Spent a lovely weekend reconnecting with my cultural roots, dancing folk dances all night, speaking my native language (ha lies English and Lithuanian are both)
My brother decided to do a little European vacation and go to Lithuania to see “Skamba skamba kankliai” this folk music festival we used to participate in as kids every year. It was always so much fun, and marked the beginning of summer. We used to dance in traditional clothing and sing ancient “sutartinės”, these repetitive chant-like songs that would put you into a trance. We were very much involved in the folk scene and made a lot of friends through that. But we left as kids and I hadn’t been back for 7 years!!!
So it was really quite an experience seeing these places I was so familiar with as a child and how they quickly became familiar again along with the language (even though sometimes Spanish words slipped out).
Vilnius really is quite a lovely little city, it’s a less known travel destination but I would still recommend it (even though I have a bit of a bias haha). Everything’s fairly cheap, there are many beautiful churches and parks and I’ve seen it’s grown to be a lot more hip and cute, with lots of sweet cafés and wine bars. And a cute little castle on a hill overlooking the pocket sized city. I’m surely going back soon to reconnect with old friends and my own cultural identity.
Too Far From the Sun 