Lithuania, the mother land

Getting to Lithuania felt like a life long dream. My Grandmother is Lithuanian and I grew up with so many dreams and images of what eastern Europe must be like. Knowing that Lithuanian is the oldest living language- and the closest to Sanskrit, my curiosity was spiked. Some fond family recipes remind me of my roots- from Perogies to Zucchini pancakes- I've always wanted to visit Lithuania. And I finally made it. We drove through the countryside of Estonia, Latvia and finally made it to Vilnius, the capital. Where we had arranged to teach an Acro workshop (which went over great!)

Travelling with the van is great- especially with bikes on the back. Whenever we get to a new place, we park the van and take the bikes out for a ride. Cycling really connects you with you're journey and you get to see so much more of a place. This is in a square in Vilnius. Beautiful old architecture. I loved it here.






Yummy street food.

Atop an old look out tower in Vilnius.











Hearing the history, feeling the timelessness and connecting with the people. Lithuania is a beautiful country with a complicated history. The people here are known to be warriors. I was told they are the strongest in the world. Having been occupied by Russia, in an out of independence- and being one of the poorest of the Baltic countries- Lithuania is an experience unto itself. 

We were lucky enough tp be hosted by a local Acro Yoga teacher, Karolis.  A brilliant young man with so much to share about his land. (and an incredible acrobat) After a very fun Acro workshop, we biked around, he gave us a little tour and we went for dinner and drinks, (Lithuania has very good beer!)
The next day we jammed in the park and had loads of fun. Thanks Karolis! It was such a pleasure to play with you, hope you visit Canada one day!

Estonia & Latvia

       We packed the van in Finland, drove to Helsinki and to the 2 hour ferry to Tallin Estonia. The boat was huge- with grocery stores, liquor stores, live bands, several bars and a very fancy buffet. So we stared our trip with a nice meal. 

Then road tripped south across Estonia, seeing the country side. We explored this lovely beach town Pärnu, by bike, found a park and played some acro. 

Eastern Europe is old, beautiful and feels so historic. Gardening here is very popular, (as a result of food prices most people need to grow their own food). Cobblestone, old buildings, smiling faces
and cheap beer. Seems to also
 have many vacationing
 Scandinavians. 

A cute surf shop. We arrived in Estonia on the first sunny day of the season- which seems to be just my luck in 5 countries I've visited so far. The sun seems to be following me!
 I am so blessed with this weather.

Whenever we saw fresh water- and the sun was warm we took advantage and would jump in (van life leads to bathing, usually outdoors) This was an inlet of the Baltic Sea in Latvia, we saw an empty beach, stripped down and ran in, (with the GoPro, video to come!)

A Latvian park, on the Baltic Sea.

A Latvian attraction. Sand cliffs on the Baltic sea. Beautiful caves, big enough to camp in. 

Eastern Europe...so much history. You can feel the effect Russia has had. It is intense. But the land is so beautiful and the people seem happy.
I loved road tripping and seeing the countryside. Maybe next trip I'll visit the cities. but for now, off to Lithuania to teach an AcroYoga workshop in the capitol, Vilnius.