Day 1 Vilnius, Lithuania
Landed on time and hopped on a bus that stopped 2 blocks from our hotel.
Got settled in, went down to the corner store for some essentials, brought them back to the hotel
and set out for a preliminary stroll through Old Town.
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| The first leg of Rammstein's 2023 European tour kicks off in Vilnius, so we saw this poster everywhere. It made me happy every time. |
First stop, Strangelove Cafe, where we were greeted by the sounds of Ultravox, Soft Cell and The Jam.
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| If there is a coffee shop named after a Depeche Mode song, I pretty much have to go there. |
Had traditional Lithuanian food for dinner
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| Cepelinai |
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| šaltibarščiai |
Took a roundabout way home
Then retired for the evening, having been awake for 33 hours
Day 2 Vilnius, Lithuania
Took a little 5:30 AM walk with Bhob and Judie.
Breakfast and logistical planning
Headed out for the day.
First stop, the Frank Zappa Memorial
Then climbed the hill to the Gediminas' Castle Tower
Walked by the river
Had some lunch at Gabi
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| Leonard Cohen statue. I'm sure there's a story... |
Walked through the Užupis neighborhood, the Northeast Minneapolis of Vilnius.
Then walked to a phone store so Joe could buy a SIM card.
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| One-stop shopping for ladyparts wash and fishing rods |
Back to the hotel for a short rest and battery recharge.
After resting, Joe and Judie decided they wanted to take it easy and stay close to home. Bhob and I visited the Etno Design Studio across the street
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| Bhob almost bought the Op Art lampshade |
Then proceeded to get some tacos at Donde. They were fantastic!
Walked around the residential neighborhood and took a spin through the mega supermarket
Had some cocktails of no consequence at a bar near our hotel
Then found The Greatest Cocktail Bar In The World, Alchemikas
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| The cocktail menu is literally a book |
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| White Lightning and Baltic Courage |
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| Manarrow |
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| Sushi Martini! |
The music was almost as perfect as the cocktails. We vowed to pay another visit when we returned to Vilnius at the end of the trip.
Got to Iki Express just before closing to get Bhob some dense rye bread to make some post-cocktail toast and wound down for the night.
Day 3 Vilnius, Trakai & Panevėžys, Lithuania
Slept in, and took a short walk with Bhob
Had a leisurely breakfast
While we were taking another short walk, my cousin Vita and her family (the reason for our trip!) arrived from Panevėžys
Drove to the castle in Trakai
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| Yummy hand pie |
And then it was time to head to Vita's home in Panevėžys. The city was celebrating its 520th anniversary, and there were a bunch of events going on, requiring Arunas to do some skillful maneuvering to avoid the traffic jams.
Our hosts rolled out the red carpet and we felt like royalty!
Gathered around the dining room table for splendid appetizers and dinner with no shortage of beer, wine and whiskey. Arunas was the master of topping off our glasses without us ever noticing.
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| Clockwise from 9 o'clock: Judie, Joe, Arunas, Simas, Tautvydas, Simona with Ariele on her lap, Vita and Bhob |
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| Topas!!! |
At 9:45, watched the European basketball quarter finals Lithuania vs Spain. It was a pretty even match that went into nail-biting overtime.
Eventually, Spain won 102-94 :(
Didn't get to bed until after 1 AM
Day 4 Panevėžys & Biržai, Lithuania
After the late night heartbreak of the basketball game, slept until 7:30 AM.
Went for a short walk around the neighborhood
Ate a wonderful breakfast
Drove to Biržai, and started the day's events with a tour of Rinkuškiai Brewery, which included a fabulous lunch and a tasting of 6 different beers
Took a walk at Širvėna Lake
Visited the Biržai Selonian Museum “Sėla”
And had a snoozy drive back to Panevėžys
Said goodbye to Tautvydas and Simona, who had to return to Kaunas for the work week. They took Topas The Wonder Dog with them so Vita and Arunas could be our tour guides for the following 4 days.
Spent the evening snacking, drinking and passing our phones back and forth, using the google translate.
Day 5 Panevėžys, Pakruojo, Šiauliai, Kaniukai & Plungė, Lithuania
Woke up at 5:30 and quietly caught up on email until Bhob woke up. In the meantime, Judie awoke and we tried to figure out how to use the espresso machine.
We failed.
Bhob got up and we took a short walk around the neighborhood.
