Adios.

Okay, so our tiny taste of Mexico City began on a culinary low note.


Don't you judge us!

The Mexican businessmen did enough of that, as we marched through the lobby in our shorts and tees. We got a lot of looks. We changed into pants promptly after breakfast and set out.

We didn't want to be too overambitious, so we stayed in the centro historico. But there was plenty to see.


The gorgeous Palace of Fine Arts.


The Zocalo.



The Templo Mayor, Aztec ruins right in the middle of town.


Wall of skulls. We forgot how hardcore the Aztecs were.


We even got our museum on.


And looked at Aztec artifacts under glass.

But all this learning was making us hungry. It had been at least two hours since the McDonalds incident.


We spotted a burly taco man.


So we shared a plato assortido. (that may not be correct Spanish.)



But because Lufthansa had conditioned us for courses,


we also stopped for some delicious roasted chicken, at rock bottom prices.


I'm thinking we should have weighed in at the beginning of this trip.

We were pretty wiped by day's end, so we chose not to attempt a big evening out.


So we ate nearby at the Taco Inn.


At least we were eating the "right" fast food.


Guillotina was playing at the Metropolitan just behind our hotel. I think they are a metal band.


We probably could have scored tickets, but we were feeling old and tired.


The next morning, we started off a bit healthier.


Wait. Scratch that.


Chilequile was muy bueno.


As were the liquados.


We decided to go up the Latin American Tower, for a 360 view of the city. We were given yellow bracelets for the elevator ride.


Naturally, Icees were available at the top.


There was a protest underway below, for workers' social security benefits.


We chose Lime Icees.


This sure is a big city.


Gorgeous Alameda Park.

So we had just enough time to return to our hotel, pack up and head to the airport. Jeff had an earlier flight, so he took off first, and i will catch a cab a few minutes from now. But I think this is the best place to leave you, high above Mexico City, with Lime Icees, chilequile and liquados duking it out inside our stomachs. It's really the best cliff hanger we can offer to this crazy adventure. Who wants to see us lugging our bags through U.S Customs anyway? I'm dreading it already. That said, I know I will be happy to make it back to 408 Detroit.

If something fabulous does happen en route, i will certainly report. For now, adios amigos.

VNO-FRA-MEX

Staying at the Le Meridien Vilnius was a bit like staying at the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. There were only about 8 guests during our stay. Despite the eerie silence of the place, the rooms were huge, and the pool and spa were impressive.


I think I shared this wing with one other guest.

Alas, it was time to move on. Our exodus from the Baltics began with a surprisingly good lunch. We couldn’t decide if this restaurant was the Lithuanian version of Applebee’s or Cracker Barrel, but it worked.


Jeff shocked his system with a salad.


I honored Lithuanian tradition by having chicken that was both fried, AND bathed in a cream sauce.


Zepellins, the local gut-busting dumplings, officially sent us over the edge.

We thought we’d explore some more back roads of Vilnius, but quickly got turned around, and decided, with only four hours until our flight, we should stick closer to town. We stopped at Lukoil, the Russian gas monopoly and filled the rig. Our next task was dropping off our crumb-filled rental car at the airport.


Hopefully, they have a good power vac.

The Hertz “lot” (two cars) was a 15-second walk to the terminal, so we took this time to transfer some of our belongings into the cheap, new Lithuanian backpacks we bought at Maxima.


Once checked in, we headed to the business lounge and had our final Baltic beers.


The flight was operated by “Cirrus Airlines”, a tiny subsidiary of Lufthansa. The 100-seat aircraft, an Embraer 170, only had 16 passengers.


The service was quick and the food was pretty good, much better than on Lufthansa’s Frankfurt-Helsinki flight we’d taken a few weeks ago.

We also enjoyed watching the “Who can wear the most makeup?” contest the flight crew seemed to be running. A photo would have been rude, right?


Vilnius, from above.


Nuclear power, from above.

