Well, yesterday Michael finally planted his feet on Lithuanian soil for the first time since his family escaped when he was a child.  We landed in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania and drove down to our target area of Palanga.  Along the way we saw many beautiful old farm homes, and lots of tall trees that looked like a form of evergreen with leaves rather than bristles.  No spanish moss in sight.  We had a lovely dinner at a quaint resturant with lots of Lithuanian choices.  Of course potato pancakes were recognized right away. 

Our apartment landloard, who is very nice, speaks some English and slows down the Lithuaniun dialog.  Dad says they speak so fast here that he is struggling to understand. 

Today we will go searching for his childhood home, and maybe the sand dunes where they hid the day they excaped.