Kaunas #1: Arrival

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I don’t think I slept a wink as I was too nervous about waking up early. I got up around three and was out the door by four. I was staying just a couple of minutes walk from the airport bus stop so headed there. I thought there might be some drunken revellers about but the streets were quiet. I didn’t have to wait long for the bus and the journey itself was quick. Deposited in front of Edinburgh Airport, I made my way into the terminal and headed to the luggage self check in. That was straight forward apart from figuring out how to actually attach the label. A nice member of staff helped me out. I haven’t checked luggage on Ryanair in years, and the last time I did it they still had people doing it. Headed through security, it was busy but not too crazy. Once airside I had a wandered about checking out all the eating and drinking options. 5 am and the Wetherspoon’s was rammed. I headed to Pret, where I got an iced coffee. The airport was really warm and since I was dressed for winter with lots of layers, I was sweating and needed to cool down. I thought the coffee might wake me up, instead I just felt sick. I had been ill a few days previous and the lack of sleep made me feel a bit ropey. I headed to Boots to get a meal deal hoping that would settle my stomach. A prawn mayo sarnie and a bag of crisps made me feel a bit better. Then I headed to my gate and waited for the flight to be called. We were a bit late in boarding, but the staff didn’t seem to be in a rush.

The flight was fine. I still felt a bit dodgy so spent most of it dozing. It’s hard to get any peace though as the cabin crew were constantly making announcement trying to flog you crap. The captain/first officer was also very chatty. The seat next to me was taken by a Ryanair engineer. I hope that he was going to Kaunas to fix another plane and that the one we were on was fine. Well we did make it safely. I loved the views as we were coming in to land. Snow and trees everywhere. Such a lovely wintry view. I’m sure after about ten minutes in the cold I would soon change my mind. Kaunas Airport was tiny. We had to queue for quite a while to get through immigration. The member of staff was rather curt. I guess now we are no longer in the EU, we are second class citizens. Bloody Brexit has a lot to answer for. The queue for the bathroom was almost as bad as the immigration one. Since I was last in that, I was also last to collect my bag. I headed out to find the bus into the city. There were information screens in the airport and I had just missed the bus so had to wait about 30 minutes for the next one.

Jut before the bus was due I headed out to the bus stop. I was glad that I hadn’t waited outside as it was freezing. The bus turned up and I paid my 1 euro fare. It was slightly annoying that they didn’t have card payment, especially for visitors, but I had prepared some change, since I didn’t know if they gave change. The journey into the city took about half an hour or so. The bus stop was a two minute walk from my accommodation and I ditched my bags, got warmed up with a cuppa, and made a bit of a plan for how I would spend my afternoon/early evening.

Once warmed up, I headed out. I had planned to go to the Old Town but I wanted to walk past the big mall, so not taking the most straight forward route, as I planned to eat at a restaurant in there later. I headed down a side street off the main road, past a sex shop, how classy, and ended up on a bridge by the river. I had a feeling that I was going in completely the wrong direction and I found out I was. It was also a bit of a bugger to walk as the paths were covered in snow. I corrected myself and got onto the right path and passed by the large mall, Akropolis, so I knew where that was for later. I walked along by the river. It was nice but rather cold. There weren’t too many people about. I suppose most people were bring sensible and staying warm indoors. I love how early the sun set in winter in this part of the world. I love seeing the sky darken and the last shafts of daylight struggling to get through. There wasn’t much to see on the side of the Nemunas River I was on, but the other side looked cute and had quite the village feel to it. I came to the Vytautas the Great Bridge, which didn’t look anything special. I bet it and the riverbank are much more lively in the summer months.

I took the path that led under the road and came up on the other side of the road. I headed further in away from the river and was in the Old Town. The square was quite pretty. I liked that the small buildings on one side of it were dark but brightly coloured if that makes sense. It was well in keeping with the cold wintry day vibe I was experiencing. I could see the Town Hall, which looked I had mistaken for a church due to its facade and I liked the globe structures on the square that looked like outdoor dining, but were empty when I walked past. I wandered around it past the gorgeous church of St. Francis Xavier and some statues of who I presumed were religious figures or notable townsmen. I also walked past the ‘Insects of Vladislavas Starevicius’ which depicts a stag-beetle, ant and grasshopper. These were characters of Vladislavas Starevicius, a pioneer of puppet animation who began his career here. I headed to what I think was one of the main streets of the Old Town and had a wander along that. It was quiet here too, which I liked. It was nice to just wander and appreciate the old buildings, so different to what I am used to in my day to day life. I also wandered the backstreets too. I came across a couple of pieces of street art on the sides of buildings. One was ‘Princess on a Horse’ which was very bright and childlike. I liked it and could see it appealing to people. The other one I couldn’t find a name for online, but it was really beautiful. It was of a young woman crouching/squatting on a ledge outside of a birdhouse. It jut felt to me simple but very expressive.

I retraced my steps along by the river. It was starting to get really dark now and even colder. I headed into the Akropolis Mall for dinner. First I headed to Watsons to grab some bits and pieces I had neglected to buy before leaving home. I was surprised to see Watsons here. I know it is all over Asia, but didn’t realise it was so present in Europe as well. I also nipped to the bathroom and was shocked to see how red my skin was. I am not used to such cold temperatures. I then went on a wander to find the restaurant I wanted to eat at. While looking for places to eat in Kaunas, I had come across Chacapuri, a Georgian place, which looked good. I had never had Georgian food before so was interested to try it. The restaurant was quite quiet when I turned up. I ordered a tea to warm myself up and it was just what I needed. I also ordered a Lamb Royal Khachapuri. Khachapuri is Georgian cheese bread, kind of similar to a pizza. Being a lover of pizza I had to try this. There were also traditional Georgian dumplings on the menu, which I would have loved to have tried. It’s times like this when I need a travel companion. I sipped my tea and soon my Khachapuri turned up. The yeast dough is topped with lamb that had been marinated in white Rkatsiteli wine (one of the oldest grape varieties that originates from Georgia and was the most widely planted in the Soviet Union), Georgian cheese, slices of hard boiled egg and coriander. I love all of those ingredients and a tomato free base is an added bonus. I loved the khachapuri. It did remind me of a pizza but was even better as it was tomato free. It was rich, gooey, meaty, and bready. Just a perfect combination. I will have to make it to Georgia one day. I was surprised that I still had room to fit in a dessert, but I am a (not so) little piggy and after spying Pachlava (baklava) on the menu and I had to have some of that after falling in love with it in Istanbul. While not as good as the ones I’d sampled in Istanbul it was still pretty decent and made a perfect sweet end to my meal. Then it was time to brace the cold and head back to plan what to do the next day and have an early night.

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