Landing in Frankfurt, The Sheraton Airport Hotel turned out to be an excellent choice for our layover. It’s located right inside the airport, and has a club lounge with free breakfast in the morning, (which saved us spending 34 euro at the hotel restaurant) and cocktails anytime! Our cameraman must have gotten pretty hammered.

Frankfurt has a new first class terminal, for its departing passengers. So after getting boarding passes and dropping luggage in the main terminal, we were whisked away in a van to the first class terminal, assigned a concierge, buzzed quickly through a private security check, and then it was swimming pools and movie stars. Well, actually food and showers and internet. Another big, beautiful lounge.


When it was time to board, they drove us to our airplane in a town car.


Ours was a Porsche Something or Other.


Fine, corinthian leather!


The rain made it extra dramatic.


The rain also delayed our flight for about an hour, but it's amazing what champagne and macadamia nuts can make you forget.

The flight attendant nervously warned us that the three of them working first class had never done so before, and hoped they would do a good job. But there were only 4 of us total in first, with 16 seats. So we were treated just fine. Before we knew it, it was time, once again, to strap on the feed bags.


One of many appetizers, a cheese cannoloni.


Jeff had guinea fowl. (Wait, aren't they endangered???)


I had a filet.


Then a nap.


And later, ribs. On a plane. Ribs on a plane. Good ribs, too.

Just 12 1/2 hours later, we landed in Mexico City, whose population is many times greater than the population of all the Baltic countries put together. Que loco!

A feast. A flood. A castle. A kiss.

It was the Feast of St John, a national holiday, and as a result, the locals seemed to have deserted Old Town Vilnius.


We didn't mind. The buildings were still beautiful and from a tourist's point of view, it was business as usual.

To gather our strength for the day ahead, we decided to take a break from the rich Baltic food and burger up.


Fast food fashion was the theme at Burger House.


We tried to blend in.


Vilnius boasts both the largest Old Town in the Baltics and best preserved Baroque town center in all of Europe.


Do we know the features of baroque architecture?


We'd need to Google that. Let's just say there were many ornate buildings and lotsa churches.


We didn't stop in at the Church of the Holy Mother of God, but we did utter those words a lot during our stay here. (Lots more mack trucks here.)


We did, however, stop and check out the Frank Zappa monument.

You didn't know that Frank Zappa was Lithuanian??? Well, he's actually not. In fact, he has absolutely no connection to Lithuania. (I did Google that.) Some Lithuanian fans just decided the town needed a monument of him and wouldn't take no for an answer.


Many fans felt that the statue did not really reflect Frank's eclectic style, so some art students did some airbrushing next to it to liven things up.

While Jeff was comtemplating a shoe purchase, we suddenly found ourselves waiting out a torrential downpour in Vilnius. It probably only rained for about 30 minutes or so, but it rained hard and long enough to cause some serious flooding in the streets.


On our way out of town to Trakai, we came upon this scene.


So we did what the locals were doing -- got out of our car and gawked for a few.

Trakai is about 25 km west of Vilnius, and is home to another gorgeous castle. We arrived a little too late to enter, because of the flood gawking, but also because we made a pit stop.



This was our shorthand version of "berry picking."


Adorable miniature strawberries.

The Trakai castle grounds were pretty cool...




And even though we were a little leery of the restaurant right next to the major tourist attraction, we ended up having a fantastic dinner.


There were meat filled pasties. (Jeff said they rivaled yours, Sue.)


Perfect potato pancakes. (Jeff says just pretend the smoked salmon isn't there, Sue.)


Goulash. (Delish.)


Pork Pot. (You are what you eat.)


And a local fish "filet" gratin with some bones thrown in for authenticity.

We returned to our hotel on a series of back roads, and discovered more gorgeous farmland. Perhaps too full to raise our arms for photos. I don't recall.

Finally, after a full day of touring, it was time for happy hour.


The featured beverage was a cherry cider we had bought at the little market at the Latvian border.

We also may or may not have watched an episode of MTV's A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. What the Lithuanians must think of us...