In Nida II - Bigger, Blacker, and Something-something

I'm going, going. Back. Back. To Nida, Nida.

My Plans are Made for Me

I don't usually get too involved in planning a trip, event, or my life in general, and this time was no different. Gaile and her friend Laura informed me and Linas that we were going to Nida for the weekend...2 weeks in advance, exactly long enough for me to forget completely about it and attempt to go with Vytas to Poland with his band. Fortunately Gaile is very good and keeping everyone in line and Vytas was informed that I had already "made" plans for this weekend.

It was only because of my failed attempt to double-book my weekend that I was reminded of the trip, and therefore packed a bag in advance, unlike the previous trip where all the packing was done in a semi-drunk blur.

We were picked up by Laura, who had the company car...and gas card, in a parking lot near our office...Linas and I brought our bags to work with us so we could leave as soon as the day was over. We all crammed into the almost roomy-enough toyota; Mer, Linas, Gaile, Laura, and her cousin, who lived in Nida and was coming with but just for the ride up.

Road trip games are even more fun when they are in a language you don't speak

About halfway there we all ran out of small talk and I ran out of questions about language and history, so...we did what all people do on medium to long car trips, we looked for inane games to pass the time. What we began to play resembled "20 questions" where one person thinks of a person, place, or thing, and the others try and guess it in 20  yes-or-no questions. However, in this version, there was no limit to the number of questions, the "yes-or-no" rule was really a loose guideline, and the word you could think of was any word (existential concept or anything)...in any language. Needless to say it was sufficiently engaging for the trip.

Awkward sleeping arrangements

Our place in Nida was a piece of a house that had been
segmented into several apartments. Ours included,
what had been, an outside patio but had been walled in
and now housed the couch and kitchen. Rad. 

We arrive in Nida just before sunset, drop off Laura's cousin at the hotel she "lives" in, and spend some time searching the complex of cottages and apartments that is Nida, for the place we are staying. After negotiation the cost (I believe that haggling is another Lithuanian national sport, just like basketball) we unload the car and survey the two beds in one room, and a pull out couch in another, arrangement. No one wants to be the first to say it, but someone is either getting the shaft here, or getting to know one of the others very well.

Gaile and Laura took the big bed, Linas set up camp by the couch and gave me the cot/bed for which I was very grateful but also felt vaguely guilty. A reasonable solution which, for some reason, completely failed to alleviate any of the tension obviously surrounding this (I was beginning to think my man Linas, although fantastic at knowing and picking up ladies, was a habitual NBC). Gaile cut the tension by turning on the TV, finding VH1, and cranking up the Beyonce. At which point she plopped on the bed and proclaimed that she was just going to watch trashy tv the entire time we were there.

How much can you drink when you don't have to pay for it right now?

Faxe. At the bar. 

We peel Gaile off the bed and we all walk over to our favorite bar in Nida, Faxe. As we get closer I can hear the sounds of live music, which is always easily distinguished from recorded music by the shitty-ness of the execution, coming from the bar.

Inside is a 4 piece bad, playing, what sounds like, early 90's alternative jams. But the bar is not crowded, and I sidle up the bar to order some whiskey. However, when I try and pay for my drink Laura stops me, we are all drinking on her cousin's tab tonight and we will settle up before we leave town...a dangerous situation.

1, 2, 3, Booze! We drink, we talk, and we listen to some unoffensive music—which is being performed by a group Gaile and Laura claim was big when they were teenagers, and they both say they had a crush on the singer. After five or six double whiskeys, Me and Linas are talked into switching to Trejos devynerios ("999") and apple juice, a delicious drink that the girls have been consuming like water all night. We leave without paying, as promised, and stumble back to the apartment, we don't know how much we have drank (it was a lot) or how much it cost, but we (and you) will find out soon enough.

I swam in the Baltic!

In Vino, in Nida

The next day was all about the beach, but first, we headed over to In Vino, in Nida, for some legendary breakfast...we were all a little worse for wear from the night before and the sun and slow service made us even grumpier. All was bright and cheery after we ate though...like magic.

