It was Sunday afternoon and my sister and her husband and kids had left to go to the pool and I was alone.  After having taken a nap, I decided it was time to actually get out and do something….and bike riding was on the agenda. After all, I had lugged by bike all the way to Fall Creek Falls on the back of my Beetle.  Now it was the time to actually use it.

I set off to view the main water fall in the park – Fall Creek Falls – the park’s namesake.  Normally I would go with a group, but I have since found the scheduling with people can be difficult, as most of these rides are done on the fly.  Plus the folks I want to ride with were in a completely different camping area.

Riding went surprisingly easy.  Just a couple of weeks before I had spent 10 days in Europe and had walked alot.  I guess I was in good shape, albeit the muscles used in walking vs. bike riding are likely slightly different.

After cycling down the hill toward the lake and then up the bike trail to the overlook, I got to the viewing area of the falls.  I took a few photos with my camera phone.  I had decided to forego taking my large Nikon as I thought it would weigh me down. I really only took my phone in case I got stranded.

After viewing the Fall Creek Falls, I figured it would be good to ride up to Buzzard’s Roost, a picturesque area just up the hill in a one way scenic drive.  I had been introduced to Buzzard’s Roost about 25 years ago when I volunteered at my church’s summer camp which happened to take place at Fall Creek Falls.  Our youth minister at the time took a small group of kids up there.  And after that I could understand why he seemed to be very wary about having kids out on the ledge.  Past the viewing area there was no guardrail.  No chain link fence.  Just a ledge much like a Wile-E-Coyote vs. Road Runner cartoon.  “Kids, stay away from the ledge,” he would say.  We didn’t stay long.  Certainly not long enough for a devotional where kids could get restless and wander off.

Since then I had visited the site quite a few times.  Sometimes with friends from Lipscomb right before we were required to leave the dorms for the summer break.  Much of the time it was during this time with our annual Memorial Day church camping trip.

As I stood on the ledge I saw a buzzard gliding above, barely flapping it’s wings.  It must have been looking for food.  It was incredibly peaceful there.  I was away from the viewing platform and hidden from view due to brush.  I was the only one out on the ledge.  No one had bothered walking down the steps to the ledge to get a closer look.  I was content and at peace.

After several minutes at the Buzzard’s Roost I figured it was time to get back in time for supper.  I figured the one lane scenic drive curved around and eventually made it back to the main entrance.  I consulted Google Maps just in case.  Thankfully as of about 2 years ago they had built a cell phone tower at Fall Creek Falls which helps in situations like these.  It was inevitable anyways, no matter how much people like to disconnect on their camping vacation.  Data availability is always appreciated, and eventually you tend to forget that it was unavailable just a few years ago.

After several minutes of riding I eventually made it back to the campsite and had plenty of time before dinner was served.

It was a pleasant weekend with great weather and loads of memories.  I hope I’ll continue to be in shape for next years’ bike ride.  Maybe I’ll even find some friends to go with.

I saw this sticker on a pipe in Tallinn, Estonia. I think it reflects my philosophy over the past several weeks planning for and during this trip to the Baltic states.

“Safe mode” is a term used in computer operating systems.  Computers that boot into safe mode have limited application functionality.  It is used primarily to diagnose problems, but is not intended to be the primary boot mode.

Too many people are living their lives in safe mode.  Just like computers have limited functionality in safe mode, people living their lives in safe mode aren’t living their lives to the fullest.

There are people who go to Disneyworld every year because they have always lived that way.  They never get out of their safe zone.  My cousin, who goes to Disneyworld annually on vacation, made mention to me that I must be very brave to go to such unusual countries like I did on this last trip. I kinda downplayed my trip in our conversation saying these countries, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania are civilized and are part of the EU.  They are most definitely not 3rd world.

Why did I pick the Baltic States?  It was a cheap plane ticket.  It was a desire to see places many Americans had not seen.  It was chance to get off the beaten path.  Most of all it was to challenge myself to see if I really could navigate a foreign country where English is not always spoken.

