we went down to breakfast and only a few people remained. we were curious as to why we were close to the only ones having breakfast. maybe we were early. as we were finishing breakfast, everyone was loading the bus. we had mistaken the time for departure by 15 minutes, and we had to run to get our stuff and be on the bus on time.

the itinerary for the day was a relaxing day filled with nature walks and lounging in a national park. we would be leaving lithuania and crossing back into latvia. we are coming back around, which sort of marks the beginning of the end. so, after what feels like 3 months, we will be traveling back to NYC in less than a week. i am pushing the thought of working as far away from me as possible, which is easy enough.

before leaving lithuania, we stopped by the Aukstaitija National Park. Parks are not part of the Lithuanian culture, but they are slowly becoming more aware of the environment. The bus dropped us off in a small town within the park called paluse. the town sits next to a large lake and a picturesque woodlands area. i always get energized when i’m in nature. i want to run around exploring and hiking various hills. after running around a bit, i realized i had a lot of stored energy. all the walking i have done was not enough, and i was ready to hike and explore, but i couldn’t. wanted to stay with the group. towards the end, john and i forged ahead and walked our normal, fast, nyc pace.

the hike involved stopping by a pond in the middle of a field. the water was so flat and reflected the forest and sky above. i could have stayed there for a while. the forest was very relaxing, and it was nice to get away from the cities. i pondered whether they include this in the tour to bring awareness of the national park, or because it was a nice change of pace.

john and i were the first ones back to the bus, grabbed our snacks, and found a nice sunny area with a picnic table next to the post office. we were fortunate to have such great weather for a hike. so, my revengeful serfs, bees, showed up, but by now, it doesn’t bother me. we had plenty of time to kill so i stretched out on the bench and laid in the sun. it was nice and relaxing. when i laid down, my hands were clasped together across my chest (not as shown in the picture). when i finally fell asleep, my hands became unclasped and my arms quickly fell toward the ground. this unusual action woke me up with a nasty start. as my arms went swinging down, i quickly sat up with my heart racing. it was such a weird feeling. almost like i was falling.

waking up at that moment turned out to be fortunate since it was time to leave paluse and head to a lookout point within the national park. at the lookout point, one could see six different lakes. on top of the lookout point was a pagan spiritual tree. a little rock formation was at the base of the tree, and if you left a donation, the evil spirits would not follow you. there was a good amount of change already on the rock, and i left the small denomination lithuanian coins i had in my pocket so as to respect the superstitions of the area. surrounding the tree, people had written words with the small pebbles found on the ground. new york was a little dismantled so i fixed it. i could have stayed at the lookout point for much longer than allotted. it was a sunny, cool day and the view was great. but, we were on a schedule and had a long drive ahead of us to cross into latvia and make it to our next destination near a town called madona.

after crossing into latvia, we stopped in a town called daugavpils. the town is very close to the russian border and is an industrial town with 90% being russian. the place was pretty rundown and adam compared it to detroit; an industrial town with a poor image. we were stopping here to change money and use the facilities. in front of the mall, a band was performing on stage, and a bunch of kids were dancing to the music. we figured it was a concert for the first day of school.

we walked around the mall, which looked like any other mall, and exchanged our lithuanian money for latvian money. we were hoping to hear the band that was setting up on the stage, but as we were pulling away, the band started up.

we drove through more latvian countryside that was more of the same. we arrived at a hotel called smeceres krog. wacky name. the hotel was situated on a piece of land that had a lake and some walking trails through the forest. it also featured a pool table. we received our key to the room and when we entered, we thought there was a mix up. our place was huge; a large living room and then a loft style that slept four. i claimed the queen size bed, although that should have really gone to the queen in the room, aka john.

wacky name, even wackier menu that had beaver, rabbit, and bull’s testicles. sounded like the game show called fear something. the price kept me away from sampling the exotics and i went with the chicken. however, a person from the group ordered the beaver and allowed me to sample. the beaver tasted more like a hamburger by the way it was prepared. i also tried the elk off someone else’s plate, but it was nothing near as delicious as the elk i tried at the club 21 in nyc. a bit gamey.

after dinner is when the fun started. thank god for the pool table cause the tv didn’t have any english speaking channels and john and i would be forced to talk to each other. god forbid!

i taught adam, our tour guide, and john the game screw your buddy where each person picks a range of balls, 1-5,6-10,11-15, and the object is to knock everyone else’s balls in while keeping your own on the table. adam, unfortunately, ruled the table. beginner’s luck, i say! a whole bunch of cracks against each other flew around the table as we knocked in the other person’s balls. it was a lot of fun and a nice change of pace from the running around an old town trying to figure out what to do.

the whole day was very relaxing and a much needed departure from the hectic nature of the cities. being in nature always revives me, breathing in fresh air, smelling the trees and flowers, and wiping the spider webs from my face revitalizes me.

tomorrow, we head to cesis and sigulda where we will see a whopping six castles, just count them when i post the pics!