All That Jazz: Our First "Vacation"

This weekend... Yikes.

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Ok, maybe it wasn't THAT bad. I'll just tell the story and you can decide. Ha! We planned a trip for this weekend to two beach towns, Klaipeda and Palanga. We got to Klaipeda just fine, and even to our hostel with no problems. We decided to visit the Curonian Spit, an island off the coast that is shared by Russia and Lithuania. We thought it would be a quick visit to Nida, a small town on the island. The bus we took was really nice, complete with wifi. When we got to the coast, I thought they'd drop us off for the ferry, but the bus drove straight onto the ferry! That was interesting! However, the bus ride actually took two hours... Way longer than we expected and when we got there, we didn't find very much to do. There was a quick hike that led to a view of the Baltic and the lagoon, so that was cool! We hiked back down and went to the bus station, only to miss our bus by about five seconds. That was frustrating, especially when we found out that the next one wouldn't be coming for another 4 1/2 hours. So, we stayed in Nida. Finally, we got some food! And we also got gelato, which is so AMAZING!! Eventually, after waiting and waiting and waiting, a bus came that would take us to the ferry. It was late, we were exhausted and stressed, but miraculously we made it back in time for the ferry and walked to the hostel. The canal was beautiful! I wish I would've taken pictures but I was so tired. The lights reflected off the water and there were restaurants along the alley. There was even an old fashioned ship! Klaipeda was actually really beautiful, and I wish we could've explored that more, but c'est la vie. We made it to the hostel ok, and that was that!

Palanga went much smoother. We took a mini bus there, which is pretty much a van.. Kinda. There are four seats that line the back, and Cameron sat on one side by a window. (The other girls sat further up) I decided I wanted a window seat and sat on the other side in the back. I'm sitting there, just prepping for the ride when this huge old man boards the bus. Oh, no. Please no. No no no no. He's still paying, but I know what seat he's going to sit in. Should I sit by Cameron? No! I want this window seat. Maybe he'll sit by her and not me. He comes back, sits on the middle of the two seats, scoots to Cameron's side (sigh of relief) then changes his mind and scoots next to me. Remember, Europeans don't have a lot of personal space, so we're basically shoulder to shoulder. I'm trying desperately not to scoot as far away as possible, which would be straight into the window, so that's a no. Man, this bus is hot. I'm regretting all the decisions I've made that led to this very uncomfortable situation. Namely, not taking my jacket off and staying by the window that is now serving as a magnifying glass for the sun. What's more awkward is that he wanted to look out the window too, so half the time it felt like he was staring at me. That bus couldn't have taken any longer to get to Palanga.

We walked from the bus station to the beach, down this super cute street with a ton of little shops and kitty rides and street performers. Finally, we climbed a tiny view and behold! The Baltic. It was beautiful! We walked down the pier, and then rested on the beach. I thought the water was freezing, but apparently that's the norm because everyone was jumping in. The sand was so soft! I thought it felt like sugar. We've had many different reactions from people. This guy raised his eyebrows at Kenon, (in a "You're cute" way) and a little girl kicked sand at me while I was laying down. So.... guess it depends on the person! Or maybe she's just a little demon child....

Eventually, we walked to our bus stop and rode home! Lithuania is beautiful. And nothing was more beautiful than our apartment!! This week we are going to Paris and Brussels, so I am super stoked for that!