I always find Catholic church so unnecessarily gaudy on the inside. I realized these churches are several hundred years old but I feel that the church could have easily gotten rid of many of these artworks so they could feed the poor. I guess that’s how I was raised because the churches that I have attended have never really been all that decorative but more practical. While I was at these churches I saw quite a few people making the sign of the cross and meditating in prayer.
I also visited a couple of Orthodox churches which are easy to spot since they have Cyrillic alphabet writing on many of the icons. Some even had light up lettering and somewhat of a Vegas Style.
One thing I noticed at the two orthodox churches is that there are no pews. And I begin to ask myself where do these people sit and do they actually hold formal worship services within the Orthodox Church. Or is it more a come-and-go type thing somewhat like a baby tea.
And here’s a question which this author who was raised and still is a member of the Church of Christ: do Orthodox Churches have no instrumental music? I don’t think I saw an organ or like musical instrument within the churches. I will have to do some research later on about this.
I saw St. Anne’s Church yesterday which has a very ornate outside design but on the inside the paint was peeling and it just wasn’t kept up to par with the outside. This runs in tangent with St. Peter and Paul’s Church mentioned previously that had an ordinary outside but extraordinary inside. This kinda is parallel to people. Some people can be ordinary on the outside but have an extraordinary heart and mind. Others are beautiful on the outside but on the inside they’re drab and dark.
I walked around taking more pictures and attempted to eat at Pizzaland however it was closed for some odd reason even though the schedule said that they should be open. I walked around until I found a Charlie Pizza and decided to eat there. The pizza at Charlie pizza was like most other European pizza that I’ve had. That is they always have a thin crust and never enough tomato sauce. I also had a milkshake which was not very spectacular because the milkshake was not all that cold. This is another problem with Europe in that their cold drinks are never very cold.
I went back to the tourist area and did some last-minute shopping especially for a Lithuanian soccer shirt. Lithuanians are actually more well known for being good at basketball. Lithuania earned the bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. This is quite an accomplishment for such a small country.
Tomorrow will be a travel day as I go to Siaulai via train. I will then take a suburban bus to the hill of crosses. I’ll have approximately 30 minutes to see the hill across as before walking back to the bus stop in hopes of catching the bus back to Siaulai. I’ve spent several hours planning this portion of my trip and am worried about it most of all but having been here for a few days I think I can navigate it without any problems.

It usually takes me a few days to get around jet lag when I travel internationally to Europe. This case was no exception. Last night partially due to jet lag and otherwise because I did not have the air conditioning on, I couldn’t sleep. This left me tired throughout the day.

I started off with a complimentary breakfast provided to me by the hotel. My hotel is connected to a Belgian restaurant which must cater mostly to the hotel guests but they will serve non-hotel guests as well. At breakfast they had scrambled eggs, toast. croissants, and luncheon meat with cheese. The latter two seems to be a frequent case when traveling in Europe. I could easily make myself a sandwich using many of the usual breakfast foods they seem to have in Europe. At breakfast a young blonde waitress monitored the pitchers of orange juice, apple juice and water and refilled them as necessary. In cases like this I usually try to fill up on the free breakfast so that I will not be left hungry throughout the day.

I decided to visit the Museum of Genocide vVictims in the old KGB headquarters. It didn’t open until 10 a.m. and I got there at 9 a.m. so I decided to walk around the area to discover new things. There was a park nearby with people walking their dogs. Also there was a church full of churchgoers. I peeked in to see what was going on but only very briefly as I did not want to disturb the worshippers. This church was celebrating its 800 year anniversary Jubilee. Imagine that: this church is older than my country. I walked along the riverfront in went to another church but I did not go inside this one as well. In the courtyard there was a statue of Mary. I saw a lady do the sign of the cross and seemed to pray. I stood off to the side and I did not want to disturb her. After she left I was able to get a picture of the statue along with the flowers left behind my other churchgoers.

It was getting to be around 20 till 10 therefore I decided it was time to walk back to the KGB Museum. The door was open to the museum and they had apparently opened a little earlier then 10 a.m. The older lady at the desk seems to be a little rough with me especially whenever I handed her two 5 Euro bills instead of one 5 Euro Bill + 1 Euro coin. I had hoped that she would be able to break a larger bills down so that I would have change for bus access later on in the week. But I guess I can find a way of breaking down my larger bills by other means.

