Viso from Lithuania land!

It may be the middle of June on paper but in Lithuanian reality, it feels more like the middle of September.  It's rainy, chilly, and grey outside.  Bad for people who were expecting to wear season appropriate clothing and packed away their layers but great for me since I am way overdue for a blog update and this is the perfect weather to cozy up with my computer in a local coffee shop and type away for hours.

Back in January on an ordinary weekend, a gaggle of us ladies ventured onto a mini-bus to brave the cold and icy weather conditions in order to make the seven hour road trip from Vilnius to Warsaw.  We went with one very serious objective in mind:  to purchase as much Polish Pottery that would fit inside the mini-bus.  Yes, we were able to see a few of the sights in Warsaw and had delectable Polish traditional meals and delicacies in addition to amazing Mexican food (should label that one as 'things not expected to find in Warsaw'), but we were really there to drop serious money on coveted kitchen items.  Polish Pottery is known both for it's beautiful aesthetic appeal and long lasting durability.  The hand crafted pottery is great for cooking, serving, displaying and is strong enough for the microwave, oven, and dishwasher.  In other words, it is the work horse of the pottery world.  On our trip, we went to two different pottery places and each of the thirteen ladies who came on the excursion left with no fewer than one large box filled with pottery.  That stuff is truly amazing!  I mean, they make pretty much anything for the kitchen, from serving dishes to plates to tea pots to platters to even doggie bowls.  I came home with amazing loot!

So much pottery, so little time.

Shortly after the Polish Pottery adventure, a friend in Vilnius suggested that a group of us try out a unique restaurant.  Once a week, a local Russian restaurant offers a dinner in the dark dining experience, where guests eat in complete darkness (but not in complete silence!).  Since your sense of sight is removed, this experience is supposed to enhance your other senses such as taste, touch, and smell.  At first I was a little hesitant but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was really curious to try the sensory deprivation eating experience.  We arrived at the restaurant and were hand-led in groups of three by the night goggle wearing hostess into complete and I mean complete darkness to our table.  Food was brought to us as were drinks and we all had to listen to the hostess' voice and feel for the plate of food.  The knives on the table were rendered useless since we could not see what to cut, so we mostly employed the shovel method of eating by using our hand and either a spoon or fork to assemble the food and then place it in our mouths.  We were not told ahead of time what the menu would consist of but we knew that it would be 'safe' food and nothing exotic.  As we ate, we had to guess what kind of meat was on the plate, what the garnishes were, and what ingredients were used in the preparation of the food.....all from taste and smell, and a little bit of touch.  That part was a little harder than expected!  Other senses were definitely heightened with the removal of sight but we managed to figure out what the menu consisted of in the end.  This was a truly unique experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone else to try it if they have the opportunity!

Night vision goggles.  The real deal.

One of my goals from the beginning of this Lithuanian adventure was to finish reading the Leo Tolstoy classic, 'Anna Karenina,' by the time we left Lithuania.  Well, thankfully, with two weeks to spare I finally finished the 800 page book a few days ago!  Now, it should be noted that I received this book as a gift nearly nine years ago and have been reading it, bit by bit, ever since then.  Part of the reason that it took me nearly a decade to finish the book is because I was also reading other books in the mean time and 'Anna Karenina' was always on my nightstand for a few pages before heading to bed.  Thankfully, I had a decent grasp on the characters and the plot and was always able to pick up where I left off.  I was so determined to finish the book before leaving Lithuania that I self imposed restrictions and wouldn't allow myself to watch the movie or see the play.  As silly and perhaps crazy as this sounds, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and now I can't wait to see the movie!  Phew!

With just a few days remaining in Vilnius, I find myself lounging in coffee shops and reflecting on the past two and a half years here.  What a great and fulfilling journey!  I will miss Lithuania dearly but know that I will be back to visit sometime in the near future.  Viso from Lithuania land!

I will miss this view from our apartment!

Happy Holidays!

As it happens, the time I decide to sit down and actually update my blog about adventures in Lithuania is the exact time that we are on vacation...not in Lithuania.  More about our vacation spot and my difficulty in understanding certain wardrobe choices of bikini clad women later in the blog.  

