The drive to Kriukai. Thursday 13th sept We got up, packed our small bags into the Subaru Forester, and then headed out of Vilnius. To say the driving is tight is an understatement. And then to add to the joy, I am sitting with the steering wheel on the other side of the car, on the other side of the road. I drove up a winding road, cars parked on my right, cars careering close to the middle line to my left and coming towards me. We get out of Vilnius and dri...

Another quiet day in paradise. This morning we enjoyed a coffee at "coffee inn",then I split from the group to get a special gift for me - I really want to see some Lithuanian basketball - and next Monday night the two best Lithuanian teams are playing in Vilmius. Lietuvos Rytas v Zalgiris. I wish Sam could be here to see it. It is sure to be a grudge match of epic proportions. I got really excellent tickets for everone (except Romas who insists he does not want...

Changes of plans.... This morning we planned to go and hire a 7 seater vehicle with Mindaugas - he arrived a but late- and then got on his phone. With mum interpreting he told us it would be a bad idea to hire a car in Lithuania. You have to leave credit card details with the car hire place- and invariably they claim damage to the car after your hire. You may argue, but they already have your credit card information. He made more calls and decided he was going t...

A quiet day - just with family wandering around the old town. Made porridge - then walked over to see Mum and Dads old friend , Pranas Nagys. We went up to his flat - then at 1pm I left the flat so I could have a Skype session with my family at home. Being Jill's birthday a fair amount of the extended family were there which was nice. I utilized the free wifi in the town centre to show off the old part of Vilnius to the family. Next, we got into some heavy duty ...

Sunday the 9th- Rita came and met us with a taxi to take us to Acropolis. Massive shopping centre reminiscent of Macquarie Fields - complete with ice skating rink in the middle of it. We did some shopping, then Donatus arrived and picked us up to drive us to Trakei, the Lakes District- only about 20 minutes out of Vilnius. There are 200 lakes and traditional country style architecture. When we got to Trakei we met up with Donatas wife Vilte, son Nikos, Vilte"s si...