Pirmos 24 Valandos

My first stop heading to Chicago with my family was not very far. It was Sobie's Meats. I just had to bring some beef jerky and get a picture of the Lithuanian flag.




Then, it was a stop in old Lithuanian town in Chicago to get some bread for others back home.






So this is what I left.... a green, warm Chicago.I had a great start on the plane.... I got 2 meals, including this one, which included my choices of beer or wine at no cost. I think I will be flying SAS again.But then, I woke up to this in Stockholm. Where's the green.

Here are some pictures of Stockholm that I took during my layover. Unfortunately, all the churches were closed until May and the castle was closed for the morning, so really these are just some outside street shots.

You can see that Stockholm sits by the sea and it as well as its surrounding are just a bunch of islands.
The royal church where the big wedding will be taking place sometime this summer. Apparently according to the advertisements, Sweden is love in 2010.

Loyal guard of the crown.

Some of the royal castle.

Another church in the old section...Riddarholmen Church

So my first full day in Lithuania, was the same day that coincided with the 25th anniversary of the death of my Lithuanian grandma. So I, with my cousins, went to the Hill of Crosses on this dreary day to put rosaries and crosses from my family in the US on the family cross in the Hill of Crosses. I cannot tell you much about it right now, as we could not stay long since the baby of my cousin was getting sick. I can tell you though that this site was bulldozed down many times when the Soviets occupied Lithuania, and that overnight, there would be more crosses erected. This place definitely shows the craftsmanship that the people have for carving wood.



Here, a newly-wed couple is picking out a place for their future family cross.


The big Franciscan cross is our family cross. Luckily there was a place to put the rosaries on.