Back in July of this year, I attended two events on the same day that were not necessarily mutually exclusive, depending on your perspective - the Pride Parade and the Depeche Mode concert.  Earlier on in the day, I donned my rain proof (and egg proof) jacket and walked down to the city center to participate in the Baltic Pride parade, which this year was held in Vilnius.  Hard to believe that just three years ago, the last time the rotating Baltic parade was held in Vilnius, only a few hundred people dared to march in the parade but this year the participant numbers swelled to several thousand.  Stuart Milk, the late Harvey Milk's grandson, also marched among the thousands and gave a short speech at the end of the march.  A swift five hours later, we were on our way to the Depeche Mode concert in an outdoor park area in Vilnius.  Call it irony, call it funny, call it ignorant, call it what you want but as we looked around the concert goers, we couldn't help but notice that the same people who were taunting us during the parade and throwing us the bird, were singing and dancing along to the Depeche Mode songs and having a merry old time.  

Baltic Pride Parade 2013

Reach out and touch faith....

Towards the end of summer, we were super excited with an influx of visitors from the States.  My parents came at the end of August and we took them on a whirlwind adventure in Lithuania and a quick jaunt to Paris one weekend.  They absolutely loved Lithuania to include the charm of Old Town Vilnius, the food, the ambiance, and of course, the cleanliness of the streets.  Aside from seeing us, I think the well kept streets and the great sartorial taste of the locals were most definitely my mom's highlights.  The same day my parents left Vilnius, four of my co-ed flag football teammates from Virginia arrived!  It was so great to see them and explore various parts of Lithuania, as well as Riga and Estonia, together.  

Trakai Castle

Tallinn, Estonia with Bomber Football teammates

As November rolled around and days were becoming shorter and colder, along with many other women, I was in terrible angst figuring out what to wear to the one and only annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball.  After going back and forth during an internal struggle, I finally decided (gasp!) that I would re-use a dress that I had worn to two other events over the past few years.  Around the same time, the Gunnery Sergeant asked me if I would be willing to take on the job of MC of the birthday ball.  To be completely honest, at first I thought he was joking and trying to pull a fast one on me.  But, after realizing that he was being serious, I told him that I would be honored and of course I would do it!  When the night finally came, I had a phenomenal time acting as the MC and thankfully, I did not trip on the small train of my dress after having to go up and down the stage.  If anything, that was probably the thing I was most afraid of during that evening!

Happy Birthday Marines!

3rd time is a charm for this dress!

And now, to discuss my vexation with certain wardrobe choices while on vacation in Punta Cana.  Disclaimer - I am not some American prude who shudders at the sight of someone's derriere or décolletage.  However, a line must be drawn!  Ladies - a few recommendations from me.  DO go topless for the feeling of freedom and absence of tan lines.  DON'T walk up topless to the bar at the resort (while wearing a paper floss thong bottom to boot) to ask for a drink; please don your cover-up.  DO apply extra sunscreen to your bum while wearing a thong bikini bottom (one can only imagine what a sun burn to the bum will do to a person).  DON'T try the downward-dog yoga pose while straddling your lover and wearing a barely there thong bikini.  To be fair, the nudity didn't bother me or distract me from my goal while on vacation (to relax and have a good time), but merely offered cheap entertainment and comic relief before ordering another margarita from the bar.

Appropriate attire....bikini on t-shirt

Happy Holidays from Punta Cana

Happy Holidays from Vilnius, ya'll!

New year, new findings

Although we're a third of the way into the new year, I have finally determined what my new year's resolutions are.  One of them is to update my blog at least once a month!  Hopefully my new super fast computer (pending delivery) will push me to publish more times, especially with upcoming trips and events that are on the schedule for the next couple of months.

American & Lithuanian snowman says hello!