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| Garages |
Arunas made us a proper coffee, we all ate breakfast and Vita took us on a quick trip to the mall
Then we finally got to see the center of Panevėžys!
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| The differently colored bricks are the access to the control booth for the security system. We know this because Vita was in charge of installing it. She and Joe share the same career working in home and commercial security and fire alarms. They got to geek out and talk shop quite a bit! |
Home for a surprise champagne toast for Joe and Judie's 35th wedding anniversary
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| Vita and Arunas's greenhouse, providing an endless supply of amazing tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers |
Checked out Aldi's chief European rival, Lidl. If they ever start opening stores in the US, Aldi is in big trouble.
Then it was off to our first destination, Pakruojo Dvaras
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| Lithuanians seems to have a knack for whimsy |
Had lunch, then to Kryžių Kalnas, an amazing, DIY monument, generally regarded and intended as a mass memorial site, but seemed to me to be more of testament to human ingenuity, tenacity and resistance.
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| Joe planted a cross for our Grandpa |
Stopped at Sundial Square in Šiauliai
And then to the main event, Kaniūkai, the site of the village where my maternal grandfather grew up, and left at age 20 to move to America.
There are currently only 7 residents there
Drove for another 90 minutes or so to our base for the following two days, Plungė.
Bhob and I had booked a cheapy little apartment (which turned to be super cute) but Joe and Judie wanted to celebrate their anniversary in style so they stayed at a nice hotel nearby. Vita and Arunas stayed there as well.
Dropped off our stuff and managed to get to a pizza place a block away before they closed. Got a huge pie for €6.20!
Went home, showered, washed out our socks, etc. and wound down until bedtime around midnight.
Day 6 Plungė, Lithuania
Slept in until 7. Bhob was still asleep, so I putzed until IKI opened at 8, then went to get some supplies.
Went to the hotel of our traveling companions and had breakfast.
Headed to our first destination (which was top of the list for Joe and Bhob), Šaltojo karo muziejus
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| Joe was in the Air Force during the Cold War working on a missile silo, with weapons pointed in the opposite direction |
Then to Siberijos apžvalgos bokštas
Then to another scenic overlook whose name escapes me
Onward to Litvak Memorial Garden, where a guy who seemed to have something to do with the place tried to entice us to follow him to his home so he could try to sell us some wood carvings, which of course sent us screaming in the opposite direction. Other than that, the memorial was pretty cool.
When we read the description at the entrance, I thought "Oh boy, this is going to be super corny", but it was very enjoyable. At the very least, it's a beautiful setting.
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| This labyrinth's path was over 1700 meters long, about 1 mile |
Lunch at Le Le Terasa
Last stop, Judie's top choice, Respublikinis Vaclovo Into akmenu muziejus a rock/geology museum and sculpture park. Really great!
Went home, returned to IKI for some spinach and chickpeas to make a quasi healthy supper.
Went to the hotel for drinks with Vita, Arunas and Joe (Judie was feeling rather wiped out). Had many, many servings of cherry liqueur, brandy and Lidl Creme Liqueur. Made liberal use of the google translate to discuss weddings in Bangladesh, weather in Lithuania and Minnesota, and the the shortcomings of the American heath care system.
Had a pleasant walk home in the rain and another midnight bedtime.
Day 7 Plunge, Juodkrante, Nida, & Palanga, Lithuania
Woke at 7 and took advantage of a short, rainless window to take a quick solo walk.
Ate breakfast, showered and went with Bhob for another short walk
Got a coffee at Mr. Nom
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| Turmeric Coconut Latte! |
Thought it would be a great idea to walk a little more, but our luck ran out and it started to rain a little bit harder.
Got back to the apartment, packed and got picked up by our traveling companions at 11 to head to our next destination.
Because the forecast was more promising than the following day, Vita suggested that we see the Curonian Spit.
Started at Juodkrante
Took an enchanting walk on the Hill of Witches
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| Tupperware parties? |
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| Joe was in woodcarving heaven! |
Continued down the Spit to a Cormorant habitat
Then to Nagliu gamtinio rezervato. Took off my shoes to walk the final stretch.
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| My hair is a better indicator than a weather vane of which way the wind is blowing |
Cintinued to Nida and had lunch at Kursis.
