Tom`s travels: Lithuania (8-11/06/2017)

After taking an early flight from Berlin Schonefeld airport, we arrived at Vilnius airport and took the first bus leaving for the city. We were at the main station at 11am where we left our luggage while touring the city so as not to have to carry it all day around. We started out at the southern edge of the old town entering through the Gate of Dawn, a 16th-century gate, which is the only remaining of ten which used to mark the city limits. Right by the gate stands the Church of St Theresa, with a beautiful baroque interior decoration which I was longing to see knowing I would find such examples in Lithuania. Further along the street, we then encountered the Church of St Casimir, the first and oldest Baroque church in the city built in 1618. It featured a bright and elegant interior and an interesting crypt. Once back outside we passed by the town hall rebuilt in the Neoclassical style at the end of the 18th century and crossed its square reaching the Church of St Nicholas at its northern end. Rebuilt in the Neo-Byzantine style after several centuries of use, it then passed on to the Orthodox church as a sign of Russian domination in the city. A bit further on we then encountered the Orthodox Cathedral of the city. Originally built in the 14th century it was then rebuilt in the 19th century after burning and suffering destruction a few times. We were now crossing over a wooden bridge and entering the Užupis neighborhood, now a self-proclaimed republic popular with artists similar to Christiania in Copenhagen. We decided to stop here for lunch at a place called Uzupio Kaviné which had tasty food but we found out later on in the day that the prices were higher than average. Once we left the so-called republic, we were back in the old town and reached the Gothic church of St Francis and St Bernard. Built during the 16th century it features some later Baroque additions, particularly in the upper part of the facade and in the interior. Right next door stands another beautiful example of Gothic architecture: the Church of St Anne. It also featured some Baroque additions to its interior. After the visit to the churches, we headed on reaching the city's main square, where the Cathedral is located. Rebuilt in the Neoclassical style at the end of the 18th century it still features some earlier parts such as the Baroque chapel of St Casimir built by an Italian architect under Sigismund III Vasa's rule. It also features an unusual sight outside of Italy, the bell tower detached from the church's main building standing at the center of the square. From the Cathedral square, we then climbed the nearby hill which used to feature the castle complex consisting of the Upper, Lower and Crooked castles. Of the whole complex, only some parts of the Upper castle remain such as the Gediminas' Tower, one of the symbols of the city. The view from the top was really nice, complacent the good weather, as we could observe both the old town towards the south and the modern skyscrapers to the north. After walking a bit around the town we then headed to get our luggage and finally check in at our Airbnb. The location was really close to the old town and price was also good. After leaving our luggage in the room we thought to relax a bit and eventually meet with a friend of ours who had studied in Strasbourg and who is from Vilnius. We had dinner with her and her boyfriend and chatted for a while before then leaving to explore more. It was getting late but being quite far north there was still some light. We decided to climb the Hill of the Three Crosses, where a monument with three crosses was built upon. Legend says that seven Franciscan friars were murder on the spot and wooden crosses were built after to commemorate the event. Nowadays a beautiful panorama over the old town can be seen from there, which we enjoyed at the moment of sunset. From there we decided to head back to our room and go to sleep in order to explore further the next day fresh and rested. The next day after waking up we headed to the bus station to take a ride to the nearby town of Trakai. After taking the 10:30 bus we arrived in the town of Trakai and headed on foot towards the main attraction: the Trakai Island Castle. As the name suggests, it is a 15th-century castle built on an island in Lake Galvé. After falling into disrepair throughout the centuries, it was then partially rebuilt during the 20th century to its original splendor. After spending a couple of hours there, we then headed back to the bus station where we took the next ride to Vilnius once again. After having a quick lunch, we then headed to the old town to visit further, stopping by the Church of All Saints dating from the 17th century and featuring a Baroque style. Then we were off to the National Museum, hosted in a few buildings of which we visited the parts located in the Old and New Arsenals containing the ethnological and historical exhibitions and the ones in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, which was used by the rulers of the Grand Dukedom of Lithuania and the future Polish kings too. The original building fell in decay throughout the centuries and was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century, but was then rebuilt between 2002 and the present, as a part still needs to be finished. After the visit to the museum, we headed to the University, situated