When I last posted several months ago, I had just found out the wonderful news that I was a new aunt!  My younger brother beat me to the punch once again - this time it was with the baby train.  He and his parter had a beautiful and chunky little girl with a complete full head of hair, which I attribute to his Romanian and her Mexican roots.  Now, I'm sure that there are many aunts in the world who think that their nieces are the cutest and loveliest, but I must say that my niece most definitely came off the assembly line from the adorable factory.  She has so much personality and her smiles and laughs just make my heart melt.  Last fall, I was incredibly lucky that I got the chance to go back to the States to attend my annual trip with my college girlfriends and at the same time, I got to meet the newest addition to the Comsa family.  Now, I've held many babies in my time, but for whatever reason, when I held my not yet 2 month old niece, it was as if I had never even held a potato sack before!  My back was arched so far back when I was holding her, that I probably looked like I was trying to perform a back bend.  In my effort to not make her uncomfortable, I nearly took out my back!  Luckily, after the fifth or sixth hold (along with the help of a martini), I was doing just fine.  Now, months later, all of us get to talk to and see each other over skype quite often.  I constantly find myself cooing and awwing to her, just like those crazy family relatives!  But, she needs to know that she has a loving, albeit sometimes strange, aunt and an uncle who live far, far away.

Love at first cry

Lovely Theta ladies

Shortly after my return from the States, I began to notice an unattractive and common habit among people in Vilnius once the weather reached the sub-freezing temperatures.  Time and time again when I walked around town bundled up in my thick marshmallow jacket, I would look around and notice that people openly and without shame, blew snot rockets in public!  This new habit took my repulsion of spitting in public to a whole new level.  Men and women alike, old and young, seemingly of middle class background stopped in their tracks, removed their gloves and squeezed each nostril to blow their noses, sans tissue or hankerchief.  Yuck!  In all fairness, I may be able to understand this habit if people were to perform it in private, but in front of everyone walking along the street, I mean come on!  Is it so difficult to pre-pack a hanky or tissue in a pocket or purse, or even hidden in a glove?  The other day I went for a run outside and about half way through my run, I began to sniffle and could not stop.  Due to my aversion to snot rockets in public, I waited until I was able to run along a path without any person in sight, and then let it loose all natural style, without tissue or hanky.  Immediately after, I still turned my head in every direction to make sure no one saw.  

 

Yuck

To finish off this quick blog, I would just briefly like to touch on our once in a lifetime adventure throughout southeast Asia.  I say 'briefly' only because I feel like I can devote pages and pages to the experiences and sights and tastes that we encountered.  In January, we embarked on our vacation from Thailand to Laos to Vietnam to Cambodia, all in a three week time period.  Lots of flights, lots of hotels, no upset stomachs, and so many memories.  It was great to get away, not only because we always wanted to go to these places, but because we got a brief break from the bitter cold winter in Vilnius.

The beautiful Halong Bay

Summer Fun

In the beginning of summer months, we were invited by a friend for a weekend getaway to a rock festival about an hour's distance from Vilnius.  Without knowing what to expect and without knowing anything about the nature of the festival we were to embark upon, we decided to give it a go and made a weekend getaway out of it.  We hit the road on a sunny Saturday afternoon, hitching a ride with our friend and caravan-ing with another car.  Before I move any further into the details of the festival, I must take a quick side bar to briefly discuss the wonder that is the StatOil hot dog, for which we stopped and devoured on the ride to the festival.  StatOil, as one might guess, is a gas station, however not just any gas station, but one that is omnipresent in Lithuania AND one that has the most amazingly delicious hot dogs.  I must admit I was skeptic when Damian first told me about these beef sausages but after I had my first one, I knew that they weren't just any beef sausages, they were beef sausages of amazingness.  Imagine a French style hot dog bun with one end of the bun closed off and the other end with an opening for the sausage.  You can choose the type of sausage that you want as well as various sauce toppings (garlic, "spicy," tomato, etc).  I was hooked after my first one.  Now, if we go on weekend getaways and pass a StatOil, our Pavlov-like reaction turns on and we must immediately pull in and order ourselves each a yummo dog.  Ok, now back to the rock festival.  Perhaps we should have known when we found out that the name of the festival was Devil's Stone, that it might not have been our cup of tea.  The festival consisted of various types of metal music, some of which I didn't even know existed, to include heavy, rock, death, goth, Viking goth, psychedelic, pagan.  Wowsers.  Once we arrived, our group of friends and us were the only ones, let me repeat, the only ones not dressed in black, leather, lace, heavy makeup.  Although we looked like complete fish out of water, we took in the concerts, danced around a bit, drank good local beer, and ate delicious food.  And, heck, we even spotted someone wearing a Washington Redskins Chris Cooley football jersey.  How random is that?

