Eurovision is the major event being discussed in all the tabloid newspapers this week. It is a huge song contest, among all of the countries of Europe, plus Israel, Turkey, and the nations of the Caucasus. For some reason Australia is also participating this year. Eventually it will be a worldwide Olympics of mediocre pop songs. You can read all about this year’s contest here. Last year’s winner Conchita Wurst, the bearded drag star from Austria, has become a worldwide phenomenon. Apparently Sweden has a good chance of winning this year, so on Saturday night, all eyes will be glued to the TV. Voting is generally in blocks, and the Scandinavians typically vote for Scandinavian acts. Russia also has a good chance of winning. It is as if people in Europe are saying “we are going to be politically correct and acknowledge that we like the people of Russia; just not Putin politics”. I much prefer to listen to the music of Sofia Gubaidulina.

I have been writing grant proposals to raise money for my research. It is a never ending process, and these days if a scientist doesn’t have two or three grant proposals submitted simultaneously, there will be no chance of funding. What I am learning about is CRISPR/Cas9 technology. This is a relatively new method in molecular biology that is already changing the world (watch this video). The technology stems from how bacteria protect themselves against viruses: they use small pieces of RNA to bind to the virus’ genes and cut them. Basically, it is a very simple way of modifying genes in cells. It means that, for example, if we know the gene in a malaria parasite that is causing it to be dangerous, we can simply knock it out. It also means that scientists can now add or subtract small sections of DNA to genes of interest. For medicine, it will be a way to disrupt cancer cells. In the not too far future, people will be able to modify their sperm or eggs to change the look of their children.

Spring in Sweden is full of flowers although Stockholm has been quite chilly. The exhibit of Emil Nolde at Waldemarsudde is bringing bright colors to the cloudy days. I took a couple photos before I was told that photography wasn’t allowed.

Spring is for riding my 24-year-old mountain bike around the city. The public transportation in Stockholm is probably one of the best systems in the world, but it is expensive. The price is now 790 SEK/month, which is almost $100 USD: and the new government is proposing to raise it to nearly 900/month. But it is worth it, because it is reliable and pleasant. I hear no one grumbling about the price too much, but it also means that people are walking more; not a bad thing.

Spring has exploded in Lithuania. The trees are a lettuce green; ready to eat. Dandelions cover the meadows and dominate the landscape with their yellowness. People are out enjoying the first few warm days riding their bicycles and canoeing on the Neris River. I have noticed that Vilnius over the years has become a more sporty city, and now, just like in Western Europe or the USA, there are joggers, people on tight ropes, boot camps in the park, and yoga studios.

Thanks to a close friend, I now have a bicycle here in Vilnius. It lets me explore new neighborhoods, and get out into the forests near the city center. Vilnius is a capital city of about half a million people, and there are some crowded areas, but the parks are thick with trees and nice paths along the river.

Now that the days are longer, it was my first time seeing the Friday evening academic sauna in the light, nestled among now rusted archeological instruments from former farmers, and a beautiful functional windmill; all within the city limits. Dominating the conversations are the actions by Putin in Russia, and the fear that he will invade the Baltic nations. I find this concept rather absurd, and if I were Putin and had to invade a country, I would prefer to take Uzbekistan, with its natural resources, and larger Russian population. I didn’t hear any fear of invasion from the Uzbeks. I am not a political scientist, and I grew up in a place not directly affected by war. Maybe that is why I am not fearful and believe that people my age and younger won’t be interested in fighting nationalistic wars in Europe.

Fountains are flowing, bands are playing at the unveiling of new statues, and I am writing new grant proposals in Vilnius.

Here is a photo of the May full moon over Stockholm. This marks the beginning of my 8^th month of sabbatical. The Spring semester is nearly over, and summer will be starting soon.

Valborg is a major event in Sweden. It is the 30^th of April, the day before the May 1^st holiday. Throughout the country, people light bonfires and the choirs sing traditional songs. I went to Skansen to see the bonfire in Stockholm. It was a misty dark evening, but the bonfire lit the path to spring.

A few years ago, in 2012, I got to experience Valborg in Lund, in the south of Sweden. Lund and Uppsala are the University towns where students have big parties in the parks. It was a mess the next morning, but it was soon cleaned up, and fresh as always.

Flying back to Vilnius in a few hours.  Spring is here in Northern Europe.

These are just my impressions, but there are some things that I really like about Uzbekistan. The people that I have met have been friendly, generous, honest and gracious. The streets are clean, and the infrastructure works well. The cars stop at crosswalks and people smile. The storekeepers want to sell things, and they bargain, but it is nothing like the pushy attitude of India or West African nations that I am more used to. Most of the historical sites have been meticulously renovated and the locals are eager to meet tourists and express their pride in the country. Three boys wanted to take a photo with me today, and I wish I could see how they end up twenty years from now.

