Vilnius, Lithuania

Sept. 26, 2018-Vilnius, Lithuania

Thank you for joining us on our latest adventure. We’re touring the Baltic’s (Lithuania, Latvia, & Estonia) and Russia (St. Petersburg & Moscow). David’s family is from Lithuania. This is one part of the world where no one asks us how to spell “Horowitz.”

The trip started with delays. Weather kept us waiting for our Chicago flight that connected to a Lufthansa flight to Frankfort where our flight for Vilnius was held up leaving Madrid.  David worried about storms in Cleveland. It worked. They were long gone by the time we left. He failed to worry about the rest of the trip, and that’s where we ran into problems. Worrying works. Pretty much whatever I worry about doesn’t happen. In any case, the lightning displays kept us entertained.

We did manage to sleep on the overseas portion and David managed to break his glasses. They fell off as he dozed and he stepped on them. Due to the wonder of cataract surgery, he is able to see well except to read. I’ll either be his menu interpreter or we’ll find readers for him to use. Oh wait! He took his backup ones and they work!!!!

For the first time we invested in upgrading to premier economy. I only expected more leg room, but the seats were considerably wider, cushier, and we had a footrest. We only bought it for the long overseas flights. Worth it. We’ll never go back to regular economy. We’ll probably never fly business class either.

We’ve installed What’s App on our phones so we can text when we have WiFi. We didn’t get an overseas phone package for this trip.What’s App should suffice for our needs. I guess we can also use our regular texting without charge when we’re in a WiFi zone.

We arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania an hour late. The day has run an hour behind. When we got to the Mabre Residence Hotel, our home for three days, we’d missed the orientation meeting and dinner with the group. Bob, our group leader met us and gave us a thumbnail version plus ordered our meal. The caprese salad and salmon were just right. The fresh raspberry sorbet hit the spot.

Bob was unexpected in appearance and personality. He’s blond, bearded, tattooed and large with an over-the-top presence. We’re guessing he’s gay. He confused us when we mentioned the Pope’s visit to Lithuania last week and said he preferred the former pope to this one. It will all sort out. 

Tomorrow we walk the city.

With that, we’re off to sleep in a BED.

Toby