Absolutely, positively delicious

Before the pagan metal started

Cooollleeeyyyyyy

About a couple of months ago, a colleague told me that he played volleyball with various groups of folks around Vilnius.  Before he could even get another detail out of his mouth, I immediately blurted out that I was totally in!  In truth, I've been looking for a way to play volleyball again since college.  In Arlington, it wasn't until I almost left that I found a local community center that played pickup volleyball.  I was so deeply entrenched with my flag football team (Go, Bombers!), that I couldn't find the time for another side sport.  But now, as the only football that Lithuanians know about is what we Americans call soccer, I decided this would be a perfect time to start playing volleyball again.  After the first time I played, I was super impressed with the talent of some of the players!  Then I knew, I was ready for some things (slight attempt at DJ Flula impersonation).

Then, in early August, one of my favorite people came to visit!  In fact, Shyla was the first friend to visit us in far away Lithuania land, but hopefully not the last!  We had a jam packed week planned out, starting out with a four hour bus ride to Riga, Latvia the day after she arrived.  I wanted to make sure she still had the adventurous spirit in her!  After eating way too much, walking around a lot, and grabbing a few drinks, we were on the bus back to Vilnius.  To start the week off in Vilnius, we had dinner at home and realized the next morning that we were no longer 22 years old and were steeply approaching another decade.  Ugh.  The next evening, I took Shyla to an evening of fun at quiz night, where she got to meet some unique personalities on our team.  After a few nervous butterflies, she answered some questions correctly, thus "earning" her spot at our table, according to a fellow quiz-mate.  Towards the middle of her visit, Shyla and I did something that neither of us ever did before - we went hot-air balloning!  Wow was that fun!  Never before did I feel like my life was hanging on thinly by a few wicker pieces threaded together and flammable gases until I was up in the air looking over Vilnius. The balloon landed in a super deserted field and as we were descending, I had my eyes on the questionable looking children, who I dubbed the field children that would steal our tears.  Then finally, as a last hoorah for her visit, we planned a special kind of tour, filled with historic sightseeing and deep cultural heritage.  Oh yes, I am talking about the Vilnius Beer Bike tour, a 12 person self propelled bicycle where the "guide" in the middle of the bike serves you beer and beer snacks.  My words could never truly describe the awesomeness of this event.  For those of you who can't picture it, I guess you'll just have to come and visit to find out for yourself :)

Reunited and it feels so good!

Yes, sticky mustaches on our foreheads

The wonder that is the Beer Bike

The day after Shyla left, Damian surprised me with something so cool, it will most likely only happen in Lithuania once.  Tickets to see Lady Gaga perform live in concert in Vilnius!  In my wildest dreams I  would not have thought that she would come and perform in a former Soviet-block country some 20 odd years after declaring independence.  I mean lets call a spade a spade, although Vilnius has come a long way into the modernization era, there are still those few social issues which the local culture still has a long way to comes to terms with.  Nevertheless, thousands of people were at the concert, some even donned Gaga-attire.  Me, I donned my leopard print shirt and my loud, ready to scream and sing voice.  Gaga and her entourage definitely did not disappoint.  I jumped and sang and rocked out throughout the entire concert, feeling like a true little monster.      

Lady

Gaga

Is it Summer Yet?

For many months now, I have been waiting, sometimes impatiently for the beautiful, sunny, and clear weather to magically appear in Vilnius.  There were a few teaser couple of days in April when the sun was shining down brilliantly and I was wearing flip flops consistently but since then, no such luck!  However, fear not, my flip flop wearing habit was not deterred :).  Luckily, as I like to keep myself busy with as many things as possible, several things happened over the last two months to keep me out of the house, but with umbrella in tow!

