Baltics 2009 – 1
Dear Family and Friends,
It has been awhile since our last travel note. We have been traveling some but
nothing too exciting.
The goal for this trip is the Baltic countries. We say the goal because it has
taken us a week to reach Lithuania. We started a week ago with a car trip from
Boise to the Seattle area to see our grandchildren for two days then on to McChord
AFB. On Monday we caught a space available military flight to Dover AFB in
Delaware. There we waited for three days to catch another military plane to
Spangdahlem, Germany. We think that the wait was so long because of the US troop
buildup in Afghanistan. Lots of planes were flying but very few space available
seats. The wait is one of the bonuses you get when you fly for free. It helps you
understand the meaning of the word “patience”. During our wait we met a nice couple
from Tennessee. We shared the space available bonus with them.
So we made it to Germany on Friday and spent the night on the base. Saturday we
took an overnight train to Warsaw, Poland. Our original plan was to go directly to
Lithuania but train schedules dictated that we spend the night in Warsaw. Much of
this part of the world shuts down for 4 days during Easter. This was a surprise to
us. Needless to say it was a quiet time in the old Warsaw town. Our very brief
exposure to Poland can be summed up in the word “gray”. The country has fallen
under Russian control several times so there seems to be a fair amount of concrete
in the pictures. We did see some color as we traveled on the train but it was
limited. It takes years for a country to get its color back.
From Warsaw we traveled 10 hours by train to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. We
spent a few days there. This must be one of the most religious cities because there
is a church on almost every corner. Hence we got to see quite a selection of
churches. They came in all colors, sizes and faiths. We ate some very tasty wild
boar and a new to us potato dish. (New potato dishes are rare to Idaho natives.)
The Lithuanians have come up with more ways to fix potatoes. We did visit the
former KGB and Gestapo prison. The outside looked pretty normal even quite pretty.
However on the inside you could almost hear the screams of the thousands of people
tortured and murdered in the big thick walled building. This was very sobering
since it was actively used as a prison until 1993.
We decided to take a day trip to Trakai to see the island castle. We took the
train, then walked too the bus station where we took a taxi to near the castle. You
must cross two foot bridges to get there. That was about 9 am. That is when we
found out it doesn’t open until 10 am. We walked around the castle admiring the
beautiful lake and then we waited out of the wind. We know why there are so many
sailboats. We found a post office in a strange place. The top of the castle. We
spent three hours looking at all the items before walking the 2 kilometers back to
the train.
The locals are very friendly and helpful. Most of the younger ones speak some
English but they are quite shy. So language has not been a challenge for us so far.
However there is still time.
Our next stop is in Siauliai where we are going to visit the Hill of Crosses.
Enjoy,
Rob & Connie
Spoffords Travel 