Lithuania

It was my birthday in 36 hours and I wanted to be doing something different so, on my way to the airport outside Rome, I was tossing around a couple of ideas - A. Fly to Spain to surf / relax on the beach or B. Fly to the Baltics and...er... what do people do in the Baltics? By the time I arrived at the airport I had made up my mind. I grabbed a one way ticket to Vilnius. FYI - I didn't get as sweet of a deal as I thought I would buying a last-minute ticket at the airport.

I was flying with the low-budget Wizz Air, which meant seats were first come, first serve. As I boarded, I did what any man would do and took the seat next to two attractive women. It turns out that these two Lithuanian gals had hearts of gold. Not only did Ieva and Sonata give me a ride into town, they spent the next two hours helping me find a place to stay for the night (who knew Vilnius was so popular?). The next day, they joined me for my birthday celebrations which included a row around a lake, some delicious cold, pink soup and a heartfelt rendition of Happy Birthday (in Lithuanian). Lucky.

After Vilnius, I made my way to Šiauliai where I bumped into a couple of CouchSurfing Dutchmen on skateboards. After checking out the very unique Hill of Crosses, we hit the bowling alley. Random? Yes. Good times. Double yes. After that, I headed to the coastal town of Klaipeda and the Curonian Spit for a few days of fresh air.

Next stop - Latvia.