They call him Vilnius Nastavnic, the "Vilnius Schoolmaster"

Thank goodness I'm in eastern Europe! Where else could I wear the same smelly clothes for a couple of days and still fit right in?

So, my bag basically missed the connecting flight in Warsaw, so it's coming today to Vilnius at around 3:00. The fun is...I'm flying out to Tallin at 3:45. Yet another time where it could dovetail perfectly....or I could end up wearing this shirt (and just my hoodie for warmth) for another couple of days.

Maybe it was the light. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was the general lack of other tourists, but IMHO, Vilnius is kicking Krakow's ass. It's a very beautiful city, with an Old Town the way they're supposed to be -- with little meandering streets to nowhere, and actual commerse going on besides satiating touristic desires. Plenty of churchs, and (strangely) most of them are pink. Inside the main cathedral, though, such a nice contrast after Poland -- it was all stark white.

Had dinner in a cellar again (always a treat). Stuffed myself silly -- I had wild boar with a berry sause (good), "cold ears" (blueberry filled peirogis, can't really mess that up), and a plate of traditional beer snacks...which we need to get in the states ASAP. There were sausages and cheese puffy things, but the real one worth noting is strips of that brown eastern european bread, fried in some sort of garlic oil. Think the wonderfulness of Italian breadsticks, but with the form factor and texture of a french fry. If only Lithuanians made beer as good as thier beer snacks.

On the plane over, I'd met some girls from New York who were accompanying thier grandmother on an <i>Everything is Illuminated</i> type mission to find out once and for all if she was really Polish or Lithuanian, something <i>her</i> mother apparently wouldn't speak about. So we went out and hit the town that night. We ended up at this place with a bunch of bleary eyed Lithuanians pouring liquor on the table and setting it on fire. They seemed so bored, you'd think we were in Siberia.

The girls were sweet. Julia was a waitress on Fire Island, and her cousin Allana is a student in Greenwich Village. Julia's moving to Manhattan when she gets back, but Allana is a rough and tumble city girl. Both seem to think thier grandmother's quest is a little crazy. Allana I found more interesting and in sync with, but alas....she was 16. (But she looks like she's in college....no, really!)

So that was my night. Stumbled home and am now getting ready to go to the old town for some breakfast, then off the airport. Hopefully later today I'll get both my laptop and some WiFi and I can do pictures.