Day 50 - Back to Vilnius

Dan and I woke up really early today and wandered around without any particular purpose. Then he suggested that we go and get breakfast for everybody. So first we went to get some hot blueberry buns. Unfortunately the place was still closed at 8am. The girl who sold the buns yesterday was there already and she too was waiting behind the closed doors. We waited for 20 minutes while watching other people pass by stealing glances at the bun place. We also watched people from the bar next door. 5-6 of them were really drunk, hanging out on the street outside and trying to strike a conversation with the passerbys. I wondered about their plans for today. On one hand, it is Sunday so they probably do not have to go to work. So are they going to stick around and fill up periodically?

With those thoughts we took off and got some muffins and coffee at the Coffee Heaven. Soon we were on our way. There were few cars on the road so we were able to get to Bialistock fast.

Asya, Alik, and Marian had a feast prepared. Everything was plentiful and delicious. We were preparing for it for a few days and were able to consume most things on the program without thinking about the consequences. It is very neat how well Dan and his mom understand Polish. I was blanking out on most of it. Dan's mom was having the conversation, and Dan was translating for me. Asya packed a giant to-go bag, which we dove into much sooner that would be indicated by lunch.

As we drove we noticed that Polish drivers do not use the system of signalling other drivers about police on the road. I don't think it is a bad thing to warn others about the police. It does serve the purpose of alerting other drivers to be more careful. A note to whoever is traveling and reading our blog: the road between Bialistock and Lithuania (67, and then 16) is teeming with police. And once you approach the border from the Lithuanian side, there are some cops with binoculars watching for the Lithuanian drivers who enter Poland without their lights on. And they only stop nice cars.

By 8 we arrived to Vilnius. We went straight to Alicia to meet with her and the crew from Ekaterinburg. It was very good to see them. Georgia got a lovely bag filled with different kinds of hair clips and two Russian alphabet books from Natasha and Andrei. We decided to agree on the plans for the rest of the week tomorrow.

As we were driving back to our apartment Georgia was pointing out the sights we were passing: "Here is a statue of Vitautas, and here is Gediminas." She said that she wished she could meet Gediminas. I told her that he was around about 700 years ago and is no longer available to talk to. She asked if Alicia met with him. Dan's mom was relieved the comment was not about her :). Georgia said very seriously that Grandmas Lisa and Anna are not that old, they are still pretty new.