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Today has been a bit of a lazy day for me. For some reason I am just absolutely shattered today. So tired that I can't quite seem to keep up with the rest of the group today. And we are talking about the fact that I can't keep up with a couple who are in their 70's and another couple that are in their 60's and here is me pootling along like an old granny at the age of 31.
Anyway this morning MK and I rebelled against yet another breakfast of bread and cheese and decided to head out to a breakfast cafe to get a nice bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. So at 8am exactly we were stepping through the door of Double Coffee (which only opens at 8), stepping over the cleaner with her bucket of water and mop and ordering our breakfast. We had to be nice and quick as we were due to leave the hotel at 9am to head off for a bit of a day trip to Trakai to take a look at the town and the castle.
Trakai is an interesting little town that is 28kms west of Vilnius. This meant
that we had to catch a local bus out to the town. And the bus station is a good half hour walk from our hotel. And of course at breakfast I had a large glass of water which meant that by the time we arrived at the bus station I was busting to visit the little girls room. And of course the toilet in the bus station was shut, which meant that I had to dash across to the train station to try and find their toilet, with our guide telling me to run. By the time I finally made it back to the bus station the group were boarding our bus, so really I only just made it in time. I was quite warm and toasty by the time I took my seat on the bus, which has been a change from the last few days.
Trakai is very pretty being set on and in and around quite a few lakes. It even has a rare middle east relgious sect all of its own. The sect are the Karaites, who are named after the term kara which apparently means to 'study the scripture' in both hebrew and arabic.
They are basicallyl jews apparently, but managed to earn themselves a dispensation from the nazis which means that they weren't persecuted in the second world war.
While we were in Trakai we visited the Island Castle and took a look around. I have to say that it wasn't the most exciting castle in the world to visit. However it is a lovely place to look at from a bench in a beer garden with a glass of cool cider in your hand.
At about 2pm we headed back (on yet another 1/2 hour walk) back through the village of Trakai, to the bus station where we caught a bus back to Vilnius. Now this is where my laziness set in and I just meandered back to the hotel, and took a shower, washed my hair and sat down to write this blog, while all the other members of the group are out walking up hills and taking in the sights of Vilnius. However my legs are in full blown rebellion mode and refuse to take me any further today then the internet cafe that is just at the end of the street from our hotel, where I fully
intend on getting another glass of cider and putting this blog up on the internet.
Tomorrow we are off to the Aukstautija National Park.
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