Today's 63 mile ride began in Olecko, Poland. We crossed into Lithuania at mile 44 and continued 19 more miles to our destination town of Marijampole, Lithuania. The ride was characterized by intermittent rain, sometimes heavy, wind blowing into us for much of the time, and an 11 mile stretch (part in Poland, part in Lithuania) on a busy highway with a minuscule shoulder about 1.5 feet wide for us to bike on. In view of these factors, we were very relieved to get to our destination, a beautiful 4-star hotel.
Nineteen miles of cycling does not give us too much information upon which to base a judgment of a country, but a couple of items stood out. Unlike Poland, in which every town's centerpiece is a massive church, none have been evident in the two Lithuanian towns we've seen. More strikingly, Lithuania seems to have a very hip, trendy feel to it, which is especially noticeable in the way that young people dress. In a few hours in Lithuania, we've already seen more slim young women in stylish, tight-fitting jeans than we did in 8 days in Poland. We'll know better in a few days if these preliminary observations hold up, but suspect that the larger towns in all three Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) will have a similar hip feel to them.
Check out the link on the right to pictures from our ride through Poland. We've just added a lot more pictures, now that we're done with that part of the trip.
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| The last sizable Polish town we passed though |
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| Entering Lithuania |
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| A two-mile long line of trucks at the border, waiting to get into Poland |
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| Beautiful field of yellow flowers in Lithuania |
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| Our excellent hotel in Marijampole |
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| A view of Marijampole's main square from our hotel room |
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