http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Lithuania , Vilnius en-us Mon, 16 Nov 09 01:39:37 +0000 Mon, 16 Nov 09 01:39:37 +0000 Hi EverybodyI am going to get Walt to write a summary of his visit to Chernobyl later. This is a very old computer. I am having to hit most keys more than once. I apologize in advance for errors. I do not always have time to proofread my entries. I know the when to use there and their. I cannot tell you why I sometimes type the wrong letters. I have had to go back repeatedly on this blog a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-445421.html So after we arrived in Vilnius on Tuesday we ended up spending most of the morning in the Hosteljust catching up on things. To be honest it was really niceto just chill out for the day as we had been so busy so far.The hostel were really great and let us hang around until there were beds free they had quite a big kitchen where a lot of other guests were hanging out everyone we met so far was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-437852.html In keeping with our desire to see a national park in each country wersquod mentally marked down this as the day to make a trek out to Aukstaitija National Park. However at the last minute we chickened out of the 2hour bus trip that would drop us several km away from the park and decided to visit Trakai National Historic Park instead a preserve on a peninsula that was a mere 40minute train http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/Trakai/blog-436018.html On our second morning in Vilnius we still had no hot water so we called our apartment manager to see what she could do. For some reason I donrsquot totally understand calling a plumber was not an option so she drove us to an unrented apartment so we could shower. Again it was a beautiful place with some weird flaws like a shallow recess behind the tub with no drain so after the shower http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-435756.html Due to being completely wiped from the previous day and since we had the relative luxury of being in one place for FOUR WHOLE NIGHTS we slept in the next morning. After rolling out of bed and shaking most of the cranky out of our collective noggins we descended onto the town of Vilnius. Like most Old Towns this one also has plenty of the twisty passages all alike that Americans seem to crav http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-435640.html To make up for only getting one night in Kaunas we decided to borrow a little bit from our first day in Vilnius wersquove got 4 on the agenda after all and wait til the evening to hop on the bus. We had a relatively relaxed morning and headed first to the bus station to leave our luggage in storage for the day. That was a bit of an adventure the trolleybus was so crowded Graham almost http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-435633.html Vilnius the slow finaleyes well it was a very slow start as well as being an Accidental Tourist I have also become a less than fired up get outta the door one. Have to set an alarm almost to get up for breakfast at 10 then take more than 3 hours to get out the door. Mind you he says as an excuse the weather here has been rather spotty. Its about midnight I work hard at this y'know and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-434402.html yes more photos this is for Bob see comments page. Here's one of my room key its on a quite cute fluffy thing that may or may not have been formerly attached to a small animal http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-434242.html Saturday night fever or it could have been without the Rivers stowaway parka in the camera bag not to mention the pullout cover for the camera bag to keep it a little drier. Cos it did get a little wet here later today in fact the light rain started about 6pm and was around while I climbed the hill to the fortress tower Gediminas Castle. However when I walked down and into the bottom of the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-434100.html Summer is here and Lauren finished her school responsibilities already. We initially planned to head out to Asia and Australia for the summer. But we decided to postpone that and diverted our summer trip to Europe. Our first destination Vilnius capital of Lithuania and the European Capital of Culture of 2009. Again our friends were curious on our choices of summer destinations. But we were alw http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-429487.html Lithuania 20th 25th July 2009In order to keep up with our travels this blog will be short and sweet.After the 72 Hours we were happy to arrive in Vilnius Lithuania's capital. We had a very comfortable apartment that was extremely close to the old town. Once again bikes are a fantastic way to see this city.This is where we also started off with the Baltic cuisine which was a pleasant http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-424421.html Buying tickets in Warsaw central train station for Russia is not the easiest thing yoursquoll ever do be prepared for your blood pressure to rise significantly You have no idea what the people selling the tickets are saying and they pretty much just nod at whatever you say. After some intensive discussions sign language though we managed to book a ticket on the Moscow train which is over 2 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-418382.html I'm a little behind schedule with these photos I took about two weeks ago when I was in Lithuania. Some of Vilnius town itself some of Trakai a small town about an hour west of Vilnius with a castle surrounded by lakes and also some taken during a short camping trip up on the Baltic coast on the Coronian Spit a peninsula shared by Lithuania and Russia. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-418142.html It had been way to long since i had seen Diana so we decided that I go over for a visit for a little time only 10 days I could go there for though but it was well worth the effort. Diana had organised a trip to the costal town of Palanga for two nights and it is sort of the tourist town of the country and gets very busy in the summer. Great to go there and have a relax though and look around. Oth http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-413959.html Day 1011 May 1213Moving time again and now it was a trip up north 2 hours by local train to stay in the Aukscarontaitija national park. We were collected at the station and driven to our local host families home where we were staying they move out into a little cottage next door while we were there. The family speak little English but were so welcoming that we soon felt right at home. We http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-412129.html Day 89 May 1011A four hour journey by local bus took us from Klaipeda to Vilnius the capital of Lithuania. Vilnius is a place with many churches and preserved buildings. It has one of the oldest universities 1500rsquos. The next day we visited the old capital at Trakai about an hour away and itrsquos feudal castle and museum surrounded by a lake. Rather amused by the three dimensional http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-411920.html Culture is a hard concept to describe...it involves every part of one's existence from the country they were born in to their values to their appearance and to their form of dress. I personally can describe my culture as something that is a form of thinking what one was brought up as. I am Lithuanian Eastern European and value this dearly it is a culture of many things of potatoes and pork http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-405025.html Wandering reestablishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. Anatole France May 11 2009 Monday Trakai to Vilnius Lithuania ldquoA Problem Dayhellip Somedays are just not easyrdquo or ldquoThe Day Kel almost lost itrdquo. As the rain came down we parked and rushed to the bus but we didnrsquot have the correct amount. Why would the pri http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/Trakai/blog-400239.html Today saw us up and out of Klaipeda and off on the bus to Vilinius the capital of Lithuania. The first thing that we had to do before we could leave Klaipeda was to take a photograph us all of the card carrying members of the Olympic Casino. The weather deteoriated as we got closer to Vilnius until it was raining pretty constantly when we were getting off the bus. This gave me a bit of a dilem http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-399948.html It was festival time. Traditional Lithuanian experience http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Lithuania/Vilnius/blog-397921.html