In some ways I feel ever so often I leave safe mode and enter into a challenge.  I’ll sum it up in this quote from Gravity.

Listen, do you wanna go back, or do you wanna stay here? I get it. It’s nice up here. You can just shut down all the systems, turn out all the lights, and just close your eyes and tune out everyone. There’s nobody up here that can hurt you. It’s safe. I mean, what’s the point of going on? What’s the point of living? Your kid died. Doesn’t get any rougher than that. But still, it’s a matter of what you do now. If you decide to go, then you gotta just get on with it. Sit back, enjoy the ride. You gotta plant both your feet on the ground and start livin’ life. Hey, Ryan? It’s time to go home.

Why do I travel?  I want to see the world.  I want to experience new things.  But I think it’s important that I challenge myself ever so often in order to fulfill dreams.

ince I had already seen the majority of Riga yesterday today was a time to finish up what I missed yesterday. Yes you can see Riga in one day without going to all the museums and just hitting up the churches. But today was more of a rest day. I needed some down time as the next couple of days was going to be very busy. I’ll be changing hotels almost each night.
So I woke up at around 7 a.m. and laid in bed until about 8 a.m. when it was time to go downstairs and have breakfast. I made my usual toast and jelly and had a ham and cheese sandwich as well.
I then decided it would be a good time to visit the Academy of Sciences a 15-story building built during the Soviet era. It is nicknamed Stalin’s Birthday Cake. The best part is you can go to the top of the building without paying a fee. I saw a group of three ladies coming down from the stairway. And then whenever I enter the viewing area there was only one other person up there who was a worker maintaining the walls of the building. I took several pictures and made some videos. By the time I was done another group of people came up. They asked me to take their picture which I did and then I got them to take my picture. As it turns out they were from Innsbruck, Austria. We chatted a little bit and then I was on my way.
I decided it would be good timing to go to the Riga Central Market as I had to walk past it in order to get to the Academy of Sciences. So I started on my way. I spotted a church nearby and decided I would like to investigate it. It was not one of those big tourist type churches rather it was just a small Orthodox Church. As I entered there was a man who asked me to take my hands out of my pockets. Normally I keep them in there as a matter of protecting my wallet and cell phone. I keep my wallet and cell phone in my front pocket to deter pickpocketers. In Orthodox Christianity it is considered rude to have your hands in your pocket as you enter in a church. Somehow I can see their point and in some ways I feel like that Christians have become two lakhs and not showing respect when entering the house of worship. Now in the 2010s it is not all that unusual to see someone drinking coffee during worship. This is something that you would never have seen in the 1980s. It just seems like we’re just becoming too casual and worship and need to show our Lord respect. So I get the Orthodox way of thinking.
Since I had already experienced a Orthodox worship service before I was kind of familiar with the chanting and decided it was time to move on to other things period plus having my hands outside of my pocket made me a bit uneasy because I’m always afraid of pickpocketers.
The next place I was to visit was familiar with pickpocketing. It was the Riga Central Market. All the forums that I had looked at said that pickpocketing could be experienced here. I kept aware of my surroundings and I was pleasantly surprised that after my experience at the Central Market I was not pickpocketed.
The Riga Central Market is somewhat like a farmers market where you can find all manner of Goods inside of the old Zeppelin hangers from World War I In the area where they sold fish is all very fresh fish as in you could still see the fish flopping around in the display case.
I did see suitcases there which I could have used to come back home as the wheels on my suitcases were in bad shape. But I wasn’t sure of the quality of these suitcases so I decided to pass.
I got back to my room and decided now would be a good time to try and figure out where the bus stop was to catch my bus to the airport tomorrow morning. The bus ride is a good 30 minutes so I want to make sure that I get to the airport in time to go through security and make my flight. Luckily my hotel is located just a few hundred feet from the bus stop so it should be no problem tomorrow morning. The hotel staff recommended that I buy a ticket from a convenience store beforehand as I will save a little bit of money and we’ll have the hassle of trying to buy it from the driver.
