In case you didn’t know this already, I (biasedly yet whole-heartedly) believe that my parents are the best parents in the world. :) I can say this with confidence because they have always been literally 100% devoted to my sister and I. And once again thy proved that devotion by coming halfway around the world to visit me here in Lithuania! It was a great week spent together, and overall such a great experience to be able to share my life here with them. We did so much during the whole week but I’ll try to give a quick recap of everything.
[Sidenote: As a little family history- my grandparents left Lithuania during WW2 and since then only my Mociute and Aunt Lina have visited. So yes, this was my Dad’s first time in his “homeland” which made the trip extra special :) ]
Sunday
Courtnay and I picked them up at the Vilnius airport around 2:00. We got there about an hour early to pick them up, so yes, I was that nervously excited person in the arrivals terminal waiting for my peeps to get there. Once they finally came through the doors and I mauled them with hugs we ventured over to one of the malls and took them to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in Vilnius, called Vapiano. After this we just drove around Vilnius for awhile so my parents could see part of the old town and some of the city. Basically, Dad was just so excited to actually be in Lithuania that he was happy to just take in the surroundings.
We then headed back to Kaunas and spent the rest of the evening getting them settled into their hotel and showing them my apartment. They actually ended up staying in the Hotel Daniela which was the hotel I stayed at for my first 3 weeks here in Lithuania. So that was kind of cool that they truly got to experience the same thing I did…minus all the practices ;)
My sign says "Welcome to Lithuania!!"
Monday
I had practice in the morning and then surprisingly had the evening off so I went to the hotel to meet the rents. Since they weren’t expecting me and didn’t set an alarm, I woke up the jet-lagged couple at 1:30. I think they could have slept a little longer, but instead we decided to enjoy the day and head down to the Kaunas Old Town area. It was great to walk up and down the store-lined cobble stone streets and take in the atmosphere. Mom and Dad got to experience fried bread (our favorite appetizer here that is pretty much just like it sounds) and Vero Café (the Starbucks of Kaunas)- 2 staples that Courtnay and I enjoy often. That evening Marina and Giedre’s university teams (kind of like club teams that the girls sometimes play with on Monday nights) were playing each other so Mom, Dad, Courtnay and I decided we wanted to go to that. This turned out to be more of an adventure to get there than anything else. Marina had given me some directions that basically ended with us having to turn into a warehouse type area that had a guard on duty and a lot of factory buildings. Well, we found an area like that, butttt it was definitely NOT the right place. After driving back in between a bunch of old abandon warehouse buildings we got to a dead end parking lot where all of a sudden a siren started going off. Um, cue the part of the horror movie where we all get killed!! Luckily we made it out of there ok and ended up finding the gym, but it was definitely some excitement for the night. The game itself wasn’t that exciting but it was nice because Indre and Kristina were also there watching so my parents got to meet them and then they also finally got to meet Giedre and Marina after the game.
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Their first fried bread experience!!
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Love this! In the streets of Kaunas Old Town!!
Dad outside the "Gentlemen's Club". I think this pic was for either Uncle Arvid or T-Bone. Lol! |
Tuesday
With 2 practices for me, Mom and Dad were on their own for the day and got to explore some of the city themselves. They walked up and down Liberty Blvd (aka “The tree-lined street”) that’s next to the hotel and that I frequented often when I first got here. I then went down and met them for dinner at the Akropolis mall and we spent the rest of the night walking around there.
Dinner at Akropolis. I made them try out the whole "Lithuanian smile" thing ;)
Wednesday
Game day! After travelling all over the United States to watch almost every single one of my games since I started playing basketball in 2nd grade, it was pretty cool that my parents got to see me play a professional game "across the pond" in Lithuania. I wish it would have been one of our exciting Euroleague games (that have been so well documented in this blog ;) ), but they had to settle on seeing a 121-55 blowout against the worst team in the LMKL. Ha. So it wasn’t the high quality “professional” basketball that you’d think, but they were just happy to actually be there and watching a game. They also got to briefly meet the rest of the girls on the team which they enjoyed since they have obviously heard so much about them from me and followed them in the games and stories online.
Thursday
We were lucky enough to have the morning off so after the suggestion of Migle and the girls we headed to the nearby town of Trakai to visit the castle there. Without getting into the history of it (which I don’t really know so you’re better off with Google anyways…), basically it was just neat to be in a castle and feel like you were in the Medieval times. Pictures say it better than words so here you go…
Mops and Pops with the castle!
Dad's dream come true to have me locked up?? :)
Although he looks happier about this one! Haha.
Oh just hanging on the draw bridge... :)
Mom and I headed in :)
Russian soldiers?? Or part of the Wicked Witch's army from Wizard of Oz?? Haha.
Eating lunch with a castle in the background. No big deal...
After evening practice the 3 of us and Courtnay went to a restaurant just outside of town called Bajorkiemis. (And after our teammates making fun of us for pronouncing it just how it looks, we were reminded that a “j” in Lithuanian is actually pronounced like a “y”. Just thought I’d save you from the same embarrassment in case you ever go there. Haha.). Although you can get what’s considered traditional Lithuanian food at almost any restaurant, this place truly makes it feel authentic. Andddd makes you feel like you’re in a food coma afterwards! Not to mention that the seating at the tables are actually couches so it really does just scream “comfort food”. It was an overall fun experience though and my parents really seemed to enjoy the atmosphere.
Loving Lithuanian food!
Cool atmosphere...
Having a great time! :)
Remember, it's like BaYorkiemis :)
Friday
Again, we had the morning off! Hollerrrr!!! They really did luck out and come the perfect week! And we again got another suggestion from the team and headed to Vilnius for the Kaziukas Fair. It’s the annual folk-art fair in the Old Town and although all the stuff was a little too “folk arty” for our tastes, it was neat to see all the hand crafted Lithuanian stuff and just to enjoy the time walking around.