in the monastery of St Johns, where the church is still in use. However, it was past over closing time, so we only managed to its exterior and a nicely decorated room of the university part of the complex. Hunger was taking the upper-hand so we decided to satisfy our stomachs by eating something for dinner. After that, we were quite tired from the long day and headed to bed ready to get up early in the morning. The next day, after checking out we headed to the station and took a bus headed to Kaunas, Lithuania's second largest city. After reaching the destination we headed into the city center by taking a local bus which took us in the heart of the old town. From there we walked around visiting the main attractions. We started out with the Cathedral, originally built in the Gothic style but having received further additions throughout the centuries, features some renaissance and baroque touches. A little further on we reached the town's main square, with the 16th-century town hall at its center and the Church of St Francis at the southern end dating to the 18th century which we visited briefly. Walking further through the town center we reached the western end where we took a peek inside the Church of St George the Martyr, featuring a nice Gothic style, which had a wedding going on. Right in front stands the Bastion tower, or what remains of what used to be the city's castle. After entering it we saw the small exhibition located in the interior and then climbed to the top for a view towards the old town. Once out of the tower we headed back into town and walked past the House of Perkunas, a nice example of Gothic house from the 15th century. Right in front of it stands another Gothic building, the Church of Vytautas the Great.
From there we crossed the bridge over the Neman river and reached the other bank that featured a small hill, Aleksotas, which we climbed and giving us a nice view over the old town. The weather was getting worse and clouds were coming in close, menacing rain. We headed back down in the city, and a light drizzle commenced, luckily stopping shortly after. We passed by the house which Napoleon lived in during his Russian campaign and continued on across the city center back to the bus station, and finally passing by the Neo-Byzantine Church of St Michael the Archangel built at the end of the 19th century when the city was part of the Russian Empire. After reaching the bus station we took our ride headed west towards Klaipeda, Lithuania's third largest city. After reaching our destination, my friend Marija and her boyfriend, received us as they kindly would host us for the night, and took us around the city. First, we walked along the Dane river which served as city canal lined by older buildings. Then walking through the center, we passed some main attractions such as the Mouse statue, the statue of a Cat with the face of a gentleman, and the Annie of Tharau fountain, the girl of a poem by a local poet. Then further on, we reached the site where the castle used to stand, and which is currently being rebuilt planning to be finished by 2020. Nearby is the port an important one in the eastern Baltic and on the city side stands the statue of a ghost which would look incredibly creepy at night and with the fog covering the area. Our friends then led to to the other side of the river with the car and drove to the Seaside Regional Park, a beautiful natural park on the Baltic coast. After parking the car we headed on foot through a forest and then reached the pristine empty beach with interesting bent trees lining the coast. We stayed there until 11pm as there was still plenty of light and from there drove back to our friends' place where we spent the night. The next day, we woke up early in order to visit the famous Curonian Spit, a thin dune-covered spit of land dividing the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. We thus reached the port and took the boat which transported us to the northern end of the spit where we took a bus headed for the town of Nida right next to the border with Russia. On the bus ride, along the way,, we even managed to spot a female moose running among the trees, my first wild spotting of one! After reaching the town of Nida, we decided to explore the famous sand dunes, which are listed as a Unesco site. We walked for a while through the sand, seemingly in an endless desert, after finally reaching the shore on the lagoon where we decided to rest a little, have a picnic and sunbathe. We were now right at the border, and a post signalled not to cross as repercussions might occur, which I did follow as I wouldn't want to receive a fine or worse end up in prison halfway through the trip. After relaxing for a while we then headed further across the dunes reaching this time the shore on the Baltic Sea which was, due to the nice weather, full of sea-goers. From there we decided to head back to Nisa where we took the next bus back, this time stopping half-way in the town of Joudkrante. Here was located the so-called Hill of Witches, a nice sculpture park immersed in the forest, featured wood-carved devils, witches, and other creatures. After seeing the sculptures we took the next bus which brought back to the northern tip of the spit where the boat brought us back into Klaipeda. We spent another night at our friend's house and left Lithuania the next day, headed to Latvia's capital, Riga.