This is the first time that I have visited a former Soviet state besides the Baltic States. Lithuania could have ended up like Denmark or Finland now had it not been occupied. Uzbekistan may have ended up like Afghanistan or Pakistan, Syria or Iran. Big difference, and it probably affects the social consciousness of the respective countries. The occupation perhaps led to a more secular society here, and there seems to be very little of Muslim fundamentalism. I am not at all a historian or social scientist, but in my mind, things worked out pretty well for this country in the end. There is a long way to go, in terms of environmental protection and human rights, but they are on the right path.

Samarkand is quite extraordinary. The Registan ensemble is vast and beautiful and can easily rank with some of the major tourist destinations such as the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Coliseum or Tiananmen Square. But I am trying to not only do tourist things. I went to a hamam, the baths. But since I don’t speak a word of Tajik, Uzbek or Russian, there was no possibility of communication. The women were giggling when I entered, and I got a massage from one strong local woman for $5. I ended up in the shower and bathtub section instead of the steam room section, which was fine, but not exactly what I wanted. In any case, it was certainly an authentic experience, and it is clear that Uzbek women like tall dark foreign men.

We experienced a scorching hot day in the desert followed by a dust storm in the ancient city of Shahrizabz that coated my clothes and hair in fine sand, followed by sudden cold and damp. Amir Temur was born here. He is the national hero of Uzbekistan, and he conquered vast territories from Iran to India in the 14^th century. People here don’t talk about how he was a vicious ruler that ransacked cities across Middle Asia, but instead build statues in his honor.

How is it possible that there is a fast train in Uzbekistan that travels up to 220 km/hr, but no such train in the USA? We traveled with the Afrosiyob train from Samarkand to Tashkent, 300 km, in 2 hours. It was impressively spacious, and modern.

Before flying back to Europe, I note that it is refreshing to be in a place where people are still relatively unaffected by Western culture. There seems to be some sincerity and perhaps naïveté. Uzbeks don’t have much opportunity to travel, and relatively few tourists come here. It is a nice time to visit this part of the world.

Bukhara was an ancient capital and one of the major stops for caravans along the Silk Road. The 9^th and 10^th centuries were the golden age for Bukhara and it became an important center for learning in Islam. Then in 1220 Ghengis Khan destroyed the city, and it took several centuries to again rebuild and thrive. Some buildings remain from the early times, but now most of the mosques and madrassas are from the 16^th century. It is remarkable to see the old tiles on the mosques and the huge Kalyon minaret built with bricks that used bull’s blood and camel milk instead of water: it remains standing from 1127. The mausoleum of Ismael Samani is one of the oldest structures from the 10^th century, and the last Emir’s Summer Palace was completed at the beginning of the 20^th century before the Soviets pushed him out and he fled to Afghanistan. It is an immense history that is filled with facts and legends.

What does a modern tourist do in Bukahara? Buy a carpet of course. The region is famous for its beautifully designed rugs. After a lot of bargaining, I managed to find a beautiful carpet that I can’t really afford, but could not resist.

During the soviet times, the mosques and madrassas were closed, and the beautiful Kolyon Mosque was a warehouse. Now it seems that people have moved on. The times following independence were hard, and now, finally there are some tourists here. It is hard to overcome the reputation of being a “stan” country. I had to call my bank today in the USA to let me use the cash machine, and the person thought I was in Pakistan, and had never heard of Uzbekistan (but she didn’t know Lithuania either).

Uzbekistan has a very tricky monetary system. A dollar is officially worth about 2500 Som, but on the street it is worth about 3600 Som. And nobody takes credit cards, so it is entirely a cash economy. The problem is that the largest notes are 5000 Som. So when lunch costs 36,000 Som, or about $10, it means carrying around bundles of cash. They like dollars. Time for monetary reform!

This was interesting to me: the slaves in Uzbekistan were blonde white Russians with blue eyes. Slaves were sold in Khiva well into the 19^th century. Officially the blonde taxi drivers and waitresses of Uzbekistan are descendents of Alexander the great, but I believe that they are more recent descendents of the Russian slaves. Here it is opposite from the rest of the world, and the white people were the oppressed, and their descendents still are in the menial jobs of Khorezm province.

Great vegan options at Doston House in Bukhara. My favorite was dill ravioli in vegetable soup, and samosas cooked in a tandoori oven. There are some nice Indian influences here in Uzbekistan. Next stop: Samarkand.

Khiva is an ancient walled city with mosques, madrassas, mausoleums and minarets. It is one of the treasures of humankind. It was one of the main cities along the Silk Road, and has 2500 years of history. There is the Juma Mosque with wooden pillars from the 9^th century, but the most impressive buildings are from the 19^th century, with complex patterns of blue tiles adorning the faces of the various Khans’ architectural wonders. Descended from Genghis Khan, each of the kings over the long time period had a story. Some were extremely violent, one king known as the “Butcher Khan” executed 10 people each day.  Another was a poet. Some had long reigns: others were short-lived. The Khorezm area was an independent kingdom until the Soviets came and took over in 1920.

