There are no pop culture references for Lithuania

These entries often have a film or music reference (many from the 60s or 70s) as the title. But try to come up with something for Lithuania. Go ahead. Try. I’ll wait. Give up? There is no “April In Paris” or “Meet Me in St. Louis” written about cities here (“Moon over Vilnius”? probably not). That’s what promises to make this stop so interesting. Most of us don’t spend any time thinking about Lithuania. We may go to Belgium for chocolates, Paris for the Eiffel Tower, London for Big Ben, but why come to Vilnius? What is here and why does it matter? That is what we will be exploring for the next week. But first, a look back at the last few days.

The students all had a great time in Amsterdam and Paris and all made it back to Brussels safe and sound. The Paris crowd saw every major site in the course of just a few hours and managed dinner, too. It sounded exhausting. Most of the Amsterdam folks got to see the Ann Frank house and one of the art museums. The folks who stayed over in Amsterdam had their return train break down but, despite that, they still made it back in time for Dr. Morgan’s one pm class.

Sunday, our last day in Brussels was spent in class in the early afternoon followed by a visit to an exhibition on the 50th anniversary of the European Union. Then it was back to the hotel for a class on Lithuania and the EU before dinner on our own. Morning departure would come very early.

Everyone left the hotel in Brussels before 6 am to head to the Central Railroad Station for the train to the airport. At the station, we all dragged our luggage down two flights of stairs to track three knowing we would make the train coming in five minutes. Then came the announcement: the train has been changed to track six. We rushed back up the stairs and then dragged our luggage back down the stairs to track six…only to watch our train pull away. A bad start to a good day. The next train came in 20 minutes and we made it to the airport in plenty of time for coffee and a croissant. We sailed through check-in, immigration and security and then got our big treat: except for one other passenger, we were the only people on the 737 Air Baltic flight non-stop to Vilnius. Everyone got his or her own row of three seats to stretch out on and grab a little more sleep. Arrival in Vilnius was easy, taxis to the hotel a breeze and we checked in and regrouped in half an hour for a long walk through Vilnius. We ate lunch, saw the major sites, learned our way around town and went home exhausted. We were on our own for dinner and everyone is so tired after this day that a good sleep is practically guaranteed. Tomorrow: the KGB museum and meeting with the ambassador.