Breakfast at 0900, not a lot I fancied so just had toast and cereal.
Walked to the bus station to get a bus to Trakai Castle, about 45 minutes away.
Weather was overcast and about 16c, rain was predicted and a top of 23.
It was pretty cold, jumper weather. We walked around the corner to a statue of a cat (seems to be a cat themed holiday), then carried on to the bus station.
The bus to the castle cost 2 Euro each and took about 30 minutes.
We passed quite a few old abandoned buildings, but most of the scenery was green and forest. The bus was almost full, clean and had WiFi.
Arrived at Trakai, piled out of the bus and tried to get our bearings, then just followed a bunch of other tourists and hoped they had a better sense of direction than me.
It was quite a long walk to the castle, but pleasant. To the left of the road were old houses made of wood, mostly not in great condition, to the right were blocks of concrete flats – also not in great condition. Again there were quite a few abandoned ones.
Beyond the houses on each side was a lake, and at one point we went down to the edge to have a look – the lake was quite large, and the water clear with several ducks swimming around.
The weather had warmed up and the sun made an occasional appearance.
We arrived at the bridge over to the castle, there were quite a few tourists around including a couple of tours, but it wasn’t overly crowded.
We decided not to hire a pedal boat, or go on a yacht, or on a trip around the lake despite the best efforts of various locals.
We walked across the bridge and into the castle, cost 8 Euro each which was quite pricey based on what other stuff costs here, but it goes towards the upkeep.
The castle was in very good condition, had a wander and took loads of photos and managed to get some when the others were elsewhere.
We spent a couple of hours there, then plodded back, stopping at a supermarket, then onto a mini bus back to Vilnius.
Walked back to the hotel, then decided to head out straight away otherwise we’d just lie on the bed. Besides, all the antique shops that were shut yesterday were now open and Song wanted to make sure she visited them all.
Most of them were furniture, and for some reason a lot of spoons. So nothing of interest.
Found a modern Lithuanian restaurant so stopped there. I had a creamy beet soup (served cold) which was good, then a steak which I asked for medium but was served rare. Being English I am forbidden to complain so just put up with it. It was good, not great. It came with a cheese sauce which I couldn’t really taste. Song had beef tongue which was a starter, but she wasn’t hungry. I also had a local beer. I’d say 6 out of 10, a bit disappointing. Couldn’t complain about the price – 37 Euro (about 60 AUD).
Waddled back up the road to the hotel, thought about an ice cream but decided that if I did I wouldn’t be able to move.
Recovered from all the walking and food, tomorrow we fly to Oslo, a 14:00 flight so don’t have to get up early.