Although the weather outside was a little chilly, it was not cold enough to keep me in the gym running on the treadmill in order to train for the half-marathon I had signed up for in May.  In any case, I needed to actually start practicing running outside and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the chilly weather was ideal for outdoor running.  There is a lovely park less than 2 miles away from our apartment that has great flat trails with a large amphitheater nestled in the middle (where Lady Gaga will be performing this summer!!!).  I quickly came to realize that long distance outdoor running is no joke and significantly different than treadmill running!  I will say that although I ran Track & Field in high school, I never truly ran longer than about 4 miles on any one occasion.  In late April, I finished a 10km race in Vilnius to get me on track toward the half-marathon in May in Riga, Latvia.  The training schedule that I attempted to abide by was Hal Higdon's half-marathon for novices online training.  It was easy to follow but I just couldn't get a run in during some weeks!  Anywho, I traveled up to Riga in late May with several friends to compete in the half-marathon.  Hearing horror stories from other runners, I decided to stick to pasta and carbs for the night-before dinner to keep my internal movements in order during the actual race.  At the start of the race, the weather was perfect, just slightly cool with a light breeze although as the race progressed, it became incessantly hot running on the highway path as I was sweating profusely.  Nevertheless, I completed my first half-marathon (with a few walking breaks) and I couldn't be happier!  Now, I'm even thinking of signing up for the Vilnius half-marathon in September, if not at least the 10km race.  

Vilnius 10km Race...slowly but surely!

Hundreds of motorcycles riding by on one of my practice runs

Victorious after the Riga half-marathon!

In between the Vilnius 10km race in April and the Riga half-marathon in May, I volunteered on the organizing committee of the International Women's Association of Vilnius' annual charity gala event.  The breast cancer charity event raised nearly $25,000 from in-kind donations as well as proceeds from live and silent auctions.  As I couldn't just attend the event without purchasing something, Damian and I walked away with a few art/photographic pieces, a bracelet, and some wine.  It was for charity so the purchases were justified, right?  

Damian & I at the charity gala

A few weeks ago, I had the unique opportunity to attend two very different back-to-back day trips with a local organization.  During the first trip, we visited the Vilnius University botanical garden located about 30 minutes outside Vilnius.  I was coming straight from work so I was still wearing my high heeled shoes.  What a big mistake that was!  I don't know what I was thinking, perhaps the local women's mantra of 'high heels all the time' got to me, but my non-tactical footwear selection was a costly mistake.  I kept digging my heals into the soft earth and grass, all the while wanting to go native and take my shoes off.  Ah well, valuable lesson learned - wear comfortable and flat shoes the next time.  The next day after the botanical garden visit, our little group headed out to Ignalina to tour the power plant by the same name located there.  The power plant, built during the 1970's and 1980's and closed as a pre-condition of Lithuania's admission admission into the European Union, at one time supplied 70% of Lithuania's energy demand.  Throughout our tour, we had to wear these funny looking white garments and white shoes in order to not contaminate the various areas.  Although we were prohibited from taking pictures inside the facility, I tried to snap a few from the outside!

Vilnius University Botanical Garden

Ignalina Power Plant

And to end, three fun final stories.  Before coming to Lithuania, truly, I had not heard of the Eurovision song contest.  Apparently, it has been on air for over 50 years with many European countries, and strangely enough a few non-European countries, participating in the yearly competition.  A friend of ours hosted a party a few weeks ago for the Eurvision finals where we had to dress up and bring food from a country that was in the finals.  My first obvious choice was Romania.....duh.  Sadly, as much as I love the "untz" and "doosh" music, the heavily sexified Romanian song & performance was no match to Sweden's dark and ominous appeal.  Ah well, there's always next year!  About a week ago, we went to watch the Lithuanian premier of "Act of Valor," a movie about the lives of some US Navy SEALs.  A few members of the Lithuanian Special Forces participated in the premier by displaying a show of force with real-life soldiers and two armored vehicles.  It was pretty cool!  Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to drive the vehicles.  Lastly, Damian and I and a few friends went to the annual medieval fair in Trakai, a city located about 20 minutes from Vilnius.  As I am constantly surprised with what Damian has the ability to do, he showed off his archery skills by accurately shooting arrows onto a target!  I decided to save my skills for next year. 

