Journey to the Center of Europe...

Before I begin, I should clarify that Lithuania is only one of about 7 other regions that claim to be the "Center of Europe." However, they all probably have some validity, it just depends on what you include in your definition of Europe. Does Iceland belong to Europe? Or what about Turkey? However you measure it geographically, Lithuania is culturally an Eastern European nation.


At Warsaw International Airport, I was a little concerned by the fact that you had to clear a passport check just to get to anywhere else in the airport. Now I have had my passport for about a year now, and even used it extensively for a research project on nationalism this past semester, but this was the first time I had actually used my passport to personally cross a border. It was also interesting to note that all of the border guards were young, attractive women, bringing back memories of that same "Geographies of Nationalism" class and discussing female traffic guards in North Korea. Turns out they are personally selected by Kim Jong-Il himself to put"best face forward" to anyone that might be interested. (Any thoughts Dr. Mulligan?) Nonetheless, she stamped my favorite page in my American Icon passport, the Native American one with a bear catching a salmon, and I was on my way. Well, sort of...


The third security check that I mentioned in my last post was a little more intense than the US TSA checkpoints I had passed through earlier. Rather than bored looking guards who look more interested in stopping for lunch than stopping terrorists, the checkpoints were manned by tough, crew-cut miltary men and non-nonsense women, and fair number of them very prominently armed with handguns. I am glad they take security so seriously, but it would have been nice if the one at my checkpoint wasn't idly toying with the strap on his holster, but I digress.

Left: Large tracts of forest near the Poland-Lithuania border.
Right: A mosaic of diverse crops and the unavoidable
propeller getting in the way of all of my pictures.

Once on the plane for Vilnius, a EuroLot charter turbo-prop, I was delighted to have a window seat for the one hour hop into Lithuania. I should note that I have since discovered there are only seven shale gas wells actually drilled in south Poland, and none have begun hyrdo-fracking yet. So the earlier numbers I saw must have just been estimates for the future, not actual activity reports. In the air, a few things stood out about the landscape below. First, the massive tracts of forest, which could occasionally be seen in the process of being harvested, but in large, continuous plots that stateside are usually only seen in national parks. Second, the farmland was distinctly different from what one sees on a domestic US flight. Instead of a patchwork quilt of acres upon acres of wheat, corn, soy, etc, these eastern European farms have a diverse mosaic of small patches of different crops. A few other observations included an abundance of dirt roads which show up as bright tan streaks on the land, rather than the dull black or grey of asphalt. Due to the historic glaciation of this region, the soil is very fine and packs well to form roads, especially where public funding for infrastructure is significantly limited, but more on that later. 


A very nice feature of LOT, the Polish airlines, is that they feed you well. On a one hour commuter flight in the US, they would likely just throw some peanuts at you, maybe a soft drink, and hope for the best. Yet here, they distributed deli-style cold cut sandwiches and Lindt chocolates to satisfy whatever hunger you might possibly acquire in one-hour's time. 

On the landing approach to Vilnius International Airport...

As we began to descend into the capital city there was no sign of the nation's most famous landmark, Castle Trakai, at least not on my side of the plane. Nonetheless, old Soviet era apartments started appearing on the landscape below, along side quaint old houses with tile or corrugated tin roofs, and every backyard seemed to have a greenhouse. Off to the right, upon landing, a derelict airliner sat abandoned like a car up on blocks in an Appalachian backyard. The avionics were ripped out the nose, no engines, and no tail; a very interesting welcome to this small member of the European Union that is about the size of West Virgina (but MUCH flatter).


Due to the amount of activity that has occurred since the last post, I am going to end this post here, and resume again shortly. Also, in the approximately 72 hours since arriving, I have 184 photos which should be going up shortly at davidmanthos.shutterfly.com. (That is after editing them, and pulling out about over 100 shots just from the plane window. I see a lot of geomorphology or algal blooms and I start compulsively shooting away.


Posted from: Grigiškės District, Vilnius, Lithuania

On a New Continent:

At 9:10 PM local time, LOT Airlines flight 007 [JFK, New York, USA to Warsaw, Poland] turned its tail to the last of the North American continent, bound for Europe. While perhaps not as poetic a moment as Samwise Gamgee’s furthest departure from the Shire (seen in the movie, I can’t remember if the book actually portrayed that moment), it was a milestone for me as well; finally leaving North America for the great beyond. Unfortunately, I am located at the furthest possible position on the plane for taking photographs, seat D on a Boeing 767-300 ER. If you aren’t familiar with aircraft layouts, this is square in the middle of a 7-seat row. I can barely see a window, let alone see out it. But alas, the middle of the plane, the back of the plane, the cockpit, they all get there at approximately the same time, so all is well that ends well (and if I get around to posting this, you can guess it ended well).

Dinner was surprisingly good for airline food, but reminds me of (no offense meant here, just a practical observation) of a noisy Church of the Brethren Love Feast. Everyone is crowded into extremely cramped seating arrangements, trying to eat a meal without causing a minor catastrophe, and not everyone is entirely sure how to approach the whole exercise. I must count myself among those who feel more than just a little bit out of place, but pleasantly so. I have known all along that traveling to another country means trying to get used to unfamiliar customs and struggling to keep up with the language, but I really didn’t expect it to start before I even left the US. The primary languages on board are Polish and Russian, with English clearly taking second fiddle to the nationality of the airline’s origin. Mind you, I know the world doesn’t revolve entirely around Americans and speakers of the English language, but short of a few passing incidents with French Quebec, this is my first major exposure to signs that read in another language first, then English. At the very least though I must get used to being in the minority of people who actually understand what is going on. Fortunately, however, when I get to Vilnius, I will be reunited with my translator whom I have dearly missed, for reasons besides understanding one language (Russian) that I barely get by in and one language (Lithuanian) that I have hardly a clue in.

A few hours and brief catnaps later... During these morning hours, we have flown over Scotland, Denmark, and as I write this paragraph, we are just turning southeast from the Baltic Sea into Polish airspace. One convenient little attraction that is displayed when movies aren’t being shown is a map with travel statistics showing progress overall, time remaining in the flight, and a live update of your precise location over Halifax, Edinburgh, or Copenhagen. It certainly would have been nice to have seen the real view, but alas, it will suffice. I should also mention that it’s a chilly -56 degree Celsius outside here at 10.7 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Next stop: The Center of Europe…well, one of them.

p.s. I had to go through security AGAIN: 3 for 3

p.p.s. This is NOT going to be my usual schedule for posting updates.

Posted from: Chopin Airport, Warsaw, Poland