A wall surrounds the city, and it is a nice stroll from one end to the other. Now it is basically a living museum, but some 200 families still live inside the walls. People sell the black or white traditional hats that look like afros, and silk and wooden items. The weather is perfect now with sunny warm days, but it gets freezing cold in the winter, and unbearably hot in the summer. We have not seen that many tourists (considering its beauty and history), and in the evening kids play outside the ancient mud colored buildings.

Vegan in Khiva: I was very fortunate to find a nice restaurant that serves vegan food. Our guide Ali’s family owns a restaurant called Zoroastr. Plov is the national dish, which is made of rice, carrots, spices and raisins. Usually it is made with meat, but I got a vegan version. Pumpkin samosas, green noodles, dill-filled raviolis, and pumpkin soup made me very happy.

But what are people doing growing rice in the middle of a desert?! Rice is one of the most water-consuming crops known, but yet, while driving through this arid land, we saw many fields submerged in water for rice agriculture. The once huge flowing Amu Darya River is now diverted to grow rice, cotton, wheat and mulberry trees to feed silk worms. This has led to one of largest environmental disasters ever created by humans; the depletion of the Aral Sea. We crossed the river near Urgench, and it was shallow and full of silt. By the time it reaches the Aral Sea, it is gone. Now the Aral Sea is basically gone. This was a region rich in wildlife, biodiversity and natural beauty, but one friend in Tashkent said that it is now salty and bitter and nothing could possibly survive in the water. “The ancient oasis of rivers, lakes, reed marshes, forests and farms are drying up and being poisoned by wind-borne salt as well as fertilizer and pesticide residues from the dried bed of the Aral Sea.”  This is a prime example of how our planet is being transformed before our eyes by the arrogance of our species. I will not comment on human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.

Fortresses from more than a thousand years ago are scattered in the desert of Karakalpakstan. This is an autonomous region of Uzbekistan; basically a state within a state. The ruins are made of mud and soft bricks and although they are world heritage sites, they are crumbling underneath the feet of tourists and whoever wants to walk on them. The archeologists are gone, and the treasures that were there are now housed in Russian museums, thousands of kilometers away. What is left are the ruins from the 4^th, 7^th and 13^th century, exposed to the desert sun. It is fun to walk on these ancient places, as if we were discovering them for the first time, but again, they won’t be around long if they are not protected. They were excavated from the sand that preserved them for hundreds of years, but now exposed to the elements and people, I don’t see them lasting more than a generation. Now there are nomadic people hosting the few tourists in yurts.

There are wood workers and I watched women making traditional silk carpets.  I hear some Khorezm music outside the window, but the internet works here, near the border of Turkmenistan, in this ancient place.

Greetings from Uzbekistan! The weather is rather warm, and sunny, and the wide Soviet-built avenues are clean and spacious with white cars zipping around on this Sunday morning. What am I doing in Uzbekistan? This sabbatical is a time for exploration, and seeing some new places. It gives me the opportunity to spend some time with my father, and he and I have always wanted to visit the cities along the Silk Road. We are on a father/son adventure.

Tashkent is the largest city in Central Asia, and there may be up to 4.5 million people here. The Aeroflot airplane from St. Petersburg was full of happy Uzbek people who clapped and cheered when we landed late at night in Tashkent. I noticed that the Aeroflot flights had no first, or business class seats; perhaps a remnant of the socialist era. It is a nice feeling to not have to walk by the people in first class and know that you are not a second or third class passenger. In capitalistic societies, we just accept the class divides but they really don’t have to be there. They also served no alcohol, and since I don’t drink, I also appreciated that.

I do not understand a word of this language, nor Russian, but people have been very friendly and helpful. It is a meat eater’s paradise, but we found delicious dried apricots stuffed with nuts and raisins at the big Chorsu market. We ate at an Indian restaurant, and are impressed with the eagerness of people to help. It is a relatively undiscovered place for tourism, and we are benefiting from the people generous with their smiles and peaceful friendly attitudes.

Tashkent is very clean and organized. The subway is cheap, beautifully maintained and easy to navigate, with art at every station. I was imagining a crowded city that would resemble Delhi or Istanbul, but instead I am experiencing a modern metropolis with big parks and tree-lined avenues. The guide that showed us around today spoke lovely English and told us her opinions about the government. It is dictatorial, but she believes that it is necessary to have a powerful regime to hold this very diverse country together, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union. She would love to live in a true democracy, but right now understands and supports the present regime.

I met a group of working men at Independence Square who wanted to take photos with me, and one taxi driver asked if I was an athlete; made me feel good.  Some children also stopped me to get a photo with me.  I liked the ornate mosque and the museums filled with ornate woven and embroidered handiworks. Tomorrow I will report more from the ancient city of Khiva, and then from Bukhara and Samarkand. An amazing country.

This is the walk of the gods, between Bomerano and Positano on the Amalfi Coast. The views are hard to describe, but they are spectacular, with the cliffs and then small churches, followed by the view of the islands including Capri, and the seaside resort of Positano. It is a 3-hour hike through nature along the cliffs.

