When I had gotten invited to Los Angeles by an internet friend, I was thinking it wouldn't be that much of a big deal. Find out what kind of crazy shenanigans we all get up to.
After Italy, we fly out Lithuania! Their beautiful capital of Vilnius is where we stay for this week. Here is a picture of the city:
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It's truly the most amazing place I've ever seen. The orange tones all throughout the neighborhoods of Vilnius is something to appreciate. As always, Woods and I sleep off the plane ride.
Woods told me that morning that we're going to Bernardine Park. We get a taxi and ride over to the park. We walk through the gate. It feels like walking into a fantasy world. This place doesn't feel real. There's a little creek, carousel, fountain, and statues of dogs. There's also a garden with tulips galore. I take as many pictures as I could. I take selfies with Woods. In the picture, he's kissing my cheek, then we share a tender kiss.
We finish our walk around the park, then move onto the next attraction. We go to the Kalvariju Market. A place where we sample the best Lithuanian cuisine. We go from stand to stand. I stuff my face with bursts of flavor. I have rice with some beef cubes. It is so delicious. We box some of the food up to bring back to our hostel.
I spend a couple hours learning as much simple phrases in Lithuanian I could so we could get around a little easier. I speak the phrase over and over to make sure I have it down. Woods walks over to him, putting a hand on my shoulder. "How's learning Lithuanian going?" He asked. "Meh." I said. "It's good that you're making an effort to learn a new language every time." Woods said. "Aw, thanks." I said. "Keep going. You're doing good." Woods said. "Sure. . ." I said.
Three hours later, I close my laptop and move onto something else. I sing some songs. Woods sings quietly along. I sing songs such as The Middle, Valentine, Empty Wallets, and When The Party's Over. When my jam session is done, I fall asleep with my laptop next to me, still playing songs. When Woods goes to bed, he moves it to the desk, turning it off, and plugging it in. We wake up the next morning and get breakfast.
We decide after breakfast that we should get out there and make friends. We heard from people that a common place to meet people is Vokieciu Street. So, we take everyone's advice and head there. Since it's the morning, not many people are here. Then, I see two people. A couple I can assume. The guy is tall, blonde, with blue eyes, and a few freckles. The girl is shorter than him and has blue eyes and curly brown hair. I point to them and Woods understands. Potential new friends!
We walk up to them and make my attempt of introducing myself in Lithuanian. "Ei, aš esu Shelly. Tikėjomės susirasti draugų, o Lietuvoje. Ar norėtumėte būti mūsų draugais?" I asked. "Taip, aš esu Lukas. Tai mano draugė Justina." Lukas said. Woods nods like he knows what we're saying, "So, by any chance to speak English? She's really struggling to speak your language." Woods said. "Oh. We can speak English." Justina said. "Oh thank God." I said.
Our new friends take us on a tour of Vilnius. They took us to their favorite places if all the city. We go see the center of Europe monument. After taking a few amazing pictures, we head back to Vilnius. Then, they take us on a hike of the beautiful forests. The hike ends with a lookout of the coast where the ocean is a deep shade of blue.
We trek back down and get onto a boat to go see the Trakai Island Castle. It doesn't take long to land on the island. The castle is large and amazing. We walk around, looking at the remnants of a kingdom that once was. Lukas and Justina took us all the way around the castle, telling us everything we need to know. Woods and I needed that information. It's nice to know that people in this little country are so kind, and don't mind giving tourists tours around the city.
We get back onto the boat and ride back to Vilnius. Lukas and Justina take us to a nice restaurant, dinner on them as celebration. It's a restaurant by the coast. The view is so beautiful, especially at night. All the lights shining in this little city is so pretty. I couldn't stop glaring out on the balcony. Woods wraps his arms around my waist, kissing the top of my head. Justina steals my phone and sneaks a picture of us. I don't even know how she did that because Woods was standing behind me. "Hey!" I exclaim. "It was a cute moment. I had to get a picture of you guys." Justina said. "Fair enough." Woods said. "I can't believe you agree with her." I said. "It's all for fun, calm down babe." Woods said. "You two gonna šūdas tonight?" Lukas asked, smirking. "What?" I asked. Justine is laughing. "What does šūdas mean?" Woods asked. "Šūdas is slag for sex. You know?" Justine asked. Woods scratches the back of his head, feeling embarrassed.
After dinner, we go to our hostel and say goodbye to Lukas and Justina. We fall asleep, thinking about what those two had to say to us. I shake the thoughts away. I dream about having a baby girl and baby boy with Woods. I dream of them being beautiful and getting along well. Maybe this is a sign of what's to come in the future. What if? I mean accidents happen. If I were to get pregnant, sure I wouldn't be ready, but we would still raise it no matter what.
