I blinked...

and it appears summer is over here in Vilnius. Everyone told me that June was unusually cold and rainy this year, and then we had one hot week (highs around 85) in early July, and one more hot week last week. But today it was too cold to sit outside for lunch, even with our jackets on. We went back home and changed into sweaters and heavier coats! I know, Missouri hasn't seen anything so low as 85 for a high for over a month, so I shouldn't complain. But, I am. We've been to the Baltic sea twice this summer, once in May (admittedly too early to really go for a swim) and then again in July, when the air temperature was better, but the water was still bone cold. I'm nearly winter-pale at this point...

So... to all of you out there in warmer climates just wishing for relief, maybe you'll want to come here next year... ;) Or now, for that matter!

It's been busy for me at work, but nothing exciting to report. J and I are working on (re)learning Russian, and I think we're making some progress. I am slowly sprinkling more Russian in my interviews, but it hasn't been much more than "Do you speak English?" in Russian. Sometimes I surprise myself, but only if I don't think too hard about it. Someday I hope to be able to hold more than one additional language in my head at the same time!

Mini travel blog: Riga

A stretch of the main "highway" from Vilnius to Riga (under construction...)

This weekend, J and I made the drive up to Riga, Latvia. Riga attracts more tourists than Vilnius - it has a larger airport and it's also a cruise destination/departure point. It's a neat city with lots to see, and we enjoyed the trip.  The Old Town seemed smaller in area than Vilnius, but the skyline was taller - most buildings were about five stories high, rather than two or three in Vilnius. It also felt more commercialized - the whole area is just restaurants, hotels, bars, shopping and souvenir shops, and it's hopping all night long, from what I could tell.  In the summer there is plenty of outdoor seating, often with live music and entertainment. All in all, we spent a fair amount of time in Old Town, but we had fun getting to see other parts of the city as well.

We started out our weekend with a day at the beach - fitting for our first 90 degree day all summer!  We rented bikes from Baltic Bike and took a bike path about 5 miles out to the beach. Of course, the Baltic Sea is a tad bit cold for the likes of me, and I only made it in as far as my knees before I had to turn around. I did make it further than J, though!

Food - we lucked out with the restaurants we found, and also we got some good advice from our B&B owner.

Istaba restaurant is a delightful little restaurant situated in the loft of a small art gallery/work space. There is no menu, just a choice of meats and then the rest of the meal is served family style. If you aren't picky and just like good food - this place is amazing! And two full meals with several glasses of wine still came in at under $60.

Start Lounge at Albert Hotel - the bar is on the 11th floor of this hotel, overlooking Old Town without having to look too far down. Of course, you're paying for the view in the price of your food and drinks, but they're still cheap by DC standards. Service was noticeably quick and friendly, and the food we had was quite tasty. They have a limited food menu and the bar doesn't open until 3 p.m. (same as at the Radisson's skyline bar), but it's a nice view.

For a taste of Latvian food, we liked what we ordered at Alus Ordenis. Even though it was about 85 degrees and we were hot from walking around, we really enjoyed our spiced lamb soup and lamb stew, along with the Latvian version of fried bread.

Attractions

St. Peter's Church tower - the first time we tried to go up the tower, the cashier stuck a sign under our noses that the tower was closed due to technical reasons. Perhaps unwisely, we returned an hour later and all the "technical" problems were resolved, so we paid our 4 Lats (about $8) a piece and headed straight up in the elevator. I think it was the tallest tower within Old Town, but still not so high that you can't do a little people watching.

Of course we did plenty of flat-out touristy things, such as a boat ride around the canal and out on the river. (Which, by the way, was perfect on a hot day, even if we did get a couple of raindrops along the route!) I even stopped in McD's to use the facilities - no matter where you are in the world, you can always count on McDonald's for that.

The last major sight on my list was to walk around an area of town known for its Art Nouveau. It's only a few blocks north of Old Town and well worth it! I'm really glad we made the effort to find some good examples- it's just not the sort of thing you see every day. Much of the work is from the early 20th century. Some of the art has been well maintained while others were crumbling. If, sometime in my life, I end up with more money than I know what to do with, I'll build a house and add some Art Nouveau touches. :)

It's a party!