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| Rigas Black Balzam: A revelation! |
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| Joe's cabbage rolls allegedly included pigeon meat in the filling. For the rest of the trip, every time we saw a pigeon we had to make some kind of a comment like "Here comes lunch!" |
Strolled around the Nida seaside
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| Jean-Paul Sartre statue |
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| Nida is 74 km from Kaliningrad, a little blob of Russia between Lithuania and Poland |
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| It had rained on and off all day, and every time we got out of the van to do something, it stopped. |
Took the ferry back to Klaipeda
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| A US war ship, apparently |
and stopped at Maxima with 27 minutes to buy supplies before they stopped selling booze for the night.
Made our way to Palanga and (eventually) found our ginormous Airbnb
Picked bedrooms, settled in and had our evening round of snacks, drinks and google translate Q&A.
Day 8 Palanga, Lithuania
Woke up at 6 and couldn't get back to sleep, so caught up on interwebs until I heard that Judie was awake. We went to IKI right when it opened at 8 to pick up breakfast provisions. We got a prolonged stink-eye from a woman next to us in the dairy section.
Once everyone was awake, had a leisurely breakfast and were about to head out to walk around town, but there was a brief downpour that delayed us a few minutes. Finally went out around 11 AM to check out the town.
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| They were all out of "#Bhob" that day |
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| The Lithuanian Los Del Rio? |
On to the seaside!
Walked through a couple of the town's parks
Escaped a rain shower with a visit to the Amber Museum
Walked towards home
Had lunch
Then went home after a stop at IKI for more breakfast provisions.
Chilled for a bit watching the pilot episode of Breaking Bad with Russian subtitles, then it was out to the seaside to watch the sunset.
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| Bhob was only cuddling with me to keep himself from freezing |
Walked back home
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| Joe and Judie had walked back to the Airbnb to use the facilities and returned on the property's bicycles bringing brandy and snacks. Our heroes! |
Ate some fantastic salads that Vita made
And had our evening round of drinks and google translate Q&A.
Got to bed before midnight!!!
Day 9 Kaunas, Lithuania
Woke up around 6. Caught up on emails, deleted photos, etc. until I heard Judie rooting around in the kitchen. Had some coffee and took advantage of a rain-free window to take a short walk.
Tried (and failed) to make some soft boiled eggs and stayed out of the way so Vita and Arunas could put together the rest of our fabulous Breakfast Of Leftovers Featuring Freshly Cooked Kuldunas.
Scrambled to pack and do a couple of final idiot checks before hitting the road around 10:30 for Kaunas.
Main objective: The Ninth Fort
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| Our tour guide, Olga. She had the best speaking voice! |
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| There are so many stories documented here, any one of them could be a feature length film. You could spend an entire day here reading about each one. |
Then it was time to get to our Airbnb and say Pasimatysime Vėliau to our wonderful hosts.
Dropped off our stuff, picked up some groceries and took a stroll up and down Laisvės Alėja before heading to Bocmanas Kebab & Grill for burgers, beer and basketball.
Went back home to plan our one and only day in Kaunas and got to bed before 10:30 (!)
Day 10 Kaunas, Lithuania
Woke up around 5. Caught up on email and figured out the espresso machine. Woke up Bhob around 6:30 and went for a quick walk.
Ate breakfast and headed out in search of the nearby funicular, which was unfortunately not currently operating
Found a thrift store
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| All thrift stores smell the same, all over the world |
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| Cool print. Didn't buy it. |
Popped into a church (which looked just like the Wards tower) and rode the elevator to the top.
On to the Devils' Museum
Picked up street food (some kind of Uzbek stew with bell peppers, lamb?, squash and potatoes, and a hand pie with chicken and pork?) brought it back to the apartment to eat.
Rested for awhile and headed out towards the other part of Old Town and the functioning funicular.
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| Basketball is a BIG DEAL in Lithuania |
Went back to the apartment and lounged in the solarium
until the promising-sounding cocktail bar Kamerinis opened at 7.
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| After a couple of drinks, we were all convinced that the water mark on the napkin resembled Marilyn Monroe |
Stopped at Rimi for chips and Dodo for pizza and finished the evening at home.
Made it to bed just after 11.
Day 11 Vilnius, Lithuania
Did my usual early rising and checking email. When Bhob woke up, we took a walk by the river.
Took our time eating breakfast, packing and cleaning. Walked to the city bus stop and only had to wait a few minutes for our bus to the bus station.
When we boarded, we had no idea of the fare, so I tried to inquire about it and the driver told me something that I could only interpret as "Just get on the goddamn bus!".
