Last day in Poland, 7 hours in Lithuania

Fierce downspout

We got up too early and went to breakfast. I had Polish cocoa-puffs. Next, we went and looked around the old town and went into the castle. The water spouts were shaped like dragons! There were statues on the roof and by the doors. It was really beautiful.

Outside the Wawel

Next, we went shopping. I got an amber pendant at a place called “World of Amber” and a Polish flag. My parents took about 80 million pictures, so we had to stop about every millisecond. We ate lunch at a Polish restaurant and my mom informed me that she had had to eat pizza in every country I had ever been to and was sick of it. We had potato pancakes (YUM) and spinach pierogis. Then we ran all the way to the train station to get back to Warsaw to catch the bus to Lithuania.

tolerating my parents, briefly

After the overnight bus, we arrived in Lithuania. We stopped at a café in the bus station so my parents could have some coffee and I could have some juice, but really what we needed was change for the bathroom. You have to pay to go to the bathroom. We have to pay 1 lita each to go to the bathroom, and I promise you, I will never complain about any American bathroom again.

I open a stall and I find this microscopic hole with two footholds covered in grossness! Then this woman, who I assume was the attendant, comes out and starts barking at us in Lithuanian, so, my mom took me aside and explained the concept of a “squat potty”. Basically, you step onto the footholds, squat directly over the hole, and while trying to avoid getting anything on your pants, you do your business. However, it is almost impossible to avoid getting anything on your shoes. YUCK! And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, my dad comes and tells us that he had a normal toilet in the men’s room! RAHRRRR!

Well, I could complain all day. Anyway, after that we headed for the wonderfully exotic McDonalds across from the bus station (it was 7:00AM Sunday and nothing else would be open for hours, so my parents caved in and let me see if I could get hotcakes and hashbrowns). No, you cannot get those, but we discovered the wonderful McToast! It is an inverted hamburger bun with melted cheese in the middle. When I opened my bag, I found that it was MY favorite kind of cheese! After all of my parents’ carping and grumping, “They don’t have that horrible yellow, plastic ‘cheese’ in other countries! Eat real cheese! Deal with it!” HAH!

I cautiously checked the McDonald’s bathroom and was delighted to find that they were not squat potties!

Vilnius Cathedral

Next we started our walking tour of the Old Town. First we went to the Cathedral. We saw a cardxinal perform the Mass in Lithuanian. The church was really beautiful. After that we looked for the “miracle” square on the plaza. The people of the 3 Baltic nations formed a human chain as a protest for independence. The line ended in the Cathedral Square. They marked the spot with a star and the word miracle (in Lithuanian). If you can find the square you get to make a wish. It was pretty easy to find!

The top of the hill.

Next we climbed Gediminas hill for a panoramic view of the whole city. Once we got to the top of the hill the view was quite nice. We walked around the top a couple times (taking the usual million pictures) and then slowly made our way down the steep hill.

Once we got to the bottom, we went to another café, where I had much deliciousness (an ice cream and steamed sweet milk), while my parents had yet another coffee and a blini (like a strawberry and cream crepe thing).

Next we continued our walk, shopping as we went. The buildings were beautiful with many balconies, columns and pastel fruity colors. Flower baskets hung everywhere. Soon our delicious snacks wore off and we had to find lunch. I managed to find a place with pizza, so I could continue my unbroken line of eating pizza in foreign countries. My mom made me eat the Lithuanian style potato pancakes too, but they had cottage cheese, cucumbers and sour cream, so I just had the unblemished edge of one.

Yet another gorgeous church

Too soon we had to stop wandering and shopping to get back to the bus station. We picked up fries at the McDonald’s (my mom insisted, so we could use the McPotties!) before boarding our bus to Latvia. So far this “expotition” has given two new countries for my list – 14!!! Now, to Latvia (#15).