"Traditional" shirt & fasole....yum!

Nothing like hanging out with Lithuanian Special Forces on an idle Thursday

Nice form!

Daisy dukes at a medieval festival?  Yes, please.

Keeping Busy

Nearly two months since I've last posted and quite a few things have happened!  Traveled to Prague for a long weekend getaway, started a boot camp program, signed up for a half-marathon, and enjoyed several late night kebab outings.  The Lithuanian winter hung on until the last bitter cold moment in mid-April but now I am so excited to walk outside without a heavy coat and boots (although I still see women wearing gloves while I envision wearing flip flops!).

So....Prague!  What a beautiful and historic city!  It was my first time visiting and I can truly say that it is one of my favorite European cities.  From the architecture, sites, old cobblestone streets, food, and of course the beer, I was enamored by it all.  Although we had a few items on our list of 'must-sees' in the city, my favorite thing that we did was getting lost among the numerous side streets.  During our first night walking adventure, we stumbled across a chain restaurant that is highly recognized by nearly every traveller.  The famous Hard Rock Cafe.  I must admit that normally we try to stay away from chain restaurants in countries outside the US, however, we were highly inclined to visit this establishment for two important reasons.  First, Damian collects Hard Rock Cafe shirts from every country he visits that has one.  And second, we were both craving, and I mean literally salivating-at-the-mouth craving, the delicious nachos that the restaurant serves!  The restaurant did not disappoint and we devoured the nachos in record time.
    

Prague Old Town

Large Baby Sculptures with Computer Chip Heads

About a month before traveling to Prague, I signed up for a boot camp program led by a Marine Staff Sergeant at the embassy.  While a member at Bally's in Arlington, I participated in one boot camp class and I nearly fainted because the workout was so vigorous and intense.  So, I had to think seriously before I actually started another boot camp program, led by no other than a hard core Marine.  Similar to my first boot camp experience, my second time around I almost fainted in the middle of class after the first round of exercises.  Yikes!  However, I continued attending the 6am classes three times a week because I wanted to push myself and I knew that I wouldn't the same way on my own otherwise.  The classes were grueling and I was sweating profusely but I always felt better afterwards.  And now, I feel like I dream about burpies!  And, if signing up for a boot camp wasn't enough exercise, I also signed up for a half-marathon in May.  Double yikes.  I'm training for it now and let me tell you, it is hard!  I'm used to running short distances, but long distance running is a whole other beast.

Even though I'm on an exercise high, that doesn't mean I've sacrificed myself completely to only healthy eating.  Once in a while, usually after a late night of fun, I splurge and satiate my appetite for kebabs.  There are several hole in the wall, cheap establishments that offer kebabs with various sauces and spiced french fries.  Eating your first kebab in Vilnius is sort of like a right of passage.  And, just like the Lay's potato chip mantra, 'you can't eat just one,' you will return to kebabs time and time again.  Kebabs are definitely the late night food that people flock to in Vilnius, sort of like Jumbo Slice pizza in Washington, DC or Del Taco/Alejandro's Mexican food in southern California.  And, luckily for me, there is a kebab place within close walking distance of our apartment.

Kebabs!  Couldn't even put down the kebab for a picture!

And, to end this post, two final stories.  First, I must admit that much to my previous aversion to this particular board game, I have learned to truly enjoy and appreciate 'Settlers of Catan.'  When I first came across this board game about one year ago, I thought it was so boring and complicated and nonsensical.  Now, one year later and in Lithuania of all places, I've found myself playing this game on several occasions!  If you've never heard of this game or never played it, I highly recommend it!  And for the second story, people here LOVE fur.  As a California girl, the only wearable fur I saw was in my mom's closet, the furs she had from back in the day Romania.  People just did not wear fur in California, not only because it didn't get cold enough but PETA was just around the corner ready to throw paint.  But, here in eastern Europe, men and women wear fur throughout the entire winter season.  And, I'm not just talking about a small shawl or fur rimmed hat, I'm talking about the real deal, full length coats and huge fur hats.  Recently, I went with a group to a local fur shop that was having significant end of season discounts and decided to try a few items on for fun.  Although I didn't buy anything, I definitely took pictures with several pieces!