HUGE street market in Vilnius
My parents got a little surprise in the evening when I decided to cook them dinner at my apartment. I made them my standard night-before-game meal of salmon, rice and pasta and they seemed highly impressed! Although I’ve come to enjoy cooking a few things on my own here I just hope they don’t expect me to have dinner on the table every night for them over the summer. I may have dug my own grave here people…
Saturday
Another game my parents got to see. And another blowout of course. This one was 81-51 and against a little better competition so at least that was good.
Best fans ever!! :)
Me and Court (who was unfortunately hurt for the games my parents saw...)
The Kemezys love them some Migle!! She fits right in with us, huh?? :)
That evening Courtnay and I took Mom and Dad to another of our favorite places in town, the Grill House steak house where they bring you out your slab of meat on a skillet and you get to cook yourself at the table. It’s definitely a cool place just for the experience and the food is good…especially when you smuggle in your own A1 sauce from America!! :)
Courtnay and I at the Steak place (and yes, that's more fried bread in front of us. Lol)
DIY steak
A1 Sauce...don't leave America without it!
Sunday
I can without a doubt say that this was one of the top 5 days of my Dad’s life. After making contact with my relatives here in January we made sure that we would see each other when my parents came to visit. The rents and I started off the day stopping in Šiauliai to visit the famous Hill of Crosses. This was a pretty big deal for me because for some reason I have a distinct memory of seeing a picture of this in my 7th grade Social Studies book and saying then that I was bound and determined to visit it one day. (I know, so corny, right? :) ) Again, rather than me trying to explain I’m just gonna plagiarize and let the Internet tell you the details- http://sacredsites.com/europe/lithuania/hill_of_crosses.html. Overall, it’s a very sacred place, with a strong sense of Lithuanian nationalism where people come from all over to leave crosses. My parents and I bought a small wooden cross at the gift store there and took it out to hang, marking our trip. It’s unbelievably amazing to think that I actually got to visit this place, albeit with my parents in tow. Pretty cool that we got to leave our mark on my #1 Lithuanian destination. Along with leaving a part of us at the Hill, I also took some parts of the Hill back with us. I got matching cross necklaces for Kate and I and also got matching rosaries for Mociute and me. I’m definitely big on having shared novelties/mementos and am pretty excited that I could get them from such a special place to share with 2 of the most special people in my life. :) 
Hill of Crosses (Kryžiu Kalnas)
Breathtaking...
Literally millions of crosses
The Kemezys cross!
Me giving the JC statue a new necklace :)
The Kemezys were here!
Now all that being said, that part of the day pales in comparison to the rest of the day. We got to Mazeikiai for the evening to spend time with all of our relatives here. For me, it was so good seeing them all again, bringing back that indescribable connection of long-last family. And even more so, my dad got to experience that times 10! They were all so happy to finally meet him and my mom and the day went perfect. There was a total of 10 of us and we literally spent 8 straight hours sitting around their table, talking, laughing, eating, drinking (of course they brought out all the hard alcohol, we’re Lithuanians!!), and getting to know each other. One of the neat parts was that they had a photo album full of pictures that my Mociute had sent them over the years. It was pretty special to think that although we’d never met them before and really knew nothing about them, here they were, for all our lives, following us through pictures. Also, we got some good laughs at seeing my Dad, Uncle Kestas, Uncle Arvid and Aunt Lina in their childhood and teen years!! (Don’t worry those pictures are below! Hope you're happy Uncle Arvid!!! :) )
Little Mociute with her brother and parents :)
Mociute on the right. Such a cute bowl cut! :)
Uncle Kestas, Uncle Arvid and of course my goofy Dad in the front
Ok I admit it, I look like my Dad (minus the sideburns ;) )
My Dad, Kemo, the football stud :)
Looking good Uncle Arvid!!! Hahaha
Aunt Lina and Maria are like twins!!
Dad as Santa with baby Katie
I know, we're adorable :)
Mociute and her girls <3
I love this family picture!
Cute little Maria with Kate and I in awkward phases...ha
The evening went on perfectly, and the only things missing were Mociute and the rest of our family being there. It’s sad to think that those reunions might not happen, but it is also heartwarming to know that we could be the link between the families. Mociute’s sisters- sweet Maria and crazy Irena- were just so happy that we were there and were again fawning over us just like they did with me at the funeral.
Just some of alllll the food they had for us!
Mom, me, Edita and her husband (whose name I can't remember right now..ha)
A little dark, but all of us at one end of the table
This is how they do candles on cakes in Lithuania!! Sweet!
Welcome! (Just like my airport sign! :) )
Maria, Irena and Dad
Mociute's on the phone so it's all 3 sisters together! <3
Dad's cousin Marius with his wife and daughter
Dad with Maria's husband and his aunts!
She's hilarious!
None of us wanted the night to end, as I feel like we could have stayed and enjoyed each others’ company for days. But we were all so very happy for the opportunity to be together and even my dad got pretty emotional when we had to leave. As he was saying it’s crazy that there are these people who you always heard about but never really thought you’d meet, but now you meet them for one day and fall in love with them all, just to have to leave them with the thoughts of never seeing them again. As sobering as an idea that is, I’m so happy that I could see them all again and this time bring my parents. It really meant so much to my dad and it is amazing to think how my basketball career has led to bigger and better things like uniting family members like that. God really does see the big picture in things!! :)
So overall, my parents visit here was even better than imagined!!! I am so happy that they were actually able to make it over here, to see what my life here is like, see some sights, meet my Vici family and also meet all of our actual family. I think Nicki Minaj says it best in her song—“No I’m not lucky, I’m blessed! Yes!!!” :)