Bought a ticket to Vilnius for a bus that departed in 5 minutes (not enough time for me to use the restroom before the 90-minute trip).
Got to Vilnius around 1:15. Found a pay toilet (worth every centime!) and walked about 15 minutes to the hotel. We were a little early for check in, but the proprietor checked us in anyway.
Dropped off our stuff, took about 20 minutes to finally put in the trial pair of contact lenses that I had shlepped across the Atlantic, and headed out to a part of town we hadn't visited yet.
The gang trusted my choice of google map search result for a supper destination
Went back to the hotel for a second, then Bhob and I insisted that the 4 of us go to Alchemikas for cocktails. Lucky for us, Joe and Judie were up for it.
Stopped at IKI for breakfast provisions and returned to our separate rooms to wind down for the night. Took about 20 minutes to remove the accursed contact lenses and got to bed before 10!
Day 12 Vilnius, Lithuania
Set the alarm for 5:45 AM so we would have enough time to get a good walk in before doing anything else.
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| Don't get too excited; I think they only sold CBD |
Went back to the hotel
for a little breakfast and joined up with Joe and Judie for an attempt at strolling through the former Jewish quarter. We found it eventually.
Had lunch at a fantastic pancake restaurant
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| I wish more public restrooms around the world would do a better job of spelling it out this explicitly. |
Then parted ways for our day's perambulations.
Our first destination was Lukiškės Prison
We arrived at 12:30, but the next available tour time was 4 PM, so we had a drink and enjoyed the space
Moved on to the Žvėrynas neighborhood.
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| I had acquired Joe's goggles for noticing electrical code violations |
Crossed the bridge to Vingio parkas
And made our way
back to Old Town, stopping at a little corner of heaven, Osteria da Luca
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| Whipped ricotta, mushrooms, truffle oil and pumpkin seeds. I'm still dreaming about it. |
Picked up breakfast provisions at IKI, met up with Joe and Judie at the hotel,
Went to the Kansas City BBQ joint nearby for supper and returned to the hotel to pack and get ready for the next day's early departure. Got to bed by 10!
Day 13 Departure
The previous day, we'd asked the hotel desk clerk to order a reliable taxi for us at 5:30 AM.
It arrived a couple of minutes early and we got to the airport in about 10 minutes, so we had 2 1/2 hours to relax. We were impressed with how luxurious the gate area was until we realized that it was seating for the nearby restaurants. The flight departed on time and we were on our way.
Random Observations
Supermarket cashiers use the checkout dividers parallel to the conveyor belt versus perpendicular, thus creating a space between items rather than a hard border.
Because the days of the week translate to Firstday, Secondday, Thirdday, et cetera, most signs for parking and hours of operation used Roman numerals as shorthand.
All over the country, there seemed to be a consistent color palette for houses, in a particular, translucent painting style
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| Mossy greens and Dijon mustard yellows |
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| This green |
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| And this green |
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| And this shade of blue |
The air near the Baltic coast didn't smell very briney to me, and the sea water didn't taste salty.
FAQs
So...it was a good trip?
Yes! Phenomenal!
On most of our trips, our goals are to simply walk around and look at stuff, and try to get an idea of what it's like to live there. This is the best glimpse we've ever gotten of living like a local, with the added bonus of lots of classic sightseeing.
Why Lithuania?
I have always been more proud of the Lithuanian half of my
ancestry than the Irish side (let’s face it, in St. Paul, every slob and his
brother-in-law can claim some percentage of Irish heritage), so I’d always
planned to travel there eventually.
My siblings and I are all Facebook friends with our cousin Vita in Lithuania. At a sibling patio happy hour a year before this trip, my brother asked the group if anyone had thought about traveling there to meet her. The immediate discussion was about a big family trip, but upon further consideration, Bhob and I determined that the more people in the group, the more complicated the logistics of flights, ground transportation and lodging. So we did the selfish thing and hijacked the idea and asked my brother and his wife to join us on a trip there.
While it was jerky of Bhob and me to exclude everyone else, we thought we could provide a service by considering it to be partly a reconnaissance mission for any sisters who might wish to travel there in the future.
How big is Lithuania?
According to the 2020 census, the population of the country is 2.795 million.
In area, it's less than a third as big as Minnesota.
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However, Saint Paul is only about a third as big as Vilnius
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What does it look like?
