The featured photo is of a cell that was once used in the KGB detention facility. That facility has now turned into the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in Vilnius.

You might be wondering how a proposed trip to Paris, France turned into a trip to the former Soviet Union. Bill had asked me months ago where I wanted to celebrate my birthday. He said maybe it was time we visited Paris again. Our last visit there, and first time visiting Paris together, was in May 2009.

I like Paris fine, and truly have been wanting to go there again. At first, I was all for the idea. But then I started thinking about the crowds. June is the beginning of the high tourist season in Europe, and people from other countries are currently swarming the most popular European cities. So then I started thinking of other places I’ve never been and want to see. We did a champagne bucket draw, and it came down to the Loire Valley in France (which I did visit in September 1997) and Vilnius. We flipped a coin and Vilnius won.

So, we arranged for five nights in Lithuania’s capital. I was excited about it, because we have already been to Latvia and Estonia, the other two Baltic countries. I was eager to see what the largest one would be like. Then I started reading about Vilnius, which people described as a “gem” of a city. I remembered a couple of really nice people from Lithuania who were working on SeaDream I, a gorgeous mega yacht Bill and I have sailed on three times. And, as an informal Soviet Union history buff, I was curious to go to another former republic from that failed regime.

Now that I’ve been to Lithuania, I’ve come away from the experience deeply moved and newly educated. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I heard a lot about the Soviet Union. Not knowing the history behind it, I assumed that the countries within it were “happy” to be in the Soviet Union. What can I say? I was an ignorant child, and didn’t have the greatest critical thinking skills. We weren’t necessarily taught about the Soviet Union’s history when I was in school. We were just taught that the “commies” were “bad”. It didn’t help that we had right wing movies like Red Dawn promoting stereotypes and propagandizing. Red Dawn came out when I was 12, and it was the very first PG-13 movie. Of course I watched it, and was seduced by its ignorant scaremongering messages.

Eleven years after I saw Red Dawn for the first time, I moved to the former Soviet Union to work for 27 months. I never thought I’d ever visit the former Soviet Union, let alone live there. I went to Armenia, which is not at all like Lithuania, except for the fact that it was also a Soviet country. The Armenian attitude toward Russia seemed to be somewhat more grateful, as Armenians were being threatened by Turks.

Armenians definitely don’t seem to have the same attitude about Russia that Lithuania and other Baltic countries have. Maybe that’s changed since Russia basically abandoned Armenia when Azerbaijan, another former Soviet republic, basically evicted Armenians for Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh, part of Azerbaijan that is historically Armenian.

My time in Armenia didn’t inform me that not all of the former Soviet republics appreciated Russia. My much briefer time in the Baltic countries has taught me that, indeed, the Soviet Union was an extremely vast country with many different peoples, divergent attitudes, religions, languages, cultural traditions, and mores… and no, they certainly weren’t all “happy” to be Soviets.

I did have a basic understanding of this concept before we traveled to Lithuania, but the idea was definitely driven home when I visited museums and churches and looked around the city of Vilnius. Just seeing all of the pro-Ukraine flags, as well as this huge sign atop of a high rise building, was a big clue about how many Lithuanians feel about Russia. (I won’t say all Lithuanians, because I don’t actually know if they all feel like that…)

Once we had decided to visit Lithuania, I set about making plans. It wasn’t easy, because our trusty dog hotel staff was on vacation when the decision was made. We had to wait for them to come back to work before I could book plane tickets and get the hotel reserved. But once they were back to work and confirmed the dogs were welcome, I booked us five nights in a deluxe room with a balcony at the Grand Hotel Vilnius, Curio Collection by Hilton.

It had been years since I last stayed at a Hilton. I think I chose it because of the location, the fact that it had a pool and hot tub (which I sadly didn’t get to use), and because Bill collects Hilton Honors points. I am a member of Hilton Honors, too, but I had never actually collected any points. When we’ve stayed in Hilton hotels before, it was because Bill did the booking. Then I did some reading and figured Bill wouldn’t be able to get points unless he booked straight from Hilton, which was much more expensive than booking the hotel and flights through Expedia (where I also have a lot of loyalty points). So the booking was under my name.

I also booked business class flights on Lufthansa, because we can afford it, and I prefer to travel in comfort. Business class on flights within Europe isn’t all that special. You get access to the lounge, expedited security screening, a meal and drinks, and no one sits in the middle seat of your row. You also get “priority” baggage handling, and checked bags are included in the price. But the seats on the plane are no different than what you get in economy. You just don’t have to worry about offending a stranger who might be sitting next to you, or vice versa. To be honest, that’s really the number one reason why I try to book business class when I fly.

Once all of that was booked, we waited for the big day– June 18th. I was stoked, but kind of wondering what we were in for… I do love what little I’ve seen of Estonia and Latvia. This break would be a longer look. I was thinking maybe we’d be ambitious and take day trips or something. We didn’t end up doing any day trips, and yet it was still a very educational visit. More on that in the next parts…