End of the touring for a while

For this post, I thought I would just catch up on pictures. Today was simply a day to relax before classes begin tomorrow. Around noon, a group from Karklu came over here to Neumann hall and we went into into old city and walked around the Akropolis (the mall) and got Gelato which was really good. A few people shopped for clothes and electronics and such, but mostly it was just window shopping. This evening, before the Karklu dorm left, we went to Iki and got some more food for supper. After supper with Roman and Lena (my room-mate and his girlfriend), we went to play soccer but unfortunately there wasn't a soccer ball to be found anywhere in the gym. So, three study abroads (Dan, Sarah, and I) played frisbee for a while. Again, it was just a day to relax before classes begin, but it was kindof nice to just sit back and chill, ya know?


Yesterday we went to two churches: one catholic (in Lithuanian) and one protestant (in English). It was interesting to visit the church at Kretinga (Catholic church) as it was run by Franciscan monks who let us tour their cathedral and monastery. The church service was beautiful, though I cannot say I understood much beyond the words "good," "yes," "amen," "hallelujah," and "hosanna". It reminded me again of the day of Pentecost and the movement and power of the Holy Spirit, that by God's redeeming love and grace all people in all their tongues may bend on their knees and bow before the Lord and say, "Christ is King." After church in the morning, we went to a restaurant which had a lot of little shops and play grounds and even a ropes course and shooting (archery) range. After ordering food, we explored and played on the grounds, before returning and eating some really delicious food. The church we went to in the evening was run by the Salvation Army, and we ran into my room-mate Roman actually on the way there! Most of LCC (Lithuanian Christian College) faculty and some students attend there, so it has a very north-american protestant church feel to it while at the same time feeling. The message preached on was James 1, which was very good - as was the music. I think Rebecca and I mentioned to each other about returning to that church in the next few weeks.

A few days ago, we took the bus to the town of Nida on the baltic. There, we explored the town and we also went in the sea and the adjacent lagoon. I've never seen such huge sand dunes as there were there!













But now, we have come to the end of the touring. Classes begin in the morning, and I've gotta get some sleep! As for the Pictures, all of the pics on this posting are from and around Klaipeda. Hope you enjoy!

Vilnius; Klaipeda

an update:
We arrived in Vilnius on the 25th; that same day we toured the city before returning to the hostel we were staying at. It was beautiful! That night some of us went out to a cafe and got drinks before going to bed. The next day we were back on the streets exploring the city. We went into some catacombs underneath the national cathedral which were an archaeological dream and if I can say so, I think I've finally figured out for certain that I want to pursue that endeavor because of such a small but explorative experience in Vilnius. We also went to a museum in a former KGB building/prison where many people were tortured and killed. Though I have never been to the holocaust museum in D.C., I can only imagine it was a similar gut-wrenching feeling, though the holocaust didn't happen in D.C. and we were standing in the rooms where people were tortured, shot, butchered, and the like, until the fall of the Soviet Union. it was definitely an interesting day.

Today we woke up and left the hostel to travel to the castle Trakei, which had been destroyed during wars which have been fought in the region over the past centuries. It was rebuilt in the 1950's, however, so a reconstructed edition of the castle was accessible. It's cool since it's surrounded by water by three lakes. We also went out on a boat for about an hour, before taking a three-hour or so drive from the castle to Klaipeda (on the baltic).

When we arrived in Klaipeda, we were divided into our two dorm groups: karklu and Neumann. Becca is staying in Karklu, which is located about a half-hour walking distance and is in the center of the city and I am in Neumann which is located on campus. Tonight, the study-abroad students in Neumann went to a cafe' for supper and then to Iki (pronounced: eeK-ee), one of the three grocery chains in the country. We just got back, and here I am - finally settled into the spacious dormatory room/suite i'll call home for the next four months.

Pictures are posted below, and I'll be checkin' back soon.

Inside of the cathedral; beneath this building were the catacombs which many royals were buried













St. Anne's church, a gothic church which was bombed heavily; Napoleon visited it













The water-torture cell at the KGB museum. Prisoners stood in icy water for hours until they collapsed into the water; then into very hot; then icy; and so on until they gave up information and their families and loved ones were also arrested or they were driven insane.










one of the chambers of the catacombs beneath the cathedral

London:

It's hard to believe that our three-day stint in London is already at an end; Yesterday we walked 6 miles or so from Paddington station to the British museum & back, and today we went on a bus tour of the city and saw most of the famous sites like Big Ben, the Tower of London, Tower bridge, etc. ALSO! we discovered that cocacola here is still awesome and has cane sugar (like it did in Guatemala and used to in the US) it was, as Becca put it, "much more refreshing" hmm. yes. Anyways, tomorrow's an early day (we're waking up at 4:30a!) to get to the airport and then get on our flight to Frankfurt, then continue on to Vilnius. In the meantime, though, enjoy the pictures posted here! (I know its only a few but we're gonna run out of internet soon here at the hotel!! yikes!!!) Talk to you soon when we have more time at school! Take it easy, ~Kev

Wilkommen und aufwiedersehen

Well, I wish I could say more right now since it's 16.07p here in the UK by I can't say much right now because Becca and I are beat and hit the hay so-to-speak once we got to the hotel here in London. We made it through Frankfurt and its rather confusing labyrinth of terminals and made it to Heathrow sometime around 11:00a local time this morning (around 6am for the east coast of the states). It's a very nice 21 degrees C/70 deg. F here today and has been partly cloudy; though we weren't outside much and probably will not be as it's getting close to supper time. Anyways, back to catch a few more winks of sleep before grabbing something to eat! ~Kev

Labas!

Less than a week to go until we leave for study abroad at LCC university! For starters, Becca and I will be posting things on here periodically though I can't really be sure as to what we'll post or with what frequency; so please don't be upset if we posted something on friday and haven't saturday, sunday, monday, or whatever. We're both really excited to go! There's just gonna be a ton goin on and whatnot.

A week from today we'll be sippin' tea with the queen! HAH! yeah right...we'll at least have seen her palace. If you haven't heard the flight details, We start out from Philly (Becca's flying down Tuesday) and fly nonstop to Frankfurt on 21/08/2009. We have something like a 2 hour layover before continuing onto London (Heathrow), where we'll be staying for 3 days or so. We there head from Heathrow to Frankfurt again, and then on to Vilnius. I'll get back on here sometime in December and post the return-flight info. Ya, there's a bunch of flights - but we get to see the world and it was cheaper too! Can't beat that, can ya? Anyways, off to eat food, and continue packin' and gettin' ready for Becca to come Tuesday; Friday's gonna come really soon! Hope everyone enjoys their day! Take it easy, n' take care. ~Kev