Dienos patiekalas (Dish of the Day)

Ah, the food. First of all, every day we have breakfast provided for us and every day it is pastries. The pastries have been different but they are always pastries. Some of them have had cheese, some fruit filling, but all this week they had cheese, corn, peppers and ham. One of the girls from UNC, Carly, is gluten intolerant so she cannot have the pastries but every day she would ask how they were. I didn’t realize that every day I would answer the same: interesting. Not that they are bad but one thing I miss is my breakfasts: oatmeal, eggs, waffles.

We are also provided lunch every day. We go to the same restaurant every day for a week and get the daily special. (Side note for potential travelers: Lithuanian restaurants will have a daily lunch special that is less expensive than the regular menu. The thing is, the sign is only in Lithuanian so tourists will buy off the main menu but locals will buy the daily special and spend less money.) Most of the time what we eat consists of four things: meat, sauce, potatoes, and a cabbage salad (with cucumbers). One of my favorites was a pork chop with a bright green sauce. I am not sure what it was but someone said it may have been spinach sauce. Today we got a dish that was very different than what we have gotten before. I am fairly certain that it is what they call Chicken Kiev. It reminded me of Chicken Cordon Bleu but not quite as tasty because in the center it just has oil rather than cheese. Also, instead of the cabbage salad it was some sort of beet root salad. Lastly, we had French fries instead of mashed potatoes! They were actually very good!

A couple nights ago we went out to dinner with some first year Lithuanian ISM students. They took us to a restaurant called Forto Dvaras that serves traditional Lithuanian food. First we had a mushroom soup that is served in a rye bread bowl. Then I ordered a dish that was some sort of potato casserole with chicken wings baked inside. The soup was really good but the main dish left something to be desired.

Out of all the food that we have eaten my favorite has actually been in Estonia. We went to a place that was very hidden, you had to walk past the restaurant, through a gate, then back through a garden. The service at this restaurant was the best that I have had in Europe. The menu was small but what we ordered was grilled chicken over a salad with potatoes and a creamy dressing. The salad didn't seem like it was going to be much but it turned out to be absolutely delicious. Also, they brought us a platter of bread with butter that was amazing. To make it all even better, the waitress brought us still water, a bottle to refill our glasses, and even a glass of ice!

We have also started doing some family style dinners with the Portuguese students that are staying in our hostel. Last night they cooked for us and it was really good. It was some sort of meat with sauce over rice. They told us after that it was not really a recipe they just threw it all together. Either way it was good. My only complaint is that the Portuguese eat really late. They had dinner ready to go at 10:30 p.m. whereas normally we are ready for dinner at 7 p.m. Tonight we are having American food and we decided that we were going to make tacos! I am fairly certain that no one other than the Americans had ever had a taco so we have had to explain what tacos and tortillas are to everyone. To finish it off next week we will have Ukrainian night. I hope I have made everyone sufficiently hungry. Bon Appetit!