I came back to my hotel room and lay down a bit before going out again. My next objective was to find the 1991 Revolution Museum. But first I decided I needed to get something to eat. A check to Google for burger restaurants. I decided on Corner Burgers which had good reviews. It was a 6-minute walk away. I found it with no real problems. I ordered a cheeseburger fries and Sprite. Of course the Sprite was in a glass bottle and it’s never enough for me especially whenever I’m eating salty fries and a burger. I was the only one in the restaurant and the staff was friendly and took my order. The burger came with a lot of vegetables on it which I promptly removed. I’m not sure if I should try to explain to a restaurant staff that I don’t eat vegetables or if it’s just good to take off the vegetables that I won’t eat whenever the food comes. Usually I choose the latter. The food was good but as One reviewer has pointed out before the cheese was liquidy. It’s almost as if they use that jalapeno cheese you get with corn chips at Mexican restaurants. But it was good nonetheless. Afterwards I decided to try and find the 1991 Revolution exhibit. I had a little bit of difficulty finding it but eventually I located it. It’s in a nondescript part of town almost hidden behind some alley.
The exhibit itself is free and has some great Soviet artifacts from the 1990s.
I was somewhat familiar with the Revolutions in the baltics. I can remember Lithuania declaring their independence and the Soviets closing the border with Poland. I had always seen Lithuania is kind of the one that leads the rest of the Baltic States. I wasn’t sure how Latvia fell into this but the museum opened up my understanding of it. As it turns out a big part of the Revolution was The barricades. That is the opposition students around important Latvia areas including the television tower and other media Outlets so as to not let the Soviets seize them.
Afterwards I shopped around for souvenirs. When I am traveling abroad always like to get a shirt a patch and the flag from the country I visit. It’s always difficult to find a shirt which I like and that will not have damage after washing period too many times these tourist shops sell low quality shirts whose lettering rubs off during washing. I am willing to pay a little bit more in order to get a decent shirt.
Next I literally stumbled upon the Popular Front Museum. I don’t think it’s mentioned in the guidebooks that I have but it was well worth the free admission fee in order to see more history about the 1991 Revolution.
After doing a bit of more souvenir shopping I went to the main Square wear a bright orange Volkswagen minibus was parked. Apparently it was a promotion by Banana Car is a ride sharing service in the Baltics. The young photographer was taking pictures of young ladies who had volunteered to have their picture made. An older woman who did not speak English very well tried to explain to me how the photos were to appear on the company’s website. I kept hanging around to see if I might be chosen to have my photo made but I really think that he was just doing it for young ladies as the subjects. I made several pictures of the Volkswagen minibus as I found it so unusual for iconic car to be parked so near a historic site.
At some point during the day a young man asked me for money.
At some point during the day a young man asked me for money. Normally I would be sympathetic to him but he had already asked me yesterday and I had given him 1 euro. I could see where this was going and I had told him that he asked me already. He tried to come back with oh I did not ask you already wishing that since I told him “bye bye” to signify that he needed to leave. Normally I’m not too blunt with people but in this case I saw what this kid was trying to do that is live off of the generosity of others rather than actually trying to get a job that I was kind of perturbed at him. Plus it is kind of unusual to be asked by the same person two days in a row for money. There are plenty of other visitors to Riga and I am very surprised that he asked me twice.
I managed to get a flag a hockey jersey and a patch among other things. I came back to the room to rest and check social media. I decided to go out to eat again and chose Pizza Hut. On Tuesday they had a buy-one-get-one-free special but unfortunately that special was only available on Tuesdays. So I got a personal pan pizza with garlic bread and a 7-Up. They brought the garlic bread with either a garnish or Salad I wasn’t sure. The bread was kind of small and I am disappointed I paid 2 Euro for it. The pizza was good. It was American Style with fluffy bread and plenty of tomato sauce something you cannot get on normal European pizzas. Normally European pizzas are flat with very little tomato sauce period mostly it’s just cheese and bread and not very filling.
I’ve got a big day tomorrow as I will be getting up early and catching the 9:40 a.m. flight to Helsinki. I’ll visit Helsinki the rest of the day and part of the next day before heading to Tallinn via Ferry.
Looking back on today I think I could have gone to another area of Latvia nearby but sometimes you just have to have a slow day in order to rest and recuperate before heading off to another destination. If I ever come back to the Baltics I’ll be sure to visit any other places that I might have missed. The baltics have been very good to me and it wouldn’t be a bad place to revisit some time in the distant future.