Then it was off to the beach, with a quick stop for ice-cream on the way, and several moments spent admiring the in-depth series of pictograms and signs that get more and more intense as you get closer and closer to the water.

signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

There were signs for weather, features, gender, clothing options (all or none), bathrooms, lifegaurds, and many that i couldn't even begin to understand...but they were all entertaining. The various methods of representing gender (as you can vaguely see in the photo to the right) as best as possible on androgynous silhouettes that are only distinguished in form by the length of their arms, all fail when you remove the clothing from the icon.

We got to the beach early in the afternoon, walking past all the families and aging rich people, and claiming our own stretch of pale, sandy, beach. The last time i was here i did not get in the water since it was still very cold, this time i was going to swim, but the trauma of feeling how cold the water was last time was still weighing heavily on my mind. So i watched while old men and naked screaming babies easily swam out into the baltic and told myself "if they can do it so can i".

It was cold, but not too cold, and once i was in it was very nice. The strangest thing was how shallow the water stayed for as far as i could walk. It was no more that knee height for at least 60 yards, and after that never quite hip heigh, there were people standing in the baltic so far out that they were just dots to my eyes. It's not a sand bar, and it's not some isolated feature, the shores on this side of the baltic just take a really long time to submerge beneath the water. The slope is very slight and the land just continues, at an almost flat trajectory, under the water.

...and then it rained

The rain came and went several times that day, and we, along with all the other beach goers, would seek occasional refuge at our favorite beach-side bar (the one that Linas and I drank mimosas at). It was a good excuse to drink a little each time.

The sun came back, and we continued to wander the beach, sometimes sunbathing, other times just swimming. Eventually Linas and I began to collect the flat, round stones from the area and skip them out over the water. I hadn't done this since I was small, and it was awkward at first, until it came back to me. Then, as all men/boys will do, we started to see just how far we could throw a rock and if we could hit one of the bowies far out in the distance...we came close. I knew I was too old for this kind of behavior when my arm started to hurt from throwing...that isn't supposed to happen.

Aš visada noru valgyti + Over-eating is my speciality

After a long day of being a jack-ass at the beach, i was hungry. The one lithuanian phrase i have used more than any other is "Aš visada noru valgyti", roughly it means "I can always eat"...which i can.

We went to the second of the two restaurants in town and i ordered food intended for three people. I ate it, and some of the food the girls did not finish. It was an unwise decision, but i couldn't help myself, it was delicious.

That night we all got alcohol at the grocery store, along with snacks, and watched the movies i had downloaded onto my Xoom...it worked perfectly and would have been ideal for one or two people, four was a stretch.

Leaving town

We almost forgot to pay our bar tab on the way out of town, but we remembered just in time and Laura ran into Faxe to pay up.

How much can we drink? Over 300 litas worth, and the drinks were only 5-10 each.

Misheard song lyrics

The ride back contained fewer games, but the same number of people as Laura's cousin was also getting a ride this direction. The lack of road games made space for the music ont he radio, and it was fantastic to hear the various english words Laura's cousin believed were in some of the songs (mostly hair metal hits form the 80's...good stuff).

Cookies-cockies

We stopped for a coffee and cake snack, where i was introduced to the concept of "cookies-cockies" it is a brand of sugar cookies with a rooster on the wrapper, great for making delicious Lithuanian coffee cakes, and for making Americans choke on their latte when they hear it.

The Dark Side of the Longest Day + more better punk rock

The longest day, and consequently the shortest night, are cause for celebration. I ate, I drank, I made merry, and I saw some excellent music. In honor of the good time I had (all hail me and my awesomeness) I will now recount the best-of-the-best of Vilnius punk rock and the concerts I got to see during the few days of never-ending sunlight and parties.

Vytas (not Vytis)

Gaile has a friend, and he has a band. His name is Vytas. Say hi to Vytas.

