Lithuania doesn't appear on many people's travel lists, I am grateful it made it onto mine. I can say the same about Trakai National Park.

Lithuania's Kryzių Kalnas, or the Hill of Crosses is many things. Situated 8 miles north of the city of Siauliai, it has become an international site of pilgrimage. It is beautiful, eerie, spiritual, and perhaps most of all, it is powerfully evocative. A place of awareness and reflection, it memorializes and demonstrates the Lithuanian national identity, their spirit and perseverance, their faith, hope, and freedom. As one approaches the small hill down a lengthy walkway, the