Between Lakes, Manors and Flowers

Leaving a sad Russian host behind that was beaming about Aluna, we made our way to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. However, we can't drive 3hrs straight, we have to see something from the country. So, we chose lots of places to visit.
Obviously, we started in Biržai itself, where we looked at the old Astravo Manor at the Sirvenos Lake.
A little 10min drive further, we climbed the 32m high observation tower that is randomly shaped into a half moon, overlooking the Kirkilai Lakes that are made from karst and inhabit millions of sulphur bacteria.
Back down to Earth, we made a quick stop at the nearby Mantagailiskio Manor which looked rather old and bad out of shape, before we drove further south to a lavender farm. There, not only did the purple flowers bring us nice pictures and joy, but the ice cream made of lavender also brought us some sugar and calories. It looked like vanilla ice cream, but tasted conspicuously much of lavender. I wonder how many lavender flowers it takes to make one ice cream cone?
Afterwards, we drove to the Palevenes Manor, which is partly a ruin and partly still inhabited by the ancestors of the Kumaro family (going back to the 17th century).
Our last stop was the beautiful Hydrangeas Park with hundreds or even thousands of Hydrangeas in a very well designed garden. I didn't know that there were so many different kinds of one flower species! And they all have great names like Great Mont Blanc, Pinky Winky or - my favourite - Bobo. Okay, tbh it's only my favourite because it's called Bobo, but common...
All in all, it was a lovely day with lots of little things that made for great experiences.Read more