The museum documented the history of Lithuania under Nazi and Soviet occupation. It was mostly about the latter. The museum documented the atrocities the Soviets did against Lithuania. For example the KGB listened in on telephone conversations and public conversation (by means of disguise). Anyone speaking out against the government could lose their job or worse sent to a work camp in Siberia. Sometimes being sent to a work camp was done in the night where those being sent had very little time to prepare and weren’t even sure where exactly they were going. Children were born in these were camp but the Lithuanians made sure they were talking about their Heritage so that one day they could return to Lithuania. Many of those who tried to escape failed and were sent back to the work camp.

The basement contains the small holding cells for the political prisoners and execution rooms. This was a very sad time during Lithuanian history and only ended in 1987.

It took me about an hour to 90 minutes to go through the museum. I had planned to eat at a nice burger restaurant called Drama Burger, but decided that I should probably go for fast food in order to get a head start and going to Trakai.

The guidebook said that on weekends there are about 40 buses a day which go to Trakai. The bus arrived about 12:45p.m. I paid my 1.80 euros and got to see waiting for the bus to leave. Surprisingly our bus was very crowded and I wasn’t sure why. Apparently Trakai is a very popular destination for Lithuanians.

At this point I should probably talk about my way that I prevent pickpocketing. I keep my wallet and cell phone in my front right pocket of my jeans. I also keep a decoy wallet filled with play money in my back pocket. Anytime I am on a public transport I always keep my hand on top of the wallet so that I can tell if anyone is trying to take it. On this bus ride there was an older man woman who sat down in the same area right beside me and in front of me. As a precaution I tend to view anyone who gets close to me as a potential thief so I kept my hand on my wallet the entire bus ride over. But this couple apparently was honest and did not try to rob me.

The bus ride took about 25 minutes period normally would probably take about 20 minutes but we did make about five stops picking up more passengers along the way. As we got out of the bus I heard Lorde’s song “Royals” played over some loud speakers in the bus parking lot.

The walk to the island castle was somewhat long and probably could not be done by an elderly person. There were taxis around which gave people rides as needed but thankfully I did not need the ride and walked the entire way.

As I was walking I discovered that many of these buildings were personal residences. I figured they must be very high value property to be on the lake. Also I passed by a community soccer field width little robot roombas mowing the grass.

As I got closer to the bridge connecting the mainland to the castle touristy things started to appear. There were food stands souvenir stands and paddle boat rental. I had hoped to get a good photo of an empty bridge with the castle but it was near impossible as there was people coming and going from the bridge itself at all times. It was 6 euro to get into the castle. As I entered into the main courtyard I saw stairs leading up to the other parts of the castle. Within each room there was different exhibits about the history of Lithuania end the castle itself. It was all very interesting and probably would have been even more interesting had a study Lithuanian history beforehand. I was able to make a few GoPro videos with my selfie stick of the stairs around the castle. I hope they turned out. That’s the thing about making these GoPro videos while on vacation you never know if they turned out or not and you can only really watch them while you’re at home.

I spent maybe an hour at the castle walking around before heading back. On my way back I saw a cat. This is an ongoing joke with me and some of my friends back home. I’ll take a photo of a cat and explain to my friends that I was unable to speak to the cat because I could not say meow in the local language. This particular cat was very friendly and wanted to be petted frequently. I had to leave it disappointed while it was rolling on its back looking for more attention. Also on the way back I took a photo of a library to show to my girlfriend who is also a librarian.

I managed to get back just in time for the bus leaving for Vilnius. It was a small bus and completely full of people I barely got a seat. The good thing about this bus is that it did not stop until I got to Vilnius providing for a faster trip.

I was pretty tired after walking around so much so I went back to my hotel room and rested took a shower. After that I went out to try to eat at Drama Burger.

I got somewhat lost and headed the wrong direction after I got off the bus to go to Drama Burger. But I did eventually manage to find it and had a nice but small Burger. Also surprisingly enough my friend Mark and I chatted via video on the restaurant’s Wi-Fi connection.

The restaurant also served homemade lemonade which seem to be a frequent drink for restaurants to serve here. This particular drink head ice and sliced inside the lemonade.