Last week, we threw a 1950's theme party - it was a blast! We went all out, got dressed up, found a recipe for "authentic" 1950's vodka punch, and I even made deviled eggs (Grandma: you make it look so easy!). But the fun didn't stop there. One of my colleagues has some mad DJ'ing skills and he volunteered to put together a playlist and bring over all his fancy mixing equipment for the night. I'm terrible when it come to knowing music, but it turns out I recognized almost everything he played. And to top it all off, another colleague brought over his fog machine. What 1950's party is complete without fog??

Trakai's medieval festival

Last weekend we ventured out of the capital to one of the most well known tourist destinations in Lithuania: Trakai Castle. This castle sits on an island in the middle of a lake, and if you see more than a couple pictures from Lithuania, this castle is bound to be one of them. The castle shown here was actually built during the Soviet period, but the original castle is thought to have been built in the 13th century. This area has been home to a variety of nationalities. In addition to Lithuanians, Poles and Russians, the area was conquered and settled by Tartars and Karaims at various times.  For a while, Trakai was the home of Lithuanian rulers, such as the Grand Duke Vytautas in the late 1300's.

After we checked out the castle, we headed over to the medieval festival being held at the site of the old castle ruins. For the festival, lots of handmade items, such as musical instruments, knives and pelts were on sale. We didn't buy any, but we were happy to take up some target practice. J and I both shot some arrows, but J also used this contraption below - and you can see that he managed to hit his target!





Finally, we watched some play fighting...

Sidenote: here are a couple of "Welcome to Lithuania" videos - in English - to give you a sense of the main attractions. Feel free to come visit!
- An official welcome
- A silly song: "Welcome to Lithuania" (with pretty pictures of the country)
- Same silly song, but with strange cartoons

For individual sale

After a while of living in a new place, little differences start to present themselves. We make enough trips to the grocery store that those oddities stand out the most for me. For instance, there are several types of items that you buy individually, such as soda, beer and ice cream bars. In one sense, this is pretty handy, since most people seem to walk to the grocery store, and only buy as much as they can carry. We usually walk to the store ourselves. On the other hand, it seems silly to buy individual cans of Coke or Nestea when you really want to stock up. On the whole, though, J and I agree that this situation gives us plenty of opportunities to try new things. For me, that means I get to taste all different types of ice cream on a stick - with chocolate, or caramel, or almonds, or hazelnuts, or "biscuit" (Queen's English for cookies)... and there is a wide variety of brands to chose from as well. Let's just say, I consistently fulfill my daily dairy dietary requirements. ;)

Vegetables are a bit more illusive. We have all the cabbage, onions, cucumbers and potatoes you could dream of, but we seem to just eat a lot of salads in order to get greens on our plates. At times, we'll hear that something is in the store on a given day (i.e. green beans), but it's gone by the next day when we get there. Don't get me wrong, there certainly is a vegetable section in the store, so maybe we just need to adjust our preferences or develop more cucumber recipes...

All in all, we are able to find plenty of good food to eat. At times it's hard to find exact ingredients to make certain things. I think I'm about ready to try to make J's family rice crispy treats, although I'm going to have to experiment with a substitute for corn syrup (right now, I'm thinking either sugar water or watered-down honey...).

Come on out!

In other news, I do believe our guest room is ready for company - so make plans and come on out!

Outreach

What a busy week! On top of my regular work, I was asked to go on an outreach trip yesterday. J came with me, and we went about two hours away from the capital to a small town of around 2,000 people called Lukšiai. A group called the Young Americans were there to lead about 500 youth and children in a music/dance workshop. We were there for the opening ceremony - it was a blast! I'm still no fan of public speaking, but my remarks were a small part of the event. It really is amazing to watch this group of talented young people with unbelievably high energy working with and teaching so many children. In just 10 hours of rehearsal, all these children will learn an intense hour-long performance of everything from choral music to hip hop, jazz, and modern dance. But for us, even in just the two hours we spent with them, the music and dance lessons almost seemed secondary. I think we were more inspired by the cooperation and rapport the teachers developed so quickly with their students. The Young Americans are so encouraging - their energy is contagious. In just a few hours you could see a difference in the participants; their enthusiasm and confidence were growing. The workshop is spread over three days, so that in addition to rehearsal, there is time for team-building and other creative outlets. The Young Americans have tours in the US and different parts of the world - I think they are a really impressive non-profit organization. You should check them out!