Part Three- Siauliai, Trakai, and last day in Vilnius

The next morning was Sunday, and we got up super early to catch the train out to Siauliai (though still not early enough apparently because we were only about 45 seconds away from missing it!) Siauliai (pronounced Shaw-lay) was were Lewis served as the branch president back on his mission. It was a two hour train ride through beautiful country side and we even saw quite a few deer!
It rained on and off most of the time we were in Europe, and when we got to Siauliai everything was so fresh and green! We walked a few minutes to the church building, which was actually an apartment because the ward is so small there. the Sacrament meeting was held in a small room with only about 20 members there.

We got to watch a new sister be confirmed and Lewis and I were asked to bear our testimonies. After church we hung out with Lewis' good friend Skaiste and her husband Auntie and their two kids. There was also a young woman there named Usta who was baptized about a year ago but lives quite far from Siauliai. Every Friday she takes a bus to Siauliai and stays with Skaiste for the weekend so she can attend seminary on Saturday and church on Sunday, then Sunday night she takes a train back to her home. She is only 15 years old and it was so amazing to see such faith from someone so young! What was I even doing when I was 15?!
We ate lunch at Skaiste's parents house and then went to visit the Hill of Crosses.

The story with the hill of crosses as I understand it is that while Lithuania was being occupied by Russia they were prohibited from worshiping Christ. Lithuanians would sneak to this hill and put up crosses in a peaceful act of defiance against the Russian rule. Over the years it has become a symbol of "hope, peace, love, and sacrifice" and is covered by over 100,000 crosses.
After that we picked up some juice boxes and bandelas (pastries), and visited a park by the lake and this awesome park up in the woods. The pine trees there had this amazing dark red bark and it was so beautiful there!

So generous with sharing his pine cones! 

I am crazy for the wild Lilacs there! 

When we got back to Vilnius we ate the most amazing pizza ever at a place called Cili Pizza. And it was so cheap! We probably ate better for cheaper in Lithuania then we did the whole rest of our trip. The next morning we took a bus to Trakai. Trakai is a castle built on an island in the middle of a lake, but while we were walking there we got a bit nosey and found another castle that was not as well advertised as the other one. That meant we got to climb around on the walls and play with the trebushe!

 Since we got to Lithuania I noticed that all the women seemed to be carrying around fresh cut flowers (probably to put on their tables at home) but I felt a little left out. Lewis ducked into a flower booth when I wasn't looking and bought me a rose. :)
Here is the island castle.

When we got back to Vilnius we climbed to Gedimines Pilies (a castle overlooking Vilnius) and watched a storm roll in.

A view of St. Annes from above

 We could see a wall of rain coming toward us as we ran down the hill, trying not to break our ankles on the cobblestones. We barely made it under the balcony of a church before it started pouring. We were stranded there with quite a few other people who were trying to stay dry. We noticed a couple of teenage girls dancing in the rain in the square next to the church. They danced their way around the square and then down the middle of the street. It was fun to see such youthful energy!

When it finally stopped raining we met up with Brigita and Valerija, two girls that were in the Siauliai ward when Lewis was serving there. We decided to break the rules a bit and get desert before dinner. We went to this amazing gelato place and then dinner at a nice restaurant and talked the whole time about life, Valerija's upcoming mission, and the perils of wearing skirts or shorts in the winter :)

Lewis and I spent a long time walking around Vilnius and talking about life.