Gorgeous! Like all the best parts of Minnesota (rolling, green farmland and forests, lots of lakes, etc) concentrated into a smaller area, with the addition of the spectacular Baltic coastline.
There are few billboards outside of the cities. I think I can count on one hand the pieces of trash/litter we saw, and still have a couple of fingers left over.
In addition to being literally green, it's also "green" in the sense of commitment to sustainable energy. We saw lots and lots of solar panels and wind turbines.
Is this the farthest North you've ever been?
Yes! Šiauliai beat out Glencolumbkille, Ireland by 1 degree.
Šiauliai beat out Glencolumbkille, Ireland by 1 degree.
How was the weather?
Mixed!
The temperature range was ideal: lows in the upper 40°s and low 50°s F and highs in the upper 50°s and low to mid-60°s F. The coldest it got was about 42°F.
The first half of the trip was relatively rain-free, but it rained every day for the second half. However, there were never any all-day rains; we were always able to take advantage of dry stretches to spend time outdoors.
Before leaving, the 10-day forecast was grim, but overall it turned out alright.
What time of year was it?
September 8-20, 2022
What is the time difference?
They are 8 hours ahead of Minnesota
How were your flights?
Delta MSP-AMS
8 hours No problem
2 hour layover
airBaltic AMS -VNO Airbus A220-300
2:20 hours No problem
airBaltic VNO-AMS Airbus A220-300
2 hours No problem
3 hour layover
Delta AMS-MSP
8:20 hours No problem
What did you watch on the airplane?
MSP-AMS
A few episodes of Parks and Recreation
Top Gun: Maverick (Wow! Really terrible!! Bailed after about 20 minutes)
Soul (Wow! Really great!!)
AMS-MSP
A couple of episodes of Parks and Recreation
Turning Red (bailed after 20 minutes. Not all Pixar movies are for kids, but this one is)
2021 version of West Side Story (Well done! I think this director has a promising future in motion pictures)
Enemy of the State (because it ain't a proper vacation without a Will Smith movie)
A couple more episodes of Parks and Recreation
How were your lodgings?
All of them were great, with the exception of our Airbnb in Kaunas, which was super stylish on the surface but rather dirty and super shoddy in reality. It was tolerable for 2 nights.
Did you learn Lithuanian?
Not really. Joe learned a lot more words than I did. I knew a few words that I had learned years ago from my Mom, and from my friend Nora, whose parents spoke Lithuanian at home.
I tried to focus on the most frequently used words and phrases: Hello, goodbye, please, thank you, for here, to-go, I'm just looking, how much does it cost, that's too expensive, excuse me, I'm sorry, I don't understand Lithuanian, do you understand English, where is the bathroom, it was like that when I got here.
I got a little bit of a handle on pronunciation, but didn't add a lot of words to my lexicon, other than the very important skanu (skah-noo = delicious) and į sveikatą (ee svay-KAH-ta = Cheers!)
The more I travel, the less effort I put into acquiring a vast vocabulary of the language of my destination (though I do try to familiarize myself with the alphabet). What is the point of flawlessly asking for directions if I can't understand the answer?
Also, it's hard to have a meaningful conversation if I'm not fluent. Unless I am going to be spending months someplace, I don't see the point in becoming fluent. I'd love to be able to devote more time to language learning, but it's hard to maintain it if you don't have anyone to practice with.
That being said, I would love to have a greater mastery of Italian and Portuguese, as they are just really fun to speak.
Do most people speak English?
Yes! Even people who claimed not to speak English very well spoke English VERY well.
Did you learn the National Anthem?
Hell, yeah!
If there is any national anthem that I should know, it's this one.
Because it seems to be usually sung in a large group, I had a hard time discerning some of the vowel pronunciations from the youtubes.
Vita found me a good version with only two singers, which made it a lot easier to listen to.
How did the Russian invasion of Ukraine affect your visit?
According to the tour guide at the 9th Fort in Kaunas, there are 60,000 Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania. Without knowing what the country was like before going there, I can't say how things have changed because of this. We did see a lot of signs of solidarity.
How did the ongoing Covid pandemic affect your travels?
It was a non-issue. No masking requirements on flights, in airports, or at anytime in Lithuania. We saw a few people here and there wearing masks.
At no time were we asked for proof of vaccination or to have our temperature taken.
How did you get around?
In the cities and towns, mostly walking. We took 3 buses, one taxi and rode over 1000 km in the rental van.
