Last weekend I took a trip to Klaipeda--Lithuania's sea port town--and it was great. This was a diplomatic trip, and we came up on Sunday to join the Ambassador who was already there. We arrived on Sunday evening and stayed in a nice hotel. We came in Sunday night because it is about a 3 hour drive to Klaipeda and our day started early on Monday. At breakfast Monday we met with representatives from Army and the Navy who are investigating potential routes for bringing cargo to Afghanistan. With the upcoming surge, thousands of new shipping containers are headed to the Middle East. Klaipeda's port is the biggest (and arguably most accessible) in the Baltic, but for some unknown reason, it is the only Baltic port that is not being utilized currently for delivering military supplies. Thanks to our proactive Ambassador, this may change. She pretty much single-handedly suggested to the military that they investigate using Lithuania. They agreed, seeing that the more routes they have for delivering cargo, the more strategical advantage they have. After visiting the VERY well-managed port, it appears that Klaipeda may even be a cheaper/safer/more time efficient choice for much cargo. It was interesting to see the port and listen to the Lithuanians sell their option hard. Lithuania has a well-developed rail infrastructure, too, so containers can be on their way east quickly--enough routes exist that certain or all cargo could avoid conflict areas like Belarus. As an aside, I realized a port is like a wine trail...every company is in competition at the port, but TOGETHER they are in competition against all other ports to bring business to their area. This reminded me of seeing how the wineries worked together in Loudoun--because people usually visit multiple wineries in one day, it is better for them to work together. Notice the ice in the picture below; yes the Baltic Sea has been known to freeze, but it's usually not as bad near Lithuania.
I'm not certain, but I'm not going to discuss the second diplomatic visit of the because it is probably just classified. I'll just say it was militaristic in nature, too, which made our final diplomatic mission of the day so interesting in contrast. We donated three big boxes of English books to the children literature section at the main library in Klaipeda. When we arrived, we entered a small auditorium FULL of Lithuanian children. Several very talented children played various pieces of reception music or even recited poetry, and I never wanted to speak their language so much. The children were in awe when the Ambassador gave her speech in Lithuanian. They also chuckled at her accent. Anyway, the whole moment was very rewarding for me because it was very genuine. No political posturing/false smiles/limp handshakes. These people were happy to have these books, and we were happy to give them to them. It made me realize that if you had one genuine moment like this out of every one hundred, then it might all be worth it. To celebrate 1000 years since Lithuania's name was first documented, which Lithuanians celebrated last year, the Ambassador decided to give 1000 books to libraries; very simple and beneficial initiative.
We returned to Vilnius late Monday evening, and so began a very full week. Tuesday night I went to the Broadway club and played at an open-mic session. I want to thank my friends Milda, Jore, Giedre, and Ruta for coming to cheer me on. I've done this many times, and I don't really get nervous, but it's always nice to have a friend in the audience. I had the misfortune of playing after two very quality acts--two good guitarists. I'm not much of a guitarist--I play a simple style--but my voice is strong, and I played a few of my favorite blues songs well. After I played, I went outside for some air, and a group of Lithuanians came to congratulate me and say they liked my songs. I began talking with them about my growing love for Vilnius, and I said I already hope to return one day. One of the men said, "Because of the women?" I've heard this a lot from the men who are naturally upset about foreign boys stomping on their ground, but I said, "No, I want to come back for the mushrooms." This was a good answer. He had never heard this before, and I think he could tell I was being honest. In the fall the people make treks to the woods for mushrooms; I would love to see this. In fact, Ruta promised to prepare me some frozen mushrooms she has. I'll remember this. Anyway, it was nice to play at an open-mic again, and I play to do it more soon.
Wednesday night I met Jore at Moulin Rouge, the metal/rock club in town to see a Japanese post-rock band, Mono. Here was the "underground" concert I had been looking for. If you don't know what post-rock is, check it out and its close relative, shoegazing. Does it sound weird? It should. Honestly, this will never be my favorite music--but the rhythms, big crescendos, and the tonal harmonies overwhelm the body. Mono was a quality act too. They've been touring for many years, and their show had an uncommon, almost off-putting feeling of perfection. They have songs on YouTube, for those who may be interested. Here's a sweet pic I took of the opening act, a Lithuanian experimental rock group. Thanks again Jore for the invite!
On Thursday I went to Uzupis for their independence celebrations. Uzupis is a small part of Vilnius, but on April Fools day each year, the people of Uzupis declare it independent from the rest of Lithuania. This is the cause of a big party. I saw people kayaking down the still-freezing river, and they were setting up a sauna when I left. Supposedly around midnight people spend an hour in the sauna then jump in the river naked. Those who really know me will know that I wanted to do this--but representing the US government while I'm here affects my judgment in such situations (sadly). They were even stamping passports, but I came too late to get a stamp from "immigration." If you follow the wikipedia link I set up, be sure to scroll down and read parts of their hilarious constitution.
Friday evening I actually took it pretty easy. I played basketball, but very few people showed up to play, so we played two on two. It was the US versus Lithuania, best of three, games to 21. We won the first game by a solid margin, but we lost the next two by small margins. The home turf was overwhelming. I joked with my American friend, though, that we can always tell people we came in second in an international basketball competition. I want to play more ball when I get home--my ball handling skills are awful, but I have a pretty good shot. And damn, I'm out of shape. Maybe it's the life of wearing a suit to work every day? Since the weather warmed up last week (which means the 50's), I've been jogging, so hopefully my heart will remember how to beat soon. After I returned to the Embassy, I went to bed around 11. I wanted to make sure I woke up well rested for Mallary's arrival on Saturday!
I went to the airport on Saturday at 1:30 in the afternoon to get Mallary. It was so nice to see her, but like in Warsaw, we didn't really know how to react at first. It takes some time to remember a person when you haven't seen them in weeks. But not that much time...thankfully my throat is better, so we kissed for the first time in months. Wonderful! I took Mallary to the Embassy to show her my apartment, but we only picked up some groceries I had before heading to the apartment I rented for us to share for the week. It will be a good home for eight days. It's small, but not so small for us, and it couldn't possibly have a better location. We are literally steps from Cathedral Square, one of the most beautiful spots in the city. We took it easy last night because Mallary just concluded a week of heavy traveling with her family--they went to Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, and saw Prague in one week. I'm so proud of her, my little traveler!
Today we woke up early and headed to Trakai, a small village not far from Vilnius. Trakai is famous for its island castle, which we definitely enjoyed visiting. The sun came out while we were walking through the castle, and I can say I was almost warm.
EPIC!
Before heading back to Vilnius, we stopped to have kibinai for lunch. These are dough pastries stuffed with meat and vegetable. They are a traditional dish in Lithuania, brought by the Tartar population that once lived and ruled in Trakai. You can see them in the picture below. We had one with chicken, beef, and lamb, and we both liked the beef the most--this surprised me because I usually avoid beef in Europe. We also ordered a stuffed bell pepper that was amazing.
Now we are back in Vilnius, after a dinner of homemade pasta, and it's 10 PM. The night is young! I'll be sure to blog whatever we make of it!
It's wonderful that you two can travel together. Valentina and I absolutely understand the "strange" feeling that you had seeing and kissing each other for the first time after a long time being apart.
Posted by: Tuan Vo-Ha | 04/05/2010 at 06:18 PM