Excursion to Vilnius!

After a 27 hour long, very fun trip to Vilnius, I'm now back in  Panevezys.  

I had a fantastic time, and I was so busy that I didn't have much time to be homesick!  I really miss all of you, but I've realized that won't change.  I'll always miss you, but when I'm busy I don't think about coming back home.  I really want to make the most of my time here!

Okay, so, you might want to get a cup of coffee or cocoa and maybe a snack, because I think this post is going to be quite long!

I slept fairly soundly for about 6 hours on Friday night, so I started the day on a good note! Tautvydas drove me (even though it's only a 10 minute walk) to the bus station just after 7am. We bought a ticket, and I was set to go!  The bus pulled out at 7:20am and, because it was an express bus, it arrived in Vilnius at 9:00am.  (There were only 11 people on the full size coach bus!)  Michelle met me at the station and then we started our adventure!!

We spent about five hours touring Old Town.  We saw many churches (and wedding parties), the President's Palace, many courtyards, Gediminas' Castle, Town Hall, Cathedral Square, part of Vilnius University, and the Gates of Dawn (we didn't go up though because there was a mass going on).  All of the churches are beautiful!  We stopped at the Vilnius University bookstore to see if we could find some books to help me learn Lithuanian, and we found them!!  My favorite place in Old Town that we visited is the top of Gediminas' Castle.  The view is beautiful!! 

At Cathedral square there is a tile that you're supposed to spin around on and think of a wish, then look up at the cross on top of the Cathedral and your wish will come true.  Michelle was a good tour guide.  Where she had been she remembered a lot of the history, so that was fun! Some places she hadn't been, so we explored together.  We never got lost, so that made us happy!  

From Old Town we took a bus over to the TV tower.  After a 15 minute "shot cut" (we took the long way because we couldn't find the entrance even though it was just around the corner!) all the way around the fence, we finally found the entrance, bought tickets, and made it to the top. There's a cafe up there and the tables rotate around the center, so if you stay there for an hour you will see the city in every direction.  We ended up eating ice cream and then heading back down.  

The weather was cloudy and chilly all morning, and then about half an hour before we left Old Town it started to rain lightly.  That continued until at least 1am.  Not ideal for walking around outside, but I still enjoyed every minute of the day!

Our next walk was 50 minutes long, and instead of finding a bus that would take us back to Michelle's host family's house, we couldn't find any busses, so we walked back to the TV tower and her host mother came and picked us up.

Back at the house the first thing we did was check the bus schedule, and that's when we found out I had missed all of the busses.  (Tautvydas had told me on the way to the bus station in the morning that I could leave Vilnius around 6 or 7pm, so I wasn't worried about finding a bus back.)  Oh well, I wasn't at all sad to be stuck, and Michelle was glad for the company, so it was a good night.  

Around 11:30pm we talked to her host brother who is in the US as a Rotary Exchange student. He's loving his time there!  He gave us both many, many suggestions for how to learn the language, make friends, and live life as a Lithuanian.  That really made me feel like I might be able to make it through the year!  At about midnight he told us that we should take a walk to see the lakes at night, so we did.  We took a half hour long walk at 12:15am to the "lakes" (they're really ponds).  I am so glad he told us to do that.  It was so peaceful and beautiful!  I love admiring God's wonderful creation!

I slept on the couch and actually slept fairly soundly.  It was only for about 5 hours though because I had to get up at 6:45am to leave for the bus.  Michelle walked with me to the bus station near her house, and then at 7:20am I started today's adventure.  The bus ride from her house to the main bus station was 40 minutes.  I then found my way to the ticket counter, bought a ticket for the 8:25am bus, bought a few pastries for breakfast, and then I was headed back to Panevezys.  There were probably about 15 people on this bus.  It wasn't an express bus though, so it made a several short stops between Vilnius and Panevezys.  The bus pulled into the Panevezys station five minutes early at 10:30am, and then I walked back to the house.

On the bus from Vilnius to Panevezys there were two older guys sitting two seats in front of me.  One really wanted to talk to me, but we couldn't understand each other.  They both smiled a lot, and that made me fell more at home here.  They're the first adults that I've seen who really seem to like to smile!  It was great!  It's wonderful how far a smile goes to make someone's day!  I love smiles: )

I checked the mailbox on the off chance that nobody had checked it yesterday, and I found a letter to me!!  I was told that mail isn't delivered here on Saturdays, but it is!!!!

When I arrived back at the house Jokubas and Tautvydas were the only ones home.  They were glad to hear that I'd had a good time!  Jovita came back a little before 1pm, and wanted to hear all about my day.  She was also very glad I'd had fun!

This noon Tautvydas went on a bike ride, and he just got back.  Jovita, Jokubas, and I ate lunch (spaghetti with the red sauce stuff) about an hour and a half ago.  We also finished off the No Bake cookies:(  I guess I'll just have to make some more yummy food!

In about 10 minutes we're going to a dance performance at the main theater.  This evening I don't think we'll do much besides eat supper.  Hopefully I'll be able to sleep very well tonight!

I am so thankful that I had this opportunity to spend time exploring Vilnius with another exchange student!  We had lots of time to talk and just enjoy being here.  It was good for both of us, and I am confident that I started my week on a good note and now it will just get better! 

Keep Smilin'!

Love and Hugs,

Naomi