Hmmmmm.......

Getting Around

Long time no write! Argh! To start this post, I'll need to back up about three weeks. Two Saturdays ago, Damian & I were invited by some Lithuanian friends to see an opera. We initially thought, 'great, this will be a chance to increase our cultural education!' so we said yes to the invitation and began researching a little more on the opera. I have to admit that I was quite confused after a little google-ing, since most of my search words led me to links about an opera in New York. As the natural pessimist that I am, I asked Damian to ask our friends if the opera was, in fact, in Vilnius. Turns out that the actual performance was in New York but numerous live-in-HD versions were broadcast all over the world, including here in Vilnius. I then did some more research on the opera, Wagner's 'Twilight of the Gods' (Götterdämmerung), and realized the performance would last 6.5 hours! No, that's not a typo.....6.5 hours, of course with two intermissions. On the night of the opera, I loaded up with coffee and tried desperately not to fall asleep in the cozy and plush seat, however, my eyelids were ostensibly very heavy that evening and I took a quick cat nap during the first act. Oops! Luckily, I had a strong cup of coffee during the first intermission and I was ready for the remaining two acts! Overall, I enjoyed the opera, the third and final in Wagner's series, and now I'm curious to see the first two (which are 3 hours long each....phew!). What I liked about viewing the opera in a cinema format was that there were subtitles in English, quite helpful since I don't speak German.

A few days before the opera, Damian and I were thinking about what we were going to do for the upcoming President's Day holiday. It dawned on us that, because of the Lithuanian National holiday around the same time, we could take a long weekend vacation somewhere! Next step was to figure out where. First, we thought about going to Dubai. Well, that was quickly scratched off of our short list as the ticket prices were exorbitant.....$3,000 per ticket. No, thanks! Next, I said 'how about Israel?' and Damian's eyes opened and he replied, 'yes, how about Israel!' Immediately, ticket searching began. Much to our pleasant surprise, ticket prices were reasonable so two days later (after getting the go-ahead to get Damian a new passport), we booked our tickets. As my longtime dear friend of 17 years lives in Israel, I thought the trip would be that much sweeter. I hadn't seen her or her family in a few years so the reunion was much anticipated and this was the first time that Damian would meet her parents. Damian had never been to Israel and I had been only once before with my mom when I was three, for 10 days, en route from Romania to Greece and then to our final resting spot, the US of A.

View of Tel Aviv from Yafo

What an incredible and magical place Israel is, filled with so much history and culture! We spent our first day in Tel Aviv/Yafo, exploring the city on foot with my long time friend. Some parts of the city reminded me of DC, with small cobble stoned streets and various eclectic boroughs, sprinkled with quaint off-the-beaten-path restaurants. Our morning started with a hearty breakfast at a bistro-like restaurant with yummy Israeli food followed by walking around and a pit stop, after all that walking!, to indulge our sweet craving for gelato. Heaven in a cone. After traversing through one of Tel Aviv's largest and more well known streets, we were shockingly in the mood to satiate our appetite and quench our thirst. One of the first things that I noticed about the food in Tel Aviv was the great freshness of the ingredients, which amplified the delicious flavors and melded everything together. Later that day after returning to our hotel for a mid-day/early-evening nap, we met up with my friend and her sister for dinner at a restaurant where my friend had to make a reservation almost as soon as I told her we were coming. Man, was the early reservation worth it! Although the restaurant had no overt Asian influences, a few items on the menu were Asian-inspired and after the server's 5 minute introduction to the entire menu with specials, I pined for the salmon tartar, spicy Asian beef salad, and sea bass with udon noodles. My expectations were surely met and then some!

