Goodbye, Vilnius - Hello, Warsaw

We woke to a beautiful morning and a spectacular view from our hotel window of hot air balloons floating over Old Town. Vilnius is such a quaint village in a green valley setting on the banks of a lazy-flowing river. More like Europe than Russia which it once was a part of. The people were friendly and courteous. They taught us the Lithuanian word for ‘Thank You’ – aciu – pronounced ‘achoo.’ We sounded like we were sneezing our heads off.

Today was primarily a travel day on our way to Warsaw. Crossing the border into Poland was a snap. We were able to exchange our Lithuanian litas for Polish zloty at the border 'kantor' (money exchange).

Jerry and Ron counting their cash

We passed through Suwalki and the lakeside Augustow on a scenic drive through Mazuria, a region with abundant lakes and vast forests. The area was pretty with small well-kept farms and the country folk were curious to see our big coach of foreign tourists traveling through.

Our driver spotted a huge stork’s nest ahead and stopped so we could take photos. There were at least two babies (birds, that is) in the nest with the watchful mother. They are well-protected here as it is against the law to interfere with a nesting stork. 

Couldn’t resist taking a photo of this woman getting a drink from a public faucet. Doesn’t she know there is lead in them thar pipes?

Arrived in Warsaw in the late afternoon, checked into our 5-star Hilton and had a nice dinner at the hotel. Warsaw is a big city - population 1.7 million - and we are set to explore it over the next two days.