Along the Amalfi Coast, I have seen the main towns, Positano, Praiano, Nocelle, Amalfi, Ravello, and Minori. My favorite was Ravello and the surrounding areas. Ravello has the music festivals and the wealthy visitors, but there are also farmers and sheepherders in the same area. The views of the sea and the quaint piazzas with people eating their pizzas and pasta make it pretty irresistible. I liked the auditorium designed by Oscar Niemeyer, who designed the church that I visited in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in November.  It was a nice surprise to see his architecture here.  April is the right time to visit; warm with beautiful weather, and not too many tourists. I can only imagine that in the summer it would be hot and crowded.

A very lovely beach between Positano and Laurito enticed me to swim in the chilly water. Pizza marinara and pastas with zucchini fill my stomach. Then the drives on the bus zig-zagging while hugging the cliffs make me wish I hadn’t eaten those meals. There are lemon trees on every hill, and ceramic shops selling lemon-motif dishes in every town.  I had never heard of the Amalfi Coast before, but now I would like to make it a regular vacation spot.

I am enjoying a quick trip to Southern Italy to replenish my vitamin D, and see a completely different part of Europe. It is hard to believe that the European Union contains such completely different cultures. Lithuania, Sweden and Italy have nearly nothing in common, but they are all part of the same union. It is quite amazing that the EU functions at all.

The first impressions of Napoli, Italy are unfortunately of a city with a lot of trash problems. Traffic is haphazard, and some things don’t quite make sense. For example, why is the subway system cheaper than the bus system, but fewer people seem to use the subways? There is clearly a lot of underemployment, and it is quite poor. The city is diverse with people from Africa and Pakistan among the Italians. The archeological museum could not keep all the rooms open, due to lack of funds. It is not a rich city. But the history and riches of culture are truly incredible.

I had no idea what to expect of Pompeii. Unfortunately, I never really studied much history from that time period. The train ride to Pompeii is just about 40 minutes, and suddenly you are in a 2000-year-old city. Of course I knew about Vesuvius and the eruption that devastated the city in the year 79, and killed and entombed people while they were trying to escape with gas and ashes. But I wasn’t aware of the incredible art, and the vastness of the spaces. The mansions and bakeries, the baths and brothels. It doesn’t require a lot of imagination to visualize how life was then, and how in reality, we are not much different today. Herculaneum is also fantastic, and although much smaller, it is perhaps better preserved, and there are even 2000 year old wooden doors, and shelves in the ancient stores. These places are impressive.

The National Archeological Museum in Napoli is full of the treasures from Pompeii. The mosaics could have been done yesterday, with bright colors and some surrealistic scenes. Huge roman statues and paintings that seem much more modern than what was done 1000 years later.

Pizza marinara! People pay more than $20 for this kind of pizza in San Francisco, and here it is about $4. Absolutely delicious at Pizzeria da St. Michele, and also Pizzeria Sorbillo. What I love is that at one of the most famous pizza places in the world (da St. Michele), they only have two types, marinara (vegan) and margarita (with cheese).

Today the sun shone in Capri. This is the island of the rich and famous just 45 minutes from Naples.   It is a different world. The views of the natural beauty next to the clear deep blue sea with jumping dolphins and lemon orchards clarify why this is a world destination. No boats were going to the blue grotto, but I got to hike and explore several parts of the island. The house of Axel Munthe, a Swedish doctor who lives in Anacapri, was probably my favorite historical site. Like me, he was a bird lover, and a vegetarian. I bought his book “Boken om San Michele” and I will start reading it with sincere interest in this part of the world. For the next few days, I will be exploring the wonderful Amalfi Coast in spring by the blue Mediterranean Sea.

The full moon in Marijampolė, Lithuania marks the 7^th month of my sabbatical. It is Easter here, and because this is a very catholic country, people are out celebrating in full force. The church was standing room only. Since I was here for Easter in 2012, the church has been renovated and it is warmer, despite the freezing temperatures and snow flurries outside. The procession begins with a bonfire, from which people light their candles and pass the holy fire around. During the sermons, the people from Marijampolė are quiet and solemn. Nobody dares to look at their mobile phones. A few children walk around. There must be a thousand people in the church marking the eve before the resurrection of Jesus. To me it seems that this seems some more pagan ritual that has infiltrated the modern Lithuanian/catholic culture. We are celebrating with my uncle, who moved back to Lithuania after independence.

We visited the farm of my grandfather that now belongs to my mother. It is about 45 minutes from Marijampolė, meaning that it is not near anywhere that anyone outside of this small region would know. The nearest small town is Višakio Rūda, where my mom used to go to church as a girl. A man is living there taking care of things. He works at a factory that makes furniture for Ikea. The neighbors down the road know my name, and are expecting that eventually I will be living on the farm. It is rather run down, but 3 friendly dogs and 2 cats on the roof guard the small property. This is where my grandfather with his wife, mother-in-law and 4 young children left Lithuania because of the Russian invasion, headed to Germany, and never came back. My mother now owns the farm, because after independence, she had the legal rights to re-possess it. There are some oak trees, and the furniture maker had just found some very old coins from the days when there was a czarist Russian village nearby. The ground is not very productive, and people are poor, but they have mobile phones and internet. Facebook connects them to the world.