Afterwards I walked down to Cathedral Square and went through the Old Town streets. I was looking for the literary gate which had some interesting sculptures put into the walls of the gate. Through this brief walking tour I feel like I’ll be better prepared on how to handle tomorrow which will be my first real full day and Vilnius. I had to go to the KGB Musuem and Trakai castle because they were only open on Sunday and closed on Monday and Tuesday. Tomorrow I will plan on visiting the rest of Vilnius and try to buy some souvenirs. The souvenir shops are not as frequent or else I haven’t seen as many in the areas that I have visited. I always like to buy a soccer or in this case with Lithuania basketball jersey, a city patch, and Lithuanian flag.

We’ll see what tomorrow holds. Thank you and goodnight.

I arrived to Nashville International Airport at around 4 p.m. on Friday May 6th. The line for security was incredibly long… The longest I have ever seen it. It stretched past the ticketing counter. I am not sure if it was poor planning on the TSA office or just a huge surge in people hitting the security checkpoint at exactly the same time. It took me a good hour to get through security and I possibly could have missed my flight to Chicago had my flight not been delayed. I made it to the counter at around 5:05 p.m. I asked the American Airlines rep if the flight was still delayed and she said yes. The new boarding time was 6:16 p.m. I decided to get a quick bite to eat and a very expensive bite to eat as a matter of fact at the Quiznos near by. It cost me $12 for a regular sub and drink.
I boarded my flight to Chicago and had to leave my bags on the Concourse because the plane was too small to carry bags in the passenger baggage compartments. I requested and got a window seat whenever I booked the flight. This let me take some great photos of the Chicago skyline as we were landing.
I had to switch terminals to the international terminal whenever I landed in Chicago and had to go through the exact same security procedure that I had gone through in Nashville. This is terribly inefficient and they should make some way where passengers do not have to go through security twice. I finally got through security and made it just in time as they were boarding the flight to Helsinki. I sat beside a friendly Finnish businessman. He had just got back from a business trip that took him to various places including Alabama. I kind of felt sorry for him if Alabama was his only exposure to the American South. But he seemed to enjoy showing me pictures of some older Alabama houses. He switched seats to a row in front of me which left me with four seats all to myself. I took great advantage of this and it allowed me to lay horizontal during the flight. I had come prepared with a blow-up travel pillow and eye mask. I think I was able to get a few hours of sleep on the flight which is a first in my years of traveling.
I watched Deadpool which is one of the few movies available on the flight. Deadpool is one of those movies that I would probably regret buying or even watching on basic cable but in a bind on a long flight I figure things could be overlooked which would allow me to watch a somewhat uneasy movie like Deadpool.
We landed a few minutes early and they Helsinki. Finland’s customs clearance was very easy as it is with all European Union members. A very short line to the customs agent, then the Customs agent asking why you visiting Europe and how long you were going to be there. I made it to my departure gate for Vilnius in no time but it was not open yet. So I hung out in another gate and communicated with friends via the free Wi-Fi network at Helsinki Airport.
Finally it was time to open the gate to board the flight to Vilnius. The actual Airline name was Nordic Regional Airlines or Norra ( with rolled Spanish r’s). The regional Airlines partnered with Japan Airlines, British Airways, finnair comma and a few other airlines which my memory escapes.
The usual weird European fashions were present on the plane ride over. There was one 40 year old guy with a “Haters Gonna Hate” shirt and a couple of younger guys wearing jean shorts (jorts).
They served drinks on board which allowed me to try something I had never tried before. They had blueberry juice. It looks like grape juice or cranberry juice. I couldn’t tell that much difference from it but it was always good to have something tangy rather than just plain water.
We landed at Vilnius International Airport promptly at 6 p.m. I looked around for rental car companies. But only one that was Ollex was staffed. I inquired about driving a car from Vilnius to Riga and not having a one-way fee of $120 tacked onto it. The lady at the counter said that she did not have any Riga destined cars and other rental companies would not waive the one-way fee no matter if they had a car that needed to be returned to Riga in Vilnius.
I then set off to buy a bus pass. I asked the gentleman at the tourist information desk who said that I would have to buy a bus pass at the in-house convenience store, which I proceeded to do.
I then went over to the tourist information desk to inquire how to get to the hill of crosses via bus and train. The gentleman at the tourist information desk was able to give me a bus and train schedule to make it to the town near the hill of crosses which I plan on using rather than renting a car to drive there on my way to Riga.
After a little difficulty I was able to connect to the airport’s Wi-Fi so that I could catch the appropriate bus to go to my hotel. Since I had bought the 3-day bus pass I had been told to hold the bus pass against the reader on the bus itself. It was a good thing I did activate it because on my stop there were bus company Representatives checking people’s bus passes to make sure that they had paid their fare. I walked about one kilometer to my hotel a long jagged sidewalks the wheel of my rolling suitcase got damaged and now only half the wheel is available. I checked into the hotel without any problem came into my room and took a shower before going out and getting a pizza. I had found a very highly recommended pizza place near my hotel. I ordered the barbecue pit said but forgot to tell them to hold the onions which I had to pick out somewhat like an autopsy while I was eating the pizza. The pizza restaurant made their own lemonade which had somewhat of a tart taste to it but I enjoy drinking it and wished I had ordered a pitcher of lemonade rather than just a glass. I had seen other couples at the table surrounding me with pitchers of lemonade.
Since the sun sets so late here near the northern regions of Europe I was able to explore the area until about 9:30 when it started getting dark. I got some great pictures of a church and of some hot air balloons.

