Our group dinner last night was near the hotel in Vilnius. We got to try the Lithuania delicacy named the Zeppelin. It is a mashed potato dumpling in the shape one would expect by the name, with a ground meat filling. Bet you can only eat one! On the road for Riga at 0800. We have a large tour bus all the way to St. Petersburg, with 2 seats per person, so everyone gets a window to look out of or lean against to nap. After a potty stop, we arrived at the Hil...

The Kaunas basketball team won! We heard only minimal celebration at the hotel. They must have snuck those fellows out of town in the dark of night to avoid them being lynched. As forecast, the day has been gloomy. We left at 9:30 on our local tour bus for Trakai, a medieval castle that served as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania back when there was such a thing, which was many wars ago. Raining a bit when we got there, but not a problem except for...

We joined about half the group for an evening walking tour. The basketball team from Kaunas is staying at our hotel and are playing the Vilnius team as I write this. They were leaving for the game as we were gathering. That is apparently quite a rivalry. First stop was an organic bakery to sample the local rye bread. Black as a moonless night in Westcliffe, and sweet from fermentation. Then on to the Amber Museum. This is a local treasure with a fascinatin...

Another gorgeous day here in Lithuania. Much refreshed after a good night's rest, though these duvets are not our favorite bed linens. Buffet breakfast at the hotel before 8:30 departure on our morning tour of the city. Combo walk/Bus tour led by Dalija, our Odysseys guide. The old Jewish quarter is nearby, and has commemorative plaques of the two town ghettoes. Saw the University, several churches of various flavors and the remaining town gate. Ended the ...

Our trip over was surprisingly easy. We got our daily exercise hiking at Dulles and Frankfurt airports to make our connections. All flights were early. We got to see Vilnius from the air during both approaches that the pilot made. Met our tour guide at the airport for our bus ride into the Radisson hotel right in the old part of the city. Today is a public holiday and one of the first nice spring days that they have had here. Checked into the hotel and went...