The time in Vilnius is going well. I am always working on papers and grants, and spend some time looking at parasites under the microscope. The weather outside is very grey and cold. It keeps people working and inside. But the cheap airlines of Europe are very tempting. I will see some sun soon.

Here are some of the highpoints of my trip to Barcelona

Montserrat: Yesterday I took the train to Montserrat, which is about an hour from Barcelona. It was a sunny clear day, with visibility all the way to Andorra and the snow-covered mountains. I have begun to realize that for me, being in nature is always preferable to the cement cities. The monastery of Montserrat is interesting and the basilica is beautiful, but hiking in the cathedral pinnacles of the mountains in the sun was the highpoint of the trip.

Fuente Mágica de Montjuic: The magic fountain near the Plaça d’Espanya. I have always loved waterfalls and fountains. This one has a light show and dancing water accompanied by contemporary rock music. It was crowded, but I got a good seat to watch the water.

Fundación Joan Miró: This is a major museum. The art of Miró is diverse and colorful. I haven’t painted for a long time, but this was inspirational, and I would like to begin again, and have more art in my life. The colorful playfulness makes him one of my favorite artists.

Food!: Teresa Carles vegetarian/vegan restaurant was excellent. Barcelona is a food city, with a lot of vegan options, great vegetables, and lots of olives, artichokes and olive oil.

I also visited the Fundación Antoni Tàpies. There were not that many works of Tapies, but rather some works of Maria Lassnig, a German introspective painter. Interesting art overall, but this was not the top of my list. Everyone comes here to see the architecture of Antoni Gaudí and I like that too, but again, given all the tourists, even in late March, I was impressed with the work, but not moved.

The city is full of scooters, like the Vespa I have in San Francisco. I love riding around the city and I was longing to ride here and zip around the historical sites.

My next post will be Easter in Lithuania. Stay tuned: I have some really interesting travel plans in April.

The IECID meeting just ended. The conference in Sitges, near Barcelona, had about 180 attendees, with 3 full days of talks and posters. It was an impressive group of scientists, all interested in understanding how climate change and other rapid global changes are affecting the transmission of diseases such as malaria, Dengue fever, schistosomiasis, West Nile virus, and Ebola. There were a lot of talks about how to model and predict what the future will hold for infectious diseases. I was impressed with some of the statistics: malaria is still killing nearly a million people each year. Influenza kills nearly the same number. People travel more than 5 trillion miles every year on airplanes (18 times to the sun and back), and now mobile phones can track huge populations of people throughout the world and help better model how diseases are spreading. There were fewer presentations on wildlife diseases, but people appreciated the work I do; studying deforestation and climate change and avian pathogens.

I got to experience a little of the Catalan culture here in Sitges. The Cau Ferrat museum had paintings of the local artist Santiago Rusiñol, who is revered in Sitges. His house, now a museum, is a mansion on the sea. But even more fun was the Catalan cuisine. My favorite was the Calçots amb Romesco – Grilled Spring Onions with Romesco Sauce. You put a bib on, and take the grilled onions, peel them and dip them in the tomato/pepper/nut/garlic sauce. It is messy but delicious. I was always envious of the people who eat lobster with their bibs: this is a way for vegans to have a comparable experience. Vegan paella is always great too.

This is a beach town, but I haven’t seen the sun at all. I must come back in the summer sometime.

I arrived in Barcelona to a cool, breezy, rainy evening. The meeting – Impact of Environmental Changes on Infectious Diseases – begins tonight in Sitges. I will give a presentation about the manifold habitat effects on the prevalence and diversity of avian malaria.

But in the meantime, I get to explore Barcelona and Sitges, both super cool cities. It was rather peculiar for me to be in a big metropolitan city after Vilnius. First of all, I like that Lithuania now uses Euros. I didn’t have to change any money, and I brought a lot of Lithuanian Euro coins with me, to expose the Spanish to the coins of the newest Eurozone member. But on the other hand, it makes it very apparent how expensive things are in Western Europe compared to Lithuania. I had a connection in Brussels, and a bowl of tomato soup with some pommes frites cost 12 Euros. I have never had any meal that was that expensive in Vilnius. So now the disparity between the countries is much more obvious.

Barcelona is full of tourists, which is something that Vilnius and Stockholm lack, especially in mid-March. La Rambla is overrun by people from all over the world, and I didn’t bother to wait in the extremely long line to enter La Segrada Familia cathedral. The Picasso museum was full at opening hour. But the Museum of Contemporary Art was not: perhaps because there are not many paintings, but rather conceptual works based on the written word. It was interesting but very cerebral.  The architecture of the city is stunning, and in my mind, with the sea and city, it is one of the more beautiful cities I have visited.

There are lots of fruits and vegetables in Barcelona and I had my favorite kiwi juice at the market La Boqueria. Continuing with my vegan restaurant reviews: I had lunch at Veggie Garden, a small place run by some Nepalese near the modern art museum. All very tasty.