Today was my first full day in Riga. It was much less stressful than my trip yesterday through Siaulai. So I could just sit back and relax.

I woke up at around 7 a.m., got ready and was at the hotel’s free breakfast by 7:30. Breakfast consisted of luncheon meats, cheese, toast, among other things. I managed to get myself toast and croissants and made myself a ham and cheese sandwich. I noticed they had a bin marked sausages but whenever I opened it up they were actually hot dogs. They had plenty of orange juice and apple juice but the cops were a bit too small requiring me to make multiple trips to the drink station. Do they seem to be a bit watered down there for after a couple of glasses I opted for apple juice. I’m beginning to rediscover apple juice on this trip and maybe some once I get back home.

I wanted to be sure to visit the Occupation Museum of Latvia as I am interested in World War II and Cold War history. It opened at 11 a.m. therefore I felt I needed to try and find other attractions in the area to waste my time  until opening time.

I stopped by the Freedom Monument which is a very tall statue holding three stars in a Central Square dividing the old town from the rest of Riga.

I then went to the Orthodox Cathedral. I took several pictures of the outside even somewhat the domes with the blooming trees outside. As I entered inside I saw the again they were no pews to sit on, a common practice among Orthodox churches. I had since been told that Orthodox worshippers do not sit down when a worship service is being conducted. I guess it makes for a shorter sermon.

I entered and saw that there birth signs stating no photography inside. This is always a little disappointing but I decided to put down my camera and just take a moment to experience everything without feeling the need to take a photo of everything I see. Within the church there was light up Vegas Style words in Cyrillic. The other icons and usual orthodox emblems. As I was walking around suddenly three priests emerged from a hidden door chanting and holding emblems of worship. Gathered nearby for families with small children. After a chant the parents brought up their children for some sort of ritual which involved feeding the children something that the priest had. I wasn’t sure if it was the first communion or something else. I will have to do some research about this. I know later on the children were given spoonfuls of water from a church worker but I wasn’t sure exactly what the ritual meant.

What I was thinking about when this was going on is whether or not Christian worship services in America among Protestants have become too casual. It’s almost as if you’re having a conversation with someone at a coffee shop rather than worshiping God these days. And I wonder how the early Christians worshiped. Was there a lot of Pomp and Circumstance? Or was it more along the lines of a casual Church camp worship service? The truth is I really don’t know. And I really wonder if I am on the right side of things with the worship of my local congregation being relatively casual compared to a Catholic or Orthodox worship service. I know that we all have idiosyncrasies which make worship too much in one direction. We all have our hinderanvrs through church tradition that hinders our ways of worshipping God.

The priests begin to speak and some sort of chant or something and I decided it was time for me to leave. Next step was to try and find the Museum of Occupation. I got turned around on Google Maps and got a little bit lost trying to find this place. That’s one thing about not being able to have cell phone service in other countries. You kind of rely on Wi-Fi networks and GPS in order to get to where you’re going.

I finally did make it to the occupation Museum but showed up an hour early. They stated that the museum was not to open until 11 a.m. by coincidence a young man appeared and invited me to Salvador Dali exhibit. Now mind you I know very little about art itself. I did take art appreciation and college and am familiar with Salvador Dali. I do recall one time I did get a Salvador Dali calendar for Christmas. Even though the exhibit was 9 Euro I figured it was a good opportunity to waste some time and provide the exhibitors some funding to carry on exhibits like these. The exhibit involved drawings which Salvador Dali had made in reference to The Divine Comedy. I hadn’t read The Divine Comedy so I was a little bit unfamiliar with the subject. It was mostly just drawings, no oil paintings. After going through the first exhibit I sat down and chatted with the young man who invited me to the exhibit. He was from the country of Georgia but had lived in France and had moved to Latvia just two years ago. I asked if he knew Latvia and he said that he knew a little enough to get by. The other language which he used was Russian which seems to be a good second language within Riga to use as there are many Russian speakers. I was really interested in hearing more about Georgia as I would like to go there further down the road many years from now. I feel as though I need to be a seasoned traveler in order to experience what I believe is a rustic country like Georgia. He spoke of corruption and other things going on in Georgia but said that it should be safe for tourists to visit.

