Trakai / Kaunas / Vilnius

Picked up my rental car at the airport and headed off towards Trakai. I paid for the cheapest Economy car but they gave me a really nice Volkswagen SUV. That doesn't happen often. But the guy said he didn't have any other automatic transmissions so he had to give me this one. Yay.

Rained most of the way to Trakai but cleared up beautifully just as i arrived. Trakai has a cool old castle on an island. There wasn't tons to see but its in such a pretty location and really well preserved. Went for lunch at a nearby place that some Lithuanians recommend to me from the night prior. And wow did it rain while i was eating. Speaking of which, had a really yummy lamb stew. Apparently Trakai was their first capital. This doesn't make any sense to me because its just a village.

Just as i finished up, the rain stopped. Definite theme today :) Headed off to lithuania's second biggest city Kaunas. Made a wrong turn but somehow ended up in the old town and right into an available parking spot. I was wondering how difficult that was going to be. Apparently not difficult at all :)

Definitely much smaller than vilnius. There's a really nice big plaza with some nice churches nearby and a wonderful long pedestrian street lined with restaurants and shops for many many blocks. Walked up and down and then sat for a beverage to relax for a bit. And then decided i better head back to vilnius before it gets dark. Navigating alone in a foreign city is challenging enough without having to deal with darkness too.

Just before arriving in vilnius the skies poured down buckets of rain again. I had to pull over a few times. This part was tricky... how would i find parking for my vehicle in the old town? All the streets are narrow and jammed with cars. All my research on the internet resulted in everyone suggesting to just not do it. To not even bother trying haha. I pinpointed on my map a spot i thought looked like maybe my best bet two blocks from my hotel on a long straight street thats wider than most. And super luckily found a spot just as the rain stopped too. One of those days where everything works out just right.

Noticed on the street of my hotel a placard about the jewish getto during WWII. I didn't realize i was staying in the getto area. Very sad write-up but definitely worth a read. Will post my photo of it here.

Was supposed to meet up with stacey and Daniel again but they were too tied. As was i. Fell asleep pretty fast at 7:30pm and woke up at 1130pm. Travel day tomorrow so i took care of some bookings and went back to sleep.Читать далее