Sitges is a very easy 40 minutes by train from Barcelona. This is a seaside resort, full of restaurants and with famous beaches. Again, there were lots of tourists on the streets, and this is low season. Unfortunately it is too cold to lie on the beach. There are a lot of surfers out and it reminds me of a Mediterranean Santa Cruz.  My whirlwind sabbatical continues here; science with international flair.

March 11^th was the 25^th anniversary of independence for Lithuania. It was a big celebration of national pride. At 12:30, the parade began down the main street in Vilnius, Gedimino Prospektas. Actually, I was rather surprised how small it was. It was a bunch of people carrying flags of the European Union, and then a couple army bands. Then everyone watching the parade just joined in and marched to the Cathedral Square. There was a 200-meter long Lithuanian flag, and it was very participatory, with the public able to hold the flag as it was marched down the street. There were no police barricades or floats, and not much spectacle.

It was the national Independence Day, so I took the day off and was able to join a friend on a visit to the Trakai region. We found an ancient hill that was formerly a castle (a piliakalnis). There was a nice old Russian church nearby. There is plenty of archeological work still to do in this country. The nature of the region is lovely lakes, swamps, and forests. We heard some wild boars.

In the evening I watched the uberpatriotic concert/celebration. It was a chilly night, but there were hundreds of people listening to the famous singers of Lithuania. I noticed that it was mostly male singers, with deep bass voices. There were relatively few women singers; I don’t know why. There were many choruses of people encouraged to participate and shout Lie-Tu-Va, Lithuania. I especially liked the 3 heavy metal guys who were whipping their long hair around while singing a very patriotic Lithuanian song. There were appearances by Olympic gold medalists, TV personalities, and one of the leaders of the independence movement, Vytautas Landsbergis. Boys and Girls were on stage singing in chorus and waving their 3-colored flags. The flag is a huge deal here, as it is the main symbol of independence and freedom.

This is a short video I took with the song ‘Lietuvos Valstybė‘, the Lithuanian nation!  Sorry about the bad sound quality.

At the end, the fireworks display was set up right behind the stage, for maximum effect. I have never been that close to fireworks before, and it was nearly deafening, and the sparks were flying. It seems that lawsuits are not part of the culture.

It will probably be another 25 years before this country is truly a wealthy nation like it’s Nordic cousins, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, but the change has been rapid, and since I first visited in 1989, the year before independence, Lithuania has definitely become a proud modern European nation.

Here is a photo of the full moon over Gediminas castle in Vilnius. This is the beginning of my sixth month of sabbatical.

It is now the beginning of spring in Lithuania. On Thursday there was a snowstorm, with freezing temperatures, and today, Sunday, it is warm and sunny.

The streets of the old town at night are picturesque and probably hide a lot of ghosts of the city’s long history.

The days are longer and people are emerging from the hibernation. This is best seen by watching the masses of people at the annual Kaziuko Mugė, which is a huge street fair. People are selling their handicrafts from all over the country. The items that I have seen many times are delicious breads, honey, ceramics, verbos made of dried flowers, wooden bowls and spoons, baskets, handmade soaps, sausages, dried fish, knitted items, and the food stalls selling traditional Lithuanian cuisine. There are few factory made items, and little from outside of the country (with a noticeable exception of Latvian cheeses). The streets of the old town of Vilnius are absolutely jam-packed with walking halted to a stand still. I live on Didžioji, one of the main streets, and it has been hard to exit onto the street these last three days. People have come to participate from the whole country, from the villages and the other cities. It is a mass of Lithuanian humanity and culture with exhibitions of folk music and dances, plus street musicians and performers, all celebrating St. Casimir, and basically the near end of winter. Here are a bunch of photos from the weekend’s event.

I am completely impressed by the lack of alcohol, and the happy family atmosphere. I have been to many street-fairs in San Francisco, and I am sorry to say that there the events end up with trash everywhere dominated by beer and drinking, that leads to the inevitable violence. Despite the reputation of Lithuania being a heavy drinking nation, I haven’t seen any signs of drunkenness or violence. It is remarkably organized and wholesome. I am enjoying the refreshing artistic spirit, with no signs of hi-tech or hipsters. I of course have bought some things, a nice sweater, my favorite black bread, a wooden cutting board, and a very nice ceramic mug.

I found a new vegan store in Vilnius, Veggo. They sell imported vegan cheeses and fake meats. I hope that eventually they will make their own stuff. But basically, it is clear that there are some alternative types living here who value animal-free foods. However, the vast majority of Lithuanians love their sausages, bacons and smoked fishes.

I feel a little uncomfortable taking photos of the Lithuanian fashions, but it is certainly different than Stockholm or San Francisco. Here women still have somewhat different haircuts and hair colors, and it is rare to see a hipster beard on a man. It is only a one hour flight to Vilnius from Stockholm or Copenhagen, but still far more Swedes have been to Thailand or the USA than Lithuania. I know for a fact that any tourist would enjoy the show of people here during the Kaziuko mugė.