Right before it was time for me to enter it into the second exhibit I noticed they were playing a documentary about Salvador Dali on a big screen TV on the wall. What I found from that documentary is that Salvador was just as weird in person as what his paintings are.
I entered into the second exhibit. I was under the impression that these drawings have been done by Salvador Dali but later on I found that they were done by a secondary artist. It was the artist’s interpretation of the Book of Revelation. In literal interpretation of the Beast and angels mentioned in Revelation.
I got to be about 10:45 and I decided to check and see if the museum had become open. Sure enough it was open and I went through the exhibits reading the English subtitles. While I was there a small group of school children came in. This intrigued me because I’m always glad to see children learning about their country’s history. These children were probably around fifth or sixth grade and each had a piece of paper to answer questions pertaining to the tour. The tour guide had the children sit on the floor and I could tell he was trying to talk to them on a child’s level to a better explain the history of Latvia.

As I was just finishing up I was walking out and noticed an English tour going on. I figured I could better get more out of this English tour rather than sit and read all of the museum exhibits. The tour guide, a young lady, was easy to understand and presented a very little accent when speaking in English. I wanted to ask her if she had studied long-term in America.

As she went over each of the exhibits I found that the Soviet Union actually invaded Latvia and assuming the other Baltics states before World War II. Then when the Germans invaded Latvia they were welcomed in with the latvians thinking they would grant independence to Latvia. But obviously this was not the case and Latvia along with the other Baltics states were incorporated into Germany. The Red Army invaded once again and Latvia was placed under the rule of the Soviets until 1991.

The exhibit went into the history of occupied Latvia including those who opposed the Soviets and plotted against them. Many were sent to Siberia for hard labor. This was the theme to The Museum of Lithuania which I visited a couple of days ago.

As it turns out the tour group which I was with was actually a German School group of either high school or college students. Since German is not spoken as much in Latvia this German class opted instead for the English tour which I was happy for. The group did ask some intelligent questions after the tour and I even asked if many of the native Latvians have returned since the country gained independence.

Afterwards it was time for me to find someplace to eat. I had had pizza the night before at Pizza Hut there for pizza was out so I decided to opt for a hamburger. I went to one burger place suggested by TripAdvisor but they were closed. As I tried to find another hamburger restaurant I passed by a TGI Fridays and ended up eating there. I know many of my friends kid me about only eating at American style places when traveling abroad. For me it’s a sense of security: I know exactly what I’m going to get.

The waitress took my order which was an American cheeseburger with bacon. The waitress offered me onion rings which I thought was in lieu of the fries. However when she brought me the order she actually had both fries and onion rings.

I ate and use the restaurant’s Wi-Fi to chat with my girlfriend who had just woken up. The burger contained onions which I was unable to remove completely because they were chopped up into little pieces. But I was able to get most of the burger eating along with most of the fries and onion rings. When I tried to pay my bill with a credit card it seemed to reject it and I ended up paying by cash. I asked the waitress if my credit card has been rejected and she said that it was actually their credit card sales provider which was having trouble. This proved true whenever I use my credit card later on in the day and it was accepted.

I went onto see other churches and other exhibits too lengthy to describe exactly. When I see a church I just went into it. Some of the churches required an admission charge. I think these particular churches may have been taken over by the government and we’re no longer houses of worship period One church in particular serves mostly as an art exhibit rather than a house of worship. And this was some weird art. When was putting stuffed animals on to a lamp stand and calling it art.

