01/04 DAY 17: Vilnius
I slept in until 10:00. Then I went to a café, got a cappuccino and a bit to eat. I had ordered a baguette with cheese to go. But I can have that anywhere in Europe. I asked the woman if I could change to a greek wrap. Delicious.

BEING A TOURIST AND SHOPPING

I relaxed and really didn’t leave my room until noon, which felt kind of nice. I spent the next couple of hours doing the sight seeing thing, going up the hill to the castle, then shopping.

I bought a couple of shirts from a Lithuanian clothes company. I bought one shirt, then another. My guess was that the woman who sold me the shirts was on commission because she whispered something to the other female clerk as she left. Perhaps it had been a slow day.

On accident, I found the Eurolines (bus service) office and bought the bus ticket to Riga. I asked a couple of people here and they had said that bus was the only way to go as there were no express trains and flights are astronomically high. Work colleagues and other friends may remember me stressing out about this. So far, it’s been no issue.

For lunch, I went to a supermarket and got some staples, bread, cheese and chicken to make sandwiches. My idea was to eat half for lunch and half for breakfast the following morning, on the bus to Riga as a sort of picnic.

My idea was to walk to the bus station. Figure out where my bus was leaving from, then grab my laundry.

It took a minute to find the bus station. It’s a feasible “15 minute” walk from here. I’m not going to bother with a taxi as it’s a good work out and I need to work off some of this herring/sour cream & onion/warm potato stuff.

I hoofed it a couple of miles to pick up my laundry. I found the place without any problem. But when I got there, the lights were on by nobody was there. I cussed. No bell. I cussed again.

So, what else do you do? You knock! I did and an elderly woman came out mumbling something incomprehensible, which she believed to be comprehensible. I gave her the receipt from the day before. She put a bag on the service window. I thanked her and left.

Only the bag seemed smaller and lighter. I mean, I HAD half thought about ridding myself of some of my clothes to lighten my suitcase. Had these people helped me out by pre-selecting some clothes that I need not bring back to the ‘States?

I did a little inventory of my own when I got back; everything was present and accounted for. Thank you kind folks.

I’ll be a bit sad to leave Vilnius. It’s a great city and I really like my accommodations, despite the fact that I got a bad splinter from the coarse door. I like the fact that these people have been no nonsense and have basically left me alone (sometimes hotels can be kind of annoying as you never really feel at home.)
- posted by Matt @ 12:22 PM