Vytas in Mekas Duo

Mekas Duo...there are two of them

Vytas was introduced to me several times and has really been a great guide to the local music here. He showed me the most amazing underground website that has been up since the inception of the punk, metal, avant-garde scene here. (hardcore.lt) It is a really good source for information and music from the best of Vilnius, as well as being a central point of unification for the scene.

Vytas Live in Concert

Vytas' band's name is Mekas Duo, they are awesome. Say hi to Mekas Duo.

SC

SC is comprised of: 2 singers (1 female, and 1 male), 1 bass player with an amazing dreadlock mullet, and 1 incongruous drummer. They are also awesome.

Say Hello to SC.

The first time I saw SC they were playing at 11-20  when we arrived for the first time, I only caught the end of the show so I had no idea how good they really were. They have been around in the Vilnius punk scene for a very long time (according to our guide Vytas) and I would have to describe their sound as a Halloween-carnival ride with perfect dissonance in the vocals, and absolutely no resemblance to any other band I know (so I'm not going to say shit like "they sound like Fleetwood Mac dry-humping a distortion pedal while Jim Morrison masturbates in the corner...even though that would be awesome).

Nomeansno

Nomeansno is an old-school punk band from Canada (and when I say old-school, i mean they are all really old now and should be using walkers to get onto stage). SC opened for them at a very cool warehouse-converted-venue in Vilnius. If you don't know, now you know...

Also...Linas, Gaile, and I were caught on camera and showed up on the facebook photos for the concert. Not a terribly interesting story, we were just hanging out on the back patio in-between sets, but doesn't Gaile look like she's having fun?

The Wingman + Discovering Punk in Vilnius

We arrived back in the city for the end of street music day/the beginning of street music night. The official end is supposed to be around 10 pm. but you could tell the crowds and the musicians had no  intention of stopping.

Wandering

We wandered the street for a while, finding DJs cranking dance music inside ancient walled gardens, and people spilling into the streets from every conceivable corner. Fire dancers entertaining for change on the roads punctuated the deepening night with bright light and heat.  

SMC Again

We find ourselves back at the SMC, I need some whiskey.

The Girl

"Can you order the drinks? I need to talk to this girl." As statements of romantic intent go, this didn't even come close. I just nodded my head yes—since I couldn't really think of anything helpful to say.  It is much harder to execute one's duties as a wing-man if you don't speak the language. Linas left me at the bar to get the drinks, I appreciated this confidence in my new-found language skills—however misplaced, and made his way outside.

The Discovery of a Secret Punk Rocker

I meet them outside with the drinks. They are deep in conversation, and i don't understand any of it. I keep my distance, trying to be a good wing-man (I guess, I mean at this point I don't know enough to even be sure that is what role I am playing here). I wander off a distance, to give them some space, and find some people speaking English that i can talk to. They are not that interesting. Boo-hoo for me.

Linas waves me over. "Stand like you're [in our group]". I allow myself to join them, but remain certain that this is a violation of bro-code. They start talking in English for my sake. I am introduced to Gaile. Hi Gaile! I bring up music since it is still going on all around us, asking everyone what their favorite music is—and what bands they are into...blah, blah, blah. The same questions we all ask when we don't know the people and have nothing good to say anyway.

She knows punk..a lot of punk.

We disintegrate into quizzing each other about punk bands. "Do you know Bad Brains?" "Hell yes!". I know a lot of current bands from American that she does not, she knows a lot of bands from everywhere else that I do not. We have common ground on the classics.

11/20

"Where can i see local punk shows" I ask her. She tells us about an underground venue, no advertising, no listing, that has one every weekend and sometimes during the week.

It is called 11/20, because someone, somewhere, said that was the day punk music died. I don't know what year, I don't know who said it, and I don't care.

Lies about the Toasters

"The toasters will be there on Wednesday!" Gaile says "The fucking Toasters!" I exclaim, then break into a horrible rendition of Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down. I extract a promise from everyone that we will go. They agree.

The next day Linas tells me, the toasters are not coming.

Bullshit Gaile. Bullshit.