I recently read an article that named Lithuania the 3^rd most miserable country, after number 1- Syria, and number 2- Chad. Both Syria and Chad are war-torn, and there are plenty of other war-torn countries that are certainly more miserable than Lithuania. Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Somalia and South Sudan certainly come to mind. Anyway, based on my experience, Lithuania is certainly not a miserable country. There are definitely hardships, and the weather is pretty chilly and grey, but overall there is a hugely active cultural scene, with many artists. People are in restaurants and bars, and long-standing traditions are always visible. Everyone is so proud of the Lithuanian language and there is optimism about the new currency, the Euro. People are certainly concerned about the developments in Russia. But it is hard to find a person that really believes that Vilnius will be invaded any time soon. After all, Lithuania is part of NATO. Russia won’t invade.

But there are hardships. The pension is a maximum of 300 Euros/month. This is barely enough to pay the rent plus the heat. Older people have to grow their own food, or rely on their relatives in order to survive. The big supermarkets and shopping centers have everything that is available in Western Europe, but the average working people don’t have the money to buy these things. The infrastructure could be improved. After many years of quick renovations and developments, it looks like things have slowed down somewhat. Many of the roads and buildings need work. The bureaucracy is complex, and things move slowly.

Also, I notice that “customer service” is not an established tradition in Lithuania.  In the Soviet times, the stores didn’t have much, and people behind the counters sat idly.  I wonder if that has carried over into modern times.  As an example, I went to Nordea bank to deposit some money, and although no other customers were there, I had to wait 10 minutes before someone would help me.  The people working there were just looking at their computers.  Then I asked if I could change my 100 Euro bill to smaller bills, but I found that it was not possible in this bank and they couldn’t help me.

I tried to vote today, but I was not properly registered, so although I am a Lithuanian and eligible, because of the bureaucracy and complex internet forms, I did not help choose the next mayor of Vilnius. I did see the process. It seems easier to vote in Sweden, but more complex in the USA, especially California with all the propositions.

There are many concerts, performances and museum exhibitions. Today I saw an exhibition of the artist Jonas Rimša. He was born here, but lived many years in South America and Tahiti. Here are some of his works.

The spring has come early, and there is no more chance of snow or skiing. I am back into the routine of working at the Nature Research Centre, and seeing friends, with the Academic sauna every Friday.

I saw the film “Palo Alto” last night. I must say that I rarely see films, so I am certainly not a film critic. I grew up in Palo Alto, and went to high school there. I figured I would see the film and see Hollywood’s interpretation of my hometown. What a disappointment. The film is basically about confused teenagers partying, drinking, smoking, and having sex. I have no idea why it was called Palo Alto, because there was absolutely no reference to the city. All I know is that James Franco grew up in Palo Alto. He wrote the book and is in the film. The scene when the boys cut down the tree is real though. I remember that some kids cut down a beautiful oak tree at Gunn High school while I was a student there.   This movie version of life in Palo Alto is far from reality. My perception is that the teenagers there are all under a lot of pressure to get into good colleges, and their parents are ambitious people who want the absolute best for their children. If you are from Palo Alto, there is no need to see this film.

Yesterday I visited Millesgården, one of my favorite spots in Stockholm. It is an outdoor museum and former home of Carl Milles. The sculptures have a sense of lightness to them, as if they are about to fly away. There was an opening of an exhibit by a contemporary artist, Cajsa von Zeipel, who draws inspiration from Carl Milles, but dresses her figures in high heels and gothic clothes.

Sometimes I wish that I would drink coffee. There are so many trendy cafes now in Stockholm. Some have art galleries. One is a café that is also a bike shop. In the city, the cafes are full of people, with good haircuts and nice clothes, enjoying the company of their friends. And this is still winter: when the spring comes, it will be what a Swede might call a cafehuggsexa, a café free-for-all.

No problem. It is easier than ever to be vegan in Stockholm. There are so many new restaurants, and shops catering to vegans. Wherever I travel, people ask me, isn’t it hard to be a vegan. I always find the same answer. No, it isn’t hard, it is actually fun and interesting to find the vegan restaurants and stores and talk to the local vegans. I have been traveling a lot through the world since adopting a vegan diet more than a decade ago. Now it seems that there are millions of people that have recognized that we don’t have to eat and use animal products.

Tuesday was Fettisdagen (Fat Tuesday) here in Stockholm. That is the day when people eat semlor. It is a longstanding tradition, and one of the Swedish kings died from eating too many of them. A semla is a cardamom-flavored bun filled with marzipan and a lot of whipped cream. Luckily I found a place that makes vegan semlor. It is a new vegan café, Femtopia, across the street from the vegan foodstore, Goodstore on Hornsgatan on Södermalm. Here is a photo of the vegan semlor.

Goodstore has all kinds of great vegan stuff. I like the oat milk by Oatly which is a swedish invention.

