June 2-7 Stockholm
We arrived Friday morning after our all-night flight. Exchanged $100 into Swedish Krona (1SK=$0.11) since we will try to charge most things. Taxis take credit cards and the cost of a taxi was less than two tickets on the "Arlanda Express" train to the city center so, even though our hotel was only two blocks away from the train station, we took a taxi. Had reserved a club room at the Sheraton so were able to go to the club lounge to wait (and eat breakfast) while waiting for our room to be ready. Eventually checked in, unpacked, showered and rested a bit before going out for a walk. First tried to find the conference hotel but missed it (turned out we walked right past it, just didn't see the sign) and wandered over the islands with the landmark city hall, Riddarholmen church, parliament buildings and eventually made it to Gamla Stan. Explored the Gamla Stan old town and found a little store down one side street with nice Swedish dishcloths (which I had wanted to get for souvenirs - found out later that Teerman's in Holland has them). Back over the bridge we meant to use to get to the old town - the pedestrian Riksbron (royal bridge?) - and went back to the hotel club lounge for happy hour appetizers (plenty of food for our dinner).
Presented my paper on how Century Club Companies balance tradition and change at the 2017 International Academic Conference on Business (Clute) and we spent time exploring Stockholm. Had some great shrimp salads; the weather was cool and a bit of misty rain until the last day when it poured. Had lunch at the conference and then took a taxi to the ferry terminal for our overnight trip to Riga, Latvia.
The courtyard of the city hall
The city hall tower with the 3 crowns
The pedestrian bridge leading to Gamla Stan
Just one of several great shrimp salads we had in Stockholm.
We had a great time in Stockholm!
The ferry trip through the islands off Stockholm was long and very scenic
June 8 & 9 Riga, Latvia
What a jewel box of an old town center! We arrived in Riga right on time at 11 a.m. and had a short walk from the ferry terminal to our hotel in the old town center (only one short block of rolling suitcases over a cobblestone street). Stayed at a delightful old boutique hotel, Gutenbergs, right off the cathedral square and on our second night ate at the restaurant on the 5th floor terrace with a great view of the old town.
Most of the buildings have been renovated and some (like the Blackheads House at the top) rebuilt after damage from WWII and soviet neglect.
Riga's monument has three stars (rather than the three crowns in Stockholm) which we found out represent the three historic provinces of Latvia.
The church spire that always showed us the way "home."
June 10-15 Vilnius, Lithuania
It was a rather long and rather boring bus ride from Riga to Vilnius. I thought it would be fun to see the Lithuanian countryside but it was mostly flat land of huge farm fields. We seldom saw a farm house or barn or any equipment - or any cows or other livestock. The few cows we saw were tied to posts in the ground - no fences. I guess all the farms were taken over by the Communists and now still run by large corporate entities. But the roads are modern and the bus was comfortable. We were happy to arrive in Vilnius, and though the bus station isn't in the best part of the city it was a short walk to the old town, passing through the "Gates of Dawn" with our hotel (Europa Royale Vilnius) just inside the gate.
The Gates of Dawn entrance to old town Vilnius - the only surviving remnant of the city's original defensive wall
The chapel within the city wall above the Gate is a popular religious pilgrimage site
Our hotel Europa Royale Vilnius
The main street (Ausros Vartu Gatve) viewed from just inside the Gate (our hotel is the third building on the right)
Surprise terrace off our hotel room, overlooking a restaurant courtyard and a great view of the Church of St. Casimir
We had a great time walking around and discovering Vilnius. But the real treat of our visit was meeting some of John's Meshkin relatives: his grandfather Meshkin's niece Stase, her niece Ausra, and her niece Justina. Justina and her husband drove us all around the countryside on Sunday afternoon, spending a lot of time walking through the outdoor Rumsiskes Ethnographic Museum near Kaunas and stopping at other highlights of Lithuanian culture such as Trakai Island Castle. On Tuesday evening Stase treated us all to dinner and we heard wonderful stories about John's grandfather as well as Stase's life growing up in Lithuania when it was part of the Soviet Union.
My favorite Lithuanian food is the cold beetroot soup - looks like Pepto Bismol but tastes great! (Strangely, it is served with a side of boiled potatoes. Potatoes and dill feature prominently in most Lithuanian dishes.) John's relatives gave us several treats to take back with us including chocolates, cakes, and a huge loaf of wonderful Lithuanian rye bread.