Tomorrow I plan on going to the island Castle and KGB Museum.  I hope I can get some sleep as my jet lag always seems to hinder me my first few days in Europe.

Why travel alone?  I get asked that question alot.  Traveling alone has many positive points, primarily for an introvert.

Ever since I took the bold move to take that job exchange to live in Nuremberg for 2.5 months in the summer of 2010, I have caught that travel bug everyone talks about.  Even further in on the 2nd weekend I was living in Nuremberg I found myself traveling alone to Munich armed with only a Rick Steves book as a guide.  I found myself slightly nervous throughout the day and I’m not even sure when / how I got myself back to the train station.

In the weeks and months that followed I found myself traveling to various cities surrounding Nuremberg and beyond.  Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Bamberg, Wurtzberg, Rome….and a week in London.  I learned to navigate, to take public transport on my own to get to various tourist attractions and hotels.  Since then I have traveled alone twice.  I had a business trip to Lisbon which really reignited my love for travel.  Last year I vacationed in beautiful Budapest.

Traveling alone helps me experience the world without necessarily fulfilling anyone else’s requirements for food, sights, or lodging.  I can retreat into my own little world.  I can spend more time at a tourist attraction I really like while skipping the ones I could care less about.  Sometimes I do long for companionship or someone to share my unique experiences.  Fight Club calls them “Single Serving Friends,” i.e. those people you sit next to on an airplane…or those fellow tourists you ask to take your picture with your camera.  It could be those Americans you run across in obscure places. These very brief encounters provide minimal companionship throughout the trip.  I never get tired of my single serving friends, and if I do, they’re easy to get away from.

Next month I’ve got a trip planned to probably the most unique destination I’ve been to yet.  The trip is ambitious, but not impossible.  Of course I’ll be stressed, but hopefully I can calm down enough to experience life.

There’s a saying in Germany – “If you visit Poland, take 2 cars as one will be stolen.”  This kept me away while I lived in Germany for a summer.  Still I would absolutely love to visit Poland and experience its rich heritage, and World War II history.

There are basically two entry points into Poland:  Warsaw and Krakow.  Warsaw, it’s capital is centrally located and has a nice old city.

Krakow, the real draw for tourists, is considered Poland’s cultural center. Unlike Warsaw most of the town remained intact  Unfortunately Krakow’s airport is known for its foggy days, delaying or cancelling flights.  This worries me, and I’d like to work in a visit to both cities. Therefore I’m looking into flying into Warsaw and immediately taking a train to Warsaw.  The fast trains require seat reservations and cost about $25 one way, a real bargain considering it only takes 2 hours to get there.

What to do?  How about visiting a good old fashioned “Milk Bar.”  These bars are a holdover from the Communist era when the government would subsidize the foods in these basic cafeterias.  They serve not only milk, but mostly traditional Polish food.   Since I’m a picky eater, I’m not getting my hopes up, but I think it would be a great cultural experience.

After a sobering visit to Dachau in 2010, I’d need to visit Auschwitz, the largest World War II era concentration camp.  When I visited Dachau I had a sick feeling in my stomach when I saw the ovens where they burned the bodies.  I’m sure a visit to Auschwitz would bring about similar feelings.

When I travel I’m more into photographing market squares and Gothic cathedrals.  I’d imagine both Warsaw and Krakow have plenty of picturesque scenes. I’d probably skip the museums and *gasp* eat at McDonald’s and other western style restaurants.  It’s my trip, so it’s my choice.

