Lithuania! and Spring Break!

Hello,
It feels like I just came back from Lithuania and already Spring Break has started. Today I returned from Brussels, Belgium; a trip I took with two friends from school. My favorite trip of course was Lithuania. I can't think of a time I didn't wonder about Lithuania and my heritage. Lithuania seemed to me to be the least tangible part of my background. My Lithuanian grandfather had lost all contact with his relatives and knew only of a dead brother. Before the second World War my great-grandmother (Bubsha) came to The United States and kept in touch with her brother, Stasys Trakimas. During the war, Stasys told her not to write him and she obliged. His dying wish was to find out what happened to his sister in America. Stasys' family hired an investigator to locate their long-lost relatives. The investigator contacted my uncle Stanely Usovicz, named after Stasys coincidentally, and informed him of his relations. This was a great shock to my uncle, and to the rest of the family, because we thought all of our Lithuanian relatives to be deceased. A family tree was drafted which demonstrated the various relations to extended family members. Thanks to Facebook, I am now friends with most of my "cousins".
When I landed in Lithuania I was nervous I wouldn't recognize my cousin Ausra (and vice versa) but we spotted each other immediately and embraced. We left Vilnius airport for Kaunas, the city Ausra lives in, which was about an hour away. While in Lithuania I saw the two big cities (Kaunas and Vilnius) and Trakai, where Trakai Castle resides. I took plenty of photos, mainly for my father, who is in constant contact with my Lithuanian relatives. Having a British mother I always felt I was missing something by growing up in The United States; that there was part of me waiting in England. I used to imagine what growing up in England would have been like and how different my life might be. My Dad talks with pride about his Lithuanian heritage and speaks fondly of his grandmother, Bubsha. Growing up, I am sure he felt the same disenfranchisement. He tried to get his father to teach him to speak Lithuanian, to which my grandfather replied, "Who the hell would you talk to?" If my grandfather only knew how many Lithuanians my father would talk to.
Here are a few photos to summarize my experiences:

Rasa and I with an old fashioned phone booth

Easter eggs designed according to pagan ritual

Trakai Castle

Family

Above Vilnius city

Have a great day and Happy Easter!