I'm Not Lost But My Luggage Sure Is

As I sit here in bed exhausted from my busy day, let me tell you a little about it... It turns out I did not miss my connecting flight from Amsterdam to Vilnius Lithuania. The plane landed about an hour and a half before my next flight was supposed to be in the air, so I knew I had a chance. They let those of us with tight connections off the plane first which helped, but then I was able to by pass the customs line, saving about 20 more minutes, because of my short layover. I did make it on the plane only to be concerned about self-combustion due the heat in the plane and the sun shinning on me through the window. Once the plane took off it began to cool down and I was able to sleep for most of the two hour flight. As we were coming in to Vilnius to land I could definitely tell that Lithuania was not quite like the America I was used to. There was much more forest and no housing plans, even close to the city. Life seemed just a little more quaint.

Upon arriving to the airport I navigated what seemed like a labyrinth of doors, halls, steps, and people to get to my baggage claim area. After about five or six minutes of waiting for my bag the conveyor stopped; I knew that was not good. It turns out I made my flight, but my baggage did not. On to another character building experience! As I waited in the line of sorry souls who have also lost their bag I first praised God we packed a few days of stuff in my carry on book bag and then worried about how long it would take for my luggage to come. After settling things with the airline, something that I had never done before, I was very satisfied I completed the task by myself with no prior experience. I then headed to the exit with another girl going to LCC who kindly waited for me to fill out the airline form. Once the exit door opened we were greeted by a happy and welcoming LCC intern staff. Off to our Hostel! Once we got to "Hostel Jamaica" in the 800 year old city we took a tour of Old Town Vilnius Lithuania. It was truly amazing! It was just what I expected. Cobble stone streets were everywhere lined by old colorful and architecturally rich buildings that have stood the test of time along with drivers who really were not too concerned about the saftey of the many pedestrians lining the sidewalks and streets.

Our tour included a tour of the town, ruins of a small fort on a hill overlooking the city, and a church. To finish off the night we ascended another hill with a wonderful view of Vilnius at night. Today I learned to be confident in myself and my abilities in addition to not let the stresses from earlier in the day hinder my fun for the rest of it.

This is the view from the ruins of the fort atop the hill overlooking Vilnius.

This is the church and bell tower we saw. As you can see it is quite large.

Inside the church