I’ve been on a personal planning session for an ultimate trip to Romania.  I’ve spoken to no one, done research exclusively on the web, and have come to a greater understanding of how I should handle a future trip to Romania.  The date is not set, but it is definitely on my short list.

Why Romania?  It isn’t one of the top places the average American wants to go, and maybe that’s why I’d like to go there.  The American dollar goes a long way where the average Romanian makes $14K a year.

Romania is probably about as big, if not a little bigger than the states of Kentucky and Tennessee put together ( see map above).  I can’t imagine seeing everything in a week.  It might take a week and a half or two trips to see everything.

My entry point would be Bucharest, the sprawling capital.  But before I would go anywhere in Bucharest, I’d probably want to fly domestically within Romania since I’d already be at the airport upon arrival.

My choice for domestic flight would be the northeastern town of Suceava.  The airport there has only a few domestic services, but I see there is a car rental there, which helps me in seeing the main attractions in the area – the Painted Monasteries.

What’s the big deal about these monasteries?  They have been nominated as UNESCO  World Heritage sites.  They are located in picturesque tranquil villages which makes it great for photography.

These Monasteries are off the beaten track and for many, there isn’t an easy way to get there, without joining a tour. There are two exceptions to this rule – the Humor Monastery – which you can catch a bus from the Best Western in Gura Humorului – and the Voronet Monastery which is an hour and a half walk from Gura Humorului.

The rest of the monasteries I’d see via car.  That would mean doing something I’ve never done before, that is…drive in Europe.  I realize people do it all the time, but I am still somewhat apprehensive about it.  I’ve seen those dash cam videos of Russian car crashes.  I’ve also seen the usual horse and wagon sharing the road with automobiles in rural Romania courtesy of Google Street view.  I’d just have to take it nice and slow through curvy mountain roads.

The western most monastery, the Moldovita Monastery, is 3 hours away from the other set of attractions in the area, the Wooden Churches of Maramures in northeastern Romania. While not as exciting as the Painted Monasteries, I feel that since I’m in the area with a car, I should at least try to see some of these churches. And most of all I’d like to see the Merry Cemetery (also in the area).

After seeing these churches I’d head to Cluj-Napoca where I would turn in my rental car and use trains and buses to make it to other larger cites.  I’d estimate this would take me between 2 and 3 days to cover all of this. I’d try to see the sites in Cluj-Napoca including Saint Michael’s Church.

From Cluj-Napoca, I’d catch a 3 hour train to Sibiu, well preserved medieval city.  Also I’d try to see Sighisoara, a walled old town, before eventually getting to Brasov to visit Bran Castle.  Then on to Bucharest for a couple of days of sightseeing before flying back.

It would be daunting and would likely take an extended stay so as not to feel rushed….or broken up in two trips.

It can be difficult visiting a new church alone.  This was me Sunday morning October 11,  at the 151st Street Church of Christ.  They offered a 8AM service and this provided for a very convenient time for worship since my friends were likely going to be sleeping in.  Now I am usually fairly quiet, not desiring to meet new people.  The members at 151st Street were very welcoming.  It was a mix of older people with some younger families.  They had 2 services – an 8AM service and 10:30AM service which gave me the impression that they were growing and perhaps needed to think about getting a bigger auditorium.

When you think about Harry Truman, what do you remember?  The man thrust into the international spotlight by being nominated as vice president to the dying FDR?  (If FDR was dying, why did he run for a 4th term?)  I wonder how long they waited to tell him that the atomic bomb was a option once he took office…whether he knew about it as VP or was is only when he was sworn in as president that he found out about the bomb?  I believe that Truman did the right thing by using the atomic bombs on Japan.  A land invasion of Japan would be prolonged and cost lives on both sides.  It was the best thing for the bomb to be used and end the war quickly.

The Harry S Truman Museum was not only about Truman, but also about the Cold War.  Flashbacks of my junior year in high school occurred as I walked through the exhibits, viewing things I had not thought about since studying for those history tests.  I found myself fascinated on Truman’s actions and prudence during the early days of the Cold War. The documentary shown beforehand provided for a great deal of insight on Truman’s background and seemed to indicate he was not a career politician.

As I waited in line for security screening on my trip from Nashville to Kansas City I realized that this is the last real barrier in keeping our planes safe.  Think about it.  These TSA security screeners, whether they be those with extensive service in law enforcement background, or a unemployed barroom bouncer, keep me safe while flying. How often do you hear of someone working for TSA for a lifetime? This is a revolving door job.  Who wants to be on their feet all day dealing with grumpy travelers? And what of all of this security theater?  Would a terrorist try to slip something past TSA screening or (more likely) try through some other inside methods?

