We did a day trip to the Curonian Spit, a 61-mile sand dune spit that is shared by Russia and Lithuania. I can promise you that we never got closer than 1.5 miles from the Russian border but Ron’s phone, as we know from its April solo trip to Paris, Atlanta etc., is an independent […]
The politics of Lithuanian basketball
Sometimes, when I’m traveling, I’m afforded a glimpse of clarity that I seldom get. I had one of those moments today – an understanding of good and bad, gauging resilience and determination, and the confusing framework of our world falls temporarily into place. How did I gain such insight? Basketball and the Grateful Dead. Because, […]
Extremely educational day trip to Trakai
We did a day trip out to Trakai castle today, which was originally built in 1409 as a residence for the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. The castle as it stands today is a lot of reconstruction from the 1950s with some original sections. It sits entirely on an island in the middle of Lake Galve: […]
Vilnius: That’s close enough
I have fallen in love with Vilnius. It’s a city of 541,000 with a terrible history of Soviet occupation that has emerged from that era as an elegant jewel. The living is fine here – so friendly, so clean, so safe. There is absolutely no honking, no blocking of intersections, and everyone yields to pedestrians. […]
Travels with Valerie 