From Vilnius to Warsaw to Stockholm to Riga and back again

Ugnius asked me "did you want to travel while you are here?"...once again my answer is "hell yes!" It's like everything Ugnius touches turns into an amazing adventure.

The beginning of this trip is a two-day meeting in Warsaw with the other Bonnier brands in our region: one in Warsaw (Pols Bisnesu), one in Slovenia (an investor blog), and us. We are all pooling resources to purchase a CMS and CRM and basic magic bullet of a software and server system to replace anything we are using for print, web, marketing and advertising, as well as scheduling and record keeping. I remain skeptical that such a system exists in this set of dimensions.

The plans are made. I will accompany Rolandas and Arunas to Warsaw to sit in on, and possibly contribute to, the meetings and discussions about the CMS/CRM system being pitched by Atex. There I will meet Maria Urso, another GROW participant with Puls Biznesu, a similar business daily newspaper to Verslo žinios in Poland. After that I will fly to Stockholm where I will visit the parent company office (Bonnier AB) and meet Kathleen Goodin, a GROW participant working there on the GRID event. I will spend about 48 hours in Stockholm and leave there by "ferry" to the city of Riga in Latvia...the boat trip will take over-night and go through some Swedish and Finnish islands. Once in Riga I will check out the city for a few hours before boarding a bus back to Vilnius.

And the adventure begins...in the next post.

The Heli Ride + Ugnius

*Editors Note, this is a shortened post because blogger decided that it didn't need to save a lot of my work

Ugnius Jankauskas, Managing Director of Verslo žin

Uginus "Want to go on a helicopter tour of the city?"

Me "Hell yes I do!"

Uginus is the  big man on campus here, and an amazing guy. He took me with him on a press junket for the KG Group, a grain processor in Lithuania...one of the biggest. Owned by the wealthiest man in Lithuania.

The setting for this trip was a restaurant just outside of the city (if the lowly term restaurant can be applied to a perfect imitation of a 15th century country manor and its grounds), Vandens Malunas.

The helicopter's arrival also signals the arrival of our host. He is a large, light-haired man, who's casual bad taste in clothing, and tendency towards a certain girth, is the kind of thing only the truly wealthy can manage.

 We board the helicopter with another group of journalists, four in all, and the pilot. And we are off on an aerial tour of the ancient city of Vilnius. 

The heli ride is amazing, and we return to a spread of delectables and more entertainment.

Our post-heli ride entertainment turns out to be some ballet mixed with ballroom dancing and a little drama...enjoy.

After the entertainment was over, we made our way to the door...ready to leave. Uginus made the rounds, saying goodbyes and thank-you's, and i wandered aimlessly behind him...full of good food and good wine.

Just before leaving i was surprised to find myself being handed a gift bag and a large, oddly-shaped, box. I thank them for the gifts and Uginus and i walk out to the parking lot.

I begin to examine the contents of my gift bag and the accompanying box. With a lot fo help from Uginus I learn what i have received.

Ruginė - Lithuanian vodka

In the bag was a bottle of Ruginė, a variation on vodka that is uniquely Lithuanian.

Šakotis - cake

In the box was the strangest confection i had ever seen. Uginus explained that is was the national cake of Lithuanaia, the Šakotis. It is made by a slowly spinning cake wheel (read potters wheel) and very patient cake-maker dripping a little batter at a time as the funnel cake-on-steroids takes form. 


Skanus!