Half-naked full bodied women?

Little market filled so many things I wanted to buy!

Great friends!

Our second day was dedicated to J-town, or more commonly known as Jerusalem. The intensity of being in a place with great importance, albeit intermixed with conflict, was palatable. To be sure, there was no mistaking the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish sectors from one another. I wish I could have spent all day walking around and getting lost in the Old City. But, alas, we had to move on but not before stopping for a quick lunch break and eating falafel sandwiches! Amazingness would be the word I'd use to describe the little balls of joy mixed in with different vegetables and topped with spicy and tahini sauces. I told my girlfriend that I could have falafel for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and I stand by statement wholeheartedly!  Luckily, and thankfully, she gave me falafel mix as a going away present and now I truly can have it anytime of the day :).

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Western (Wailing) Wall

The following day started out a little later than anticipated, however, the fantastic hotel breakfast buffet spread helped ease our tired bodies. That day we visited Me'Arat Hanetifim, stalactite and stalagmite caves recommended to me by my former colleague. Located in between Tel Aviv and J-town, the caves were nestled in the backdrop of luscious, green forests. A guided tour group had already started when we arrived so we piggy-backed onto that one. Unfortunately, the tour was in Hebrew and Damian and I could not understand one thing. However, we were still able to get the gist of certain details from the tour guide's mannerisms and hand movements. One of the cool things she showed us was how some of the natural rock formations seemingly looked like actual objects or people. The first one that she showed us was the formation that looked like Santa Claus. That got a few chuckles out of people. One of the later ones she showed us was a formation that looked like the Ayatollah Khomeini. Not one chuckle from the Jewish tourists but a laughing grunt out of Damian and I. I mean, come on, the irony of the situation was the funny part. We wouldn't have seen the similarity had the tour guide not shown us....

Cool stalactite....not in the shape of the Ayatollah

Me'Arat Hanetifim

After viewing the stalactite and stalagmite caves, Damian and I were on the road again, this time to Bethlehem. I should note that my girlfriend kindly declined to join us in Bethlehem as Israeli passport holders are prohibited from entering this Palestinian Authority occupied area (or at least that's what the signs said). A tall and very large cement wall separated Bethlehem from the other parts of Israel and after telling the machine-gun clad soldiers we were USA citizens, we were allowed to pass freely through the checkpoint. We wanted to drive through and visit some of the famous historical sites but the numerous signs kept directing us to the wrong places. However, we were still able to get visual and photographic memories. More than anything, driving through Bethlehem was an experience in and of itself, which was one of the biggest reasons we decided to go there.

Probably the most PC thing (written in English) from the two walls in Bethlehem filled with graffiti

On our fourth and final day in Israel, again after a late start, we embarked on a heavy day of driving. From Tel Aviv, we went north to Haifa, a metropolitan beach town, to view the Baha'i Gardens in the middle of the city. After taking a few photos and driving around the town, we were off to Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus and now known as the biggest Arab city in Israel. In order to keep up with our tight schedule, we could only stay in each location for a short period of time, so after a quick tour of the Church of the Annunciation, we hit the road. Next on our itinerary was the Sea of Galilee, another lovely beach resort town with amazing scenic views. By this point in the day, we were both starving and we stopped at the place that advertised 'the best falafel in town' (naturally). After lunch, we jumped on the local road and headed north to Tabgha, the traditional site of the miracle of multiplication of the loaves and fish. However, as luck would have it, the Church of Multiplication was closed that day! Argh. Took a few photos of what we could and began our journey south, to Beit She'an, a city located about 10km from the Jordanian border. The Beit Sh'ean national park had an incredible display of archaeological ruins from Roman, Crusader, Egyptian, and Ottoman eras. Phew! Our day long journey was complete! We headed back to Tel Aviv to meet up with my girlfriend for dinner at a traditional Israeli restaurant. What a great last night dinner! Fresh fish, colorful and tasty spread of starter salads, and homemade bread.

 Ruins at Beit She'an

Israeli style dinner....yum!

 

A trip with a lifetimes worth of memories....