How were the motorists?
Skillful and courteous.
Is it pedestrian and bicycle friendly?
Lithuania is a pedestrian paradise! With the exception of Kaunas, the cities we visited are mostly flat, sidewalks are well maintained, and all motorists stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, every time. Pedestrians are also very courteous; I never saw anyone jaywalking.
Lots and lots and lots of people got around on rented electric scooters. Bolt was the prominent brand.
The cities also were bike-friendly, with lots of designated lanes.
However, I'm not sure what it's like to bike from city to city; the motorways that we saw didn't have much of a shoulder.
Did you drink the water?
Yes! When a lodging had a pitcher filter, I drank that. Otherwise, the tap water tasted great and gave me no problems.
Did you eat any interesting food?
We tried most of the iconic Lithuanian foods: Cepelinai, potato pancakes, Šaltibarščiai, Koldūnai
And who could forget the Lidl ice cream bars with popcorn inside?
Hear any interesting music?
In the van and in restaurants, we heard either a variety of American pop music from the 60s-90s, or modern hippity hop whose origins I might be able to identify if I didn't live under a rock.
We heard this one a few times and it totally cracked me up.
Any highlights?
Far and away, the best thing about the trip was meeting and getting to know Vita, Arunas and their wonderful family. Their generosity, kindness and patience were boundless.
They are so easygoing, down to earth and unpretentious, it was an absolute pleasure traveling with them. There was never a moment of tension or bickering.
Vita planned and organized everything, always had a purse filled with whatever we could possibly need, and totally took care of us. There is NO WAY we could have seen even a fraction of what we saw if it hadn't been for her expert travel skills and smart itinerary.
Arunas skillfully drove us over 1000 km without complaints, refilled our drinks whenever we looked away for a split second, and was the official group photographer.
Simas, Tautvydas and Simona were so much fun, and remarkably fluent in English. Ariele is a cutie pie! Unfortunately, Simas's wife Erika was sick when we were in Panevėžys, so we will have to wait until our next visit to meet her.
Apart from family, I loved everything we saw, and it is impossible for me to pick only one or two favorites.
Lowlights?
Rain curtailing some of our morning walks.
Any surprises?
Before the trip, I didn't have a clear idea of what the Curonian Spit would look like, and had the impression that it was just a sand bar for bird watchers. It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous stretch comprising forest (including the Witches Hill, where I could have spent an entire day), sand dunes and Baltic views.
Another surprise is that before arriving in Lithuania, our itinerary looked on paper to be a whiplashy whirlwind of changing locations every two days, with lots of time spent coordinating transportation.
Because Vita and Arunas took care of that for most of the trip, it ended up feeling much more leisurely.
What currency do they use?
Euros
What was the exchange rate?
It hovered around $1 US the entire time, making it very easy to do the currency conversion in my head.
How much did it cost?
This is a tricky one to calculate.
Because we sometimes treated Joe and Judie and they sometimes treated us, not to mention that we were all honored guests and often treated by Vita and Arunas, it's difficult to be precise about how much we might have spent if we had just been two tourists in a random country.
Everything was cheaper than in the US, but more expensive than Mexico or Brazil.
These numbers are approximate, but they more or less reflect what we spent.
For two people, 12 days:
Flights $2054.54
Travel insurance $154.10
Lodging (10 days, not counting Vita's home)
$578.28 (average $57.82 per night)
Food (from supermarkets and restaurants, includes beverages and tips) $538.33
Booze (purchased separately at supermarkets and bars, including tips. Not including booze ordered with meals) $264.02
Coffee and treats $35.35
Ground transportation $35
Admission to attractions $125
Total (rounded) $3785
Total "on the ground" costs $998.50
Average daily "on the ground" $83.20 (per person $41.60)
Total cost per day per person $157.70
To pay for a trip like this, you would have to save $10.36 per day for one year (and go back in time to make sure that your ancestors meet up with Vita's😉)
What was it like traveling with your brother and sister-in-law?
Fantastic! They are a wonderful combination of organized and laid back, and expressed no judgement about our day-drinking😃
Would you go back?
Absolutely!
Who should go there?
Anyone who would like to experience European travel someplace that is just as clean, friendly, historical, beautiful and charming as Switzerland (sans Alps) or Scandinavia, but without the hefty pricetag.
Who watched Stinkerbell while you were gone?
My dear friends and neighbors Rob and Jennifer
