Andrioniškis:
/aa n d r ö n e sh ke z/

Narrow gauge railway

It  is a small village in Lithuania near the town of Anykščiai: /aa n ee k sh ch a/, it’s nice of me, to help you out like this, isn’t it? Anyways, Andrioniškis is tiny. It  has only 278 people living in it permanently and there’s only one street. There’s one church, one bar, one playground for children and two small grocery stores.  But let me tell you –  THE PLACE’s pretty damn special. “Why?” – you’d ask. Because it is my Childhood, my Summer Sun and my Family. It is one of those places,  which has got some    m a g i c.  Pretty a lot of it indeed.

My childhood’s mansion

Well, Everything kinda counts there: the old house of my granddad, the family gathering around the table for lunch (and breakfast… and supper… and dinner… and…), people saying ‘hello’ even though they don’t know each other (yes, in Lithuania it is quite unusual), smell and sound of old wood, taste of home grown tomatoes, radio at 6 o’clock so loud that you cannot sleep anymore (my granddad doesn’t hear well…), old Russian sauna – the only place to bathe, wild berries and mushrooms… Sweet little kitties <<heavy breathing>>. And many other things which are oh so special to me.

I really  like going for long walks in the forest. I then sing out loud and nobody hears me, ’cause nobody’s there! (But if someone does hear me, I get panicked and  run away like a child… yeah, that happened once. I wonder what the guy thought of  me.) There I sense freedom and calmness like nowhere else, nobody and nothing could harm me, insult me or make me sad…. But, I guess I should stop talking about myself! Why anyone else should like this place? Mhmm?

Please do notice that the other one has a mustache!

Well, first of all, I’m not going to brag about me and my family but we’re pretty damn cool and in addition to that we’re extremely hospitable! I’m not kidding, we love guests at our house. Anyone who ever had been one, would assure  you that it’s true. [Isn’t it right? [Anyone?!]]

The next thing is that there’re loads of stuff to do. I’ve been visiting it for  22 years now, but I still haven’t tried everything.

Hippodromes and horse riding. Ethnographical  village Niūronys. Small resort town Anykščiai… The horse  museum.  Small ski hill. A labyrinth in the corn field. A path on the top of pine trees. narrow gauge railway. Canoeing, boating, fishing and many other activities. Famous rock called Puntukas. And etc… etc… etc.

all about that magic

But me [personally] could offer you the nicest experience there! It would include stoking furnace, bathing in a sauna, swimming in the “saint” river, totally ecologic food (’cause it is grown at home) and drinking vodka (!) …with my granddad (this activity has already impressed quite a few  guests of ours 😀 )… Sleeping on a dry hay (only if you insist) and grilling mushrooms you’ve picked in the forest. Breathing pure air and having the best sleep in the world… Enjoying the sounds of silence and calmness… Rejoicing  time, because nobody’s in a rush…

So, don’t you wanna come? 😉

Well,

I do.