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?
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 :)
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.
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
