This gallery contains 15 photos.
From the hotel it was to the port, where we had chartered a boat for a trip out to the lagoon to catch views of the great dune (Sklandytojų kopa). In contrast to the Parnidis Dune, the great one is … Continue reading
This gallery contains 16 photos.
Today we had a full free day – and I decided, to make it an active one. I had an early start in the morning, getting ready to do a hike around the Parnidis Dune. I first made my way … Continue reading
We made it to Nida – a (if not the) resort town at the Curonian Lagoon – in the early evening. After dinner there was enough time for some first exploration of town and a walk into the Curonian Spit National Park and up to the viewpoint on the Parnidis Dune.
Today was mostly a driving day. We left Vilnius in the morning for a drive of 300km to the port city of Klaipėda. During a guided tour we got to see the main attractions of town – starting with the Meridianas (a renovated sailing ship, now serving as a restaurant), then into town for the wood-framed buildings, an odd collection of sculptures and installations and – of course – an option to get stocked up with some amber.
After about two hours we were back on the bus, making it to the ferry terminal, for the short hop over to the Curonian Spit, where another drive of about an hour was waiting for us.
This gallery contains 20 photos.
Today was dedicated to Vilnius with a full day of exploration of town and its many, many churches. We kicked it of at the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, a catholic church in Baroque style. From here we … Continue reading
Today we were heading towards Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital – but not without a few further stops on the stops.
A drive of about two hours (160km) got us to our first stop at Kernavė. This small town used to be the country’s capital under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania back in medieval times. We had a quick look at the church, to then make our way into the park behind the church with views towards the Neris river and the mounds, under which the old part of town is buried.
After a coffee/ tea/ cough syrup stop it was back on the bus for another one hour drive to Trakai and its island castle.
As we got of the bus in Trakai – ready for our walk into town and towards the castle – a thunderstorm was coming in. Rain hit us, while we were crossing the bridge to the castle – and it seems lightning had stricken somewhere around, as suddenly the power was gone … and did not come back for about two hours.
Work on this castle was started in the 14th century with most works completed in 1409 – obviously this did not involve an electrician, so it was actually a great experience, to have the guided tour without electric light, giving us the opportunity, to fully appreciate this true medieval atmosphere.
After the castle visit we made it to a restaurant, where – per the original plan – we were to learn, how to make kibinai – traditional Karaite (ethnic minority in Lithuania) savory pastries – to then go in and prepare our own lunch. Given the power outage though, this did not work out … and we were only served an already prepared light lunch.
After a quick souvenir hunt, we went for the last trip of the day – a drive of 45 minutes to Vilnius.
A drive of 100km got us from the Hill of Crosses to the town of Biržų and the Rinkuškiai brewery. Here we first had a guided tour through the brewery – all the way from mashing to bottling – with a quick introduction of the brewing process on the way. After the tour – of course – there had to be a tasting of the signature beers of the brewery. The tasting covered five beers, including a triple-bock with an alcohol content of 15%. The winner to me was a black ale with just about 4% alcohol and nice strong bitterness.
It took us an hour from the brewery to get to the next and final stop of the day – Pakruojis Manor, our stay for the night – with both the manor house itself, as well as the miller’s house being converted into boutique hotels with a historic setup (the first and last photo below are showing my room).
After a tour of the manor house by the baron himself, it was time for dinner in a nearby restaurant (also part of the manor complex). To get there we had to cross the park full of installations somehow related to a Midsummer night’s dream … I’d describe them anywhere between weird, odd and disturbing – to me clearly the historic surrounds and buildings actually were more interesting and made more sense.
During a further drive of about an hour we crossed the border once more – we had now arrived in Lithuania (no alcohol-related stop this time). We made it straight for Jurgaičiai and the Hill of Crosses.
We spent about an hour at this place of Christian pilgrimage and symbol of peace, featuring more than 100K crosses – including a quick stop at the information center, on for a walk across the hill to the church and monastery on the other side.
We had another long day ahead of us. We left Riga in the morning for a drive of about an hour, to make our way to Rundāle for its palace, the palace museum and a quick view of the fabulous palace gardens.
The palace goes back to the 18th century and today tells from its diverse history – from palace to accommodation for military veterans to school and ultimately to today’s museum showcasing the palace in its original style.
In the late afternoon (after we had made our way back from the market and after a short break at the hotel) I decided, to leave the old part of town behind and cross the Daugava River to the South Side of town, to get a view of the non-touristy part of town. I made way across Stone Bridge, heading towards the National Library of Latvia and on towards the Monument to Soviet soldiers – liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from German fascist invaders (its real name – built in 1985 – clearly lacking the reference to the great patriotic war; currently off limits). I made my way back through Victory Park and across Vanšu Bridge – and got back into old town in good time for a simple Asian-inspired dinner.
Post-dinner drinks though had to be special again, as we made our way to to the Radisson Blu hotel and its Skyline Bar on the 26th floor, featuring great views of town.
