Sveiki.  Welcome to the first post on this blog.  Lots to tell.  In subsequent posts, I’ll be exploring our trip, what I’ve learned so far about our Lithuanian relations and heritage, and my highly introductory explorations of the Lithuanian language.  I’ll also live blog as the trip unfolds and take pictures.

So, we leave in little over a week.  One potential hitch is out of the way: mom picked up her passport yesterday, so that problem is solved.  It took a little longer than advertised, and time was growing short, but we can strike that item from the worry list.

I still need to book some lodging for the second half of the trip and give a bit more shape to our in-country days.  Mom has warned me that her 76-year-old knees are going to be up for only so much walking, so perhaps bus tours and other sitting activities will need to be part of the mix.  I’m finding everything in Lithuania to be pretty affordable, with nice-looking hotels and apartments going for under $50 a night.  After landing in Kaunas (flights are being re-routed there this summer), we’re planning to spend several days with the capital, Vilnius, as our home base.  From there we will probably venture to Verebiejai, which my great-grandfather, Antanas Mardosa, listed as home on his immigration papers.  We also plan to see the coast in Klaipėda and the Curonian Spit, which looks lovely.  I hope to bike as much of the spit as I can.

Viso gero.