This is what happens whenever you remove God from society. Just like these church this had been turned into God bless art exhibits we can turn our own lives into meaningless rituals.

At this particular church you can take an elevator to the top of the tower. In this particular elevator it was me a girl and two apparently gay guys who were riding to the top of the tower. One of the gay guys was apparently very scared of heights and was being very flamboyant about it. We got to the top and I soon discovered that my jacket would come in handy since the wind at the top of the cathedral was cooling things down quite a bit. Coming back down the elevator one of the gay guys mentioned that he would not be going to the top of the TV tower After experiencing this particular Tower. The TV tower is much much higher than this church tower and everyone had a good laugh over it because he will have been so adamant about being scared of going up that high.
Afterwards I went to the Mentzendorff house which is a 17th century Merchant House with authentic Furniture of the era inside of it. I tried to pay the 5.45 Euro entrance fee in cash but realized I did not have enough change to pay. Therefore I pay via credit card. This exhibit charged me extra to be able to take photographs. I found this practice to be absurd. Regardless of where you are unless photos are prohibited you should not have to pay extra in order to make pictures.
The exhibit itself was ho-hum and included contemporary art exhibits within the 17th century exhibit. I found Contemporary Art Within this historic exhibit to be way out of place and felt the Contemporary Art belong in Contemporary Art Museum. In the Attic portion there was a whole exhibit dedicated to tulips.
Afterwards I decided it was time to try and find the three brothers which are three old houses. I wandered around using Google Maps for a while and discovered the Riga Castle which Wilson or already does serve as the presidential residence of the president of Latvia. I found the Three Brothers houses took some photos and did a video while a Chinese tour group stood nearby. As I was finding my way back to my hotel room I came across a free Musuem on War artifacts. I’m always interested in war artifacts in the fact that it was free made it even more appealing. So I went up and went through all four floors of the exhibits. At the end there was even a display of American uniforms with an American flag above it among several other countries as well.
I came back to my hotel room to rest before trying to get supper.
After resting I decided to walk to a prominent Riga landmark that is the Academy of Sciences also known as Stalin’s Birthday Cake. It was one of three guys first skyscrapers built during the Soviet occupation. It’s pretty prominent along the skyline but is on the other side away from the old town. I had to walk through the Open Air Market Place whose vendors were packing up as it was the end of the day. It was mostly a fruit market from what I could tell. I saw a cat eating cat food out of the bag apparently provided by one of the vendors. I tried to make friends with it but it had a tendency to run away. One of the other vendors was trying to get the cat’s attention in a friendly sort of way. I figured maybe several different vendors had taken up with the cat and was providing it with food. The cat never let me pet it and had a tendency to meow at me in a weird sort of way.
I made it to the Academy of Sciences to take some photos and videos of the sun hitting it just right at sunset.
I walked back to the old town hoping to find the big and little Guild buildings along with the cat house building. The cat house building took me a little bit more time to try and find as it is not as prominent as one would think. So the legend goes is that one prominent guildsman was not allowed into the Riga guilds and instead put a cat whose bottom was facing City Hall as a form of protest. This cat statue has become somewhat of an emblem in Riga and you can see it on t-shirts.
not really wanting a big meal after I had had TGI Fridays for lunch I decided upon Subway. at the subway I chatted with the attendant about sports and if he could recommend a store that would sell Latvia had the Subway I chatted with the attendant about sports and if he could recommend a store that would sell Latvian hockey shirts. There was a Latvian hockey shirt prominent Lee displayed underneath the TV and I wanted to know where I can find one. He told me a particular store which I could only half understand what he was saying. It had “de Riga” in the title.
I went to a local mall nearby hotel to search for said sports store to where I could buy a Latvian hockey shirt. However I was unable to find one. But I did see a nice golf shirt with Latvia on it which I may buy.
Tomorrow will be another day and Riga. I will finish up probably take some more photographs and shop for souvenirs. I also plan on going to the top of the Academy of Sciences also known as Stalin’s Birthday Cake to get some good views of the city.

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.