The Wanderer

I am enjoying my time here in Vilnius so far, relaxing a little and catching up on some things I have been meaning to do for a while. I have taken a couple of short trips, one to Trakai, the medieval capital of Lithuania that is now a quiet lakeside village with a beautifully restored castle. The castle is located on a small island that is linked to the mainland by wooden footbridges, and swans and yachts ply the waters surrounding it. Although I'm sure that nearly all of the visitors to this small town are daytrippers from Vilnius, it strikes me as a nice place to relax for a few days, especially in the late spring and summer, when the weather begins to warm up again. I had lunch at a pleasant little cafe at the water's edge, with a partial view of the castle. I'm sure that all of the restaurants along this stretch of the lake are packed in the summer, but there were few tourists in town when I visited on Tuesday, and the cold wind kept them away from the open deck where I sat, so I had the place to myself.
Yesterday I also made an afternoon trip out to Kaunas with my friend Jordana, who used to study there. We had a good time exploring the old city and the ruins of the castle, adding a short visit to the military museum for good measure. I was also reminded that sometitravelerslers find it easier to navigate in a foreign country than locals do to get around their own country. Perhaps that is because we are used to being on the road and spending lots of time on public transportation to new and different places, while locals are just used to their daily routine and rarely have time to explore their own cities and the rest of the country. This always strikes me as odd, but maybe my perspective has been altered by so much time away from home. Regardless of the reason, I still find it strange when I am leading my local friends around and showing them how to travel in their own country. If this sounds sort of vague doesn't make sense to you, I'll try to explain it in more detail in a future newsletter.
Tonight I will take in the Lithuanian Ballet's production of "Russian Hamlet", which promises to be quite interesting. Jordana, a former ballerina, has already seen it once, but judging by her excitement to see it again, I anticipate a good show. The ballet was written by the highly acclaimed Boris Eifman, and I am anxious to see his work, which diverges substantially from classical ballet and incorporates many other modern dance styles.

I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania yesterday after taking the afternoon bus from Riga. I arrived almost an hour EARLY, which rarely happens on public transport, especially when you are crossing borders. I attribute it to the surpisingly simple border crossing and the fact that the bus company must have allotted more time to wait at the border. So far, the borders in the Baltics have been the easiest I have ever experienced outside of Western Europe. I arrived so early that my friend was not even at the station to meet me yet. I almost thought that we must have changed time zones, since Lithuania didn't used to observe daylight savings, and I thought that perhaps that accounted for the time difference.
Today my friend Jordana gave me a tour of Vilnius, taking me for a walk around the Old Town, the biggest in Eastern Europe. Most of the businesses and museums were closed for Easter (most of the Baltic countries take Monday off as well), but we had a pleasant walk around the area, with few people and even fewer cars. The sun peeked through the clouds about noon or so, and the weather warmed up a little, which was nice.
The Baltic states have a great fondness for sour cream in their food, which is a pleasant change from the mayonnaise in Russia and other parts of Europe. Granted, Russia uses quite a bit of sour cream as well, but they use it more as an ingredient than a condiment, whereas in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, it is used as a condiment for just about everything. It may not be especially healthy, but it tastes good. This may be just a personal taste issue, but I much prefer it to the mayonnaise and ketchup that most of the rest of the world slather on their food.
Tomorrow I plan to visit the ancient Lithuanian capital of Trakai, so I'll have more for you then...