I boarded my plane to Kansas City at 1:50PM, even though the plane didn’t take off until 2:20PM. I’m of the believe that Southwest planes board several minutes before because of the anomaly of open seating….passengers take extra time trying to find a seat, rather than just going to their assigned seat.  Thankfully this was not a full flight and there were some empty seats, one of which was beside me.  Southwest has the option of watching tv over their wifi network.  Although it had some lag at times, I was able to watch a few minutes of reality shows on Discovery Channel and Judge Judy.  The CBS and NBC shows appeared to be from a New York City affilate.

Kansas City International Airport, opened in 1972, was not designed with this new level of security in mind.  Instead of having one funnel for all security screening, each set of gates has their own TSA screening.  This must require for an extra number of TSA screeners.

After arriving and meeting Mark curbside, we went off to Price Choppers for Groceries and then to Minsky’s Pizza…a yearly tradition for us.  Looking forward to a great time seeing friends.

Now that I have been home for a few days and have had time to think about my trip, I offer these reflections on Budapest and travel in general.

The Hungarian people have had a bad rap for much of their history.  They aligned with Austria to form the Austrian Hungarian Empire, then lost much of their territory after World War II.  In World War II, the Nazi’s used their military strength to persuade Hungary to align with them.  After World War II, they were under Soviet influence.  It is just in the past 20 years that they have gotten out of communism and come into a democratic nation of their own.

I found them for the most part to be friendly and genuinely wanted to help a struggling tourist find his way.  Many spoke English.  I found the Hungarian language difficult to understand with no real structure to words.

The Hungarians are a very proud people with a wonderful capital.  Nice Gothic looking Parliament and other Baroque themed buildings.  I felt safe there.  There were times where I walked down dark streets on the way to my hotel, but had no one harass me.

Five days is truly not enough time to see all of Budapest.  I wish I had a couple of more (sunny) days.

Some tips while traveling:

Pack light.  I try to do it with no checked luggage.  You don’t need that many clothes for a one week’s stay.  You don’t need to be lugging a big suitcase down the streets of a foreign city.  And I personally do not bring back that many souvenirs.  If I see something that is too large to fit in my suitcase, I would consider mailing it back.

Along the same lines I would say keep electronics at a minimum.  I brought way too many cables.  I needed probably 2 USB electrical plugs.  I had probably about 4.  I did not bring a laptop and honestly didn’t need it.  My camera card held more than enough photos.  I did have a portable 1 TB hard drive card reader, but didn’t need it.  I had a iPad as well, but really didn’t need it.

Use public transport.  Most all large European cities have great networks of buses, trams, and metros (subways).  Use them.  Don’t be afraid to get lost.  You can always find your way back to your hotel again by studying maps.

I personally look for a hotel with a free breakfast included.  This way I can load up on breakfast before touring for the day.  My hotel also needs free wifi for keeping up with friends at home (and posting updates for family and friends back home).  Also I need to be near a subway, bus or tram stop.  With this particular Budapest hotel I was near all forms of public transportation.  The only problem was that I never seemed to use the same transportation mode to get back.  So I was constantly having to figure out how to get back to my hotel after I got off the bus/tram/subway.

Google Maps is your friend.  If you need to go somewhere just get near a free wifi signal, type in the name of the place you want to go, and Google Maps will tell you exactly how to get there with public transportation.  It will even tell you how many stops it will take.  It works even after you loose the wifi signal.  I used Google Maps more than what I had ever used before this trip.  Google Maps has truly come of age and I’ll continue to use it for my future trips.

Get a good travel book and study it.  Rick Steves is my Bible when I travel.  It tells you exactly where to go and how to get there.  There were times I deviated from Rick Steves’ recommendations, and found myself lost thinking I should have listened to Rick!

Just go with the flow.  Don’t worry if you miss an attraction.  I was there for the experience.  The best thing about traveling alone is there is no complaining.  Who would I complain to?  Still, even though I am an introvert, I found myself longing for human interaction.  The members and American missionaries at the Budapest Church of Christ fulfill those needs to some extent.

This was my first vacation alone…not related to business.  I am thankful I was given a great opportunity to visit a wonderful country.  I hope for many more trips in the future.