I have been on a search for the best falafel in town. I have tried several places over the years, but I have decided that my favorite is Falafelbaren, near Mariatorget. They are more expensive than the rest, but the falafel are crunchier on the outside and soft inside. Also, it is a meat-free establishment. The quality seems better than the other places, although still not as good as what I have had in Paris (or Israel or Jordan of course).

I am still not super impressed with Chinese vegan food here. Lao Wai is an established vegan chinese restaurant on Luntmakargatan. It is fine, and the lunch special is affordable at 100 SEK, but really nothing compared to the vegan Chinese places in San Francisco or elsewhere. I would even prefer Loving Hut.  Martins Gröna is a nice vegetarian-vegan lunch spot on Regeringsgatan. I have also eaten at Hermitage in Gamla Stan several times. Both are perfectly good. Anyway, there are many options, and Happy Cow lists them all.

Here are some other photos of Stockholm. One is the lake Trekanten, where the snow has been cleared for people to go ice-skating. The weather has become warmer the days will soon be long.

There are a lot of wonderful things about life in Stockholm. Most amazing to me is the public transit. You can get almost anywhere in Sweden with public transportation. Buses, trains and boats are all efficient and somehow there is a lot of logic to the timing. It is also great to see the university every day, and know that it is free for the students. The library is world class and the students don’t end up having to pay back loans the rest of their lives. Now there is a lot of diversity, with people here from all over the world. The nature is beautiful, and well protected. I can go on and on about the advantages of not worrying about health care, or about having a place to live when you get old.  I love how parents get time for their children, and in the parks, there are sleds for the kids to use, for free.

But there are some things that could be better. First, I am surprised how difficult it is to recycle here. In San Francisco, we just put all the glass, plastic, paper and other recyclables in the blue container, and it gets picked up, and sorted. Then I am pretty sure it goes to China. Here we have to take the recycling to the public depositories. They are often in parks or else dispersed in neighborhoods. But it is always a walk. That extra effort makes it harder to recycle. There is not compost either. If I were the mayor of Stockholm, I would introduce compost and recycling.

You can’t take bicycles on buses or subways here. This is really different than San Francisco, where bikes can easily go on buses and BART. Copenhagen has bikes on trains. I am sure that at some point, it will become more bike friendly here.

Over the last few years, the homeless population has increased rapidly. There are people from Romania begging at every subway station. They aren’t only in Stockholm, but everywhere throughout the country. This is a new phenomenon and Swedes are discussing it a lot. They don’t know whether they should give money to the freezing Romanians. I heard that the Romanians come here on cheap buses, after hearing that they will get a lot of money from the generous Swedes, but now there are simply too many. They also heard that after three months, they get a free bus ride home.

Everyone knows that the weather is pretty bad here, but I heard that Boston is worse, especially this year. But it is slippery out on the sidewalks, and you often see women with broken arms. My mom slipped on the ice a couple years ago and broke her wrist.

I retired my hiking boots. Somehow the cold here has made them crack, and the soles fell off. They have been with me since 1997, when I finished graduate school, and started on new adventures. They have been to 5 continents, from the jungles of Africa and Peru, to the highlands of Alaska, and the crowded cities of India. I bought some new ones, and expect they will have similar journeys.

I usually try to take a photo of the full moon every month, but yesterday it was too overcast to see it in Stockholm. No wonder they call it the “snow moon”. Maybe I will have better luck next month. Here is a photo of the statue of Carl von Linné. He is the Swede who implemented the binomial latin nomenclature system for species. We are Homo sapiens because of him.   I am including a few photos of Stockholm at night, where the full moon was supposed to be.

I think that a lot of musicians have gone through what I am experiencing now. I first learned the Schubert’s last piano sonata D. 960 when I was about 20 years old. At that time, I didn’t care for it much, and thought it was long and repetitive. Now, at this more advanced age, it makes so much more sense, and I find the depths and subtleties of the work very beautiful. Another reason I didn’t like the piece was because it is in B-flat major. When I was young, I didn’t like B-flat major. It was my least favorite key, which was a problem for me because so many bassoon pieces are in that key. Now I understand that as we age, something about the hairs in our ears changes, and our perception of keys changes. Basically our ears begin to run sharp. Here is a link to the absolute pitch study conducted at UCSF. So now, B-flat major sounds more like B major to me. I never had a problem with B major. I wonder if anyone else has experienced something like this. I am also enjoying playing Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien, another piece in B-flat major. I didn’t like this piece when I was young either. I fear that in this modern technological age, young people will be reluctant to learn to play piano and other instruments. There are so many distractions now, but learning music is like learning a second language, and I think it makes learning languages easier. I know that playing music in front of audiences made it much easier for me to be a public speaker because it is much much harder to perform a piece by memory on stage than to give a lecture.

I am impressed with the library system in Stockholm. I have been working, writing and reading, at the Stockholm University Frescati library among the very quiet and serious students. Outside the window I see the university fields covered with snow. The facilities are excellent, with free high-speed wireless, and good clean lighting. I am thinking to get some cross-country skis to add to my collection of things that I use for a little while and then forget about (like my roller blades and long distance ice skates).