Adventures of NaDave: Dave Germany: 81-84 (Lith - Vilnius

I slept great and had set my alarm for 7am to make sure I could get out the door around 8am. I took a much needed shower, but the hostel didn't supply towels, so I dried off using several of the paper towels they had in the bathroom : ).
Breakfast was a couple granola bars, and then I walked out the door, and into a blue sky Lithuanian morning!

I had a 10am walking tour that started in the middle of the city, so I had 1-2 hrs to explore. As I left my hostel, I realized that I wasn't in the best part of town. Buildings were run down, graffiti was everywhere, and I passed some parking lots filled with trash. It was probably a good thing I didn't try to walk around the night before.

I first wandered over to a local indoor market, Hales Market. It was a little intimidating at first since it had a busy feel, and no one was speaking English. But it was neat to listen to people conversing in a whole new language. I walked around quickly looking at what was for sale, and then got the guts to walk up to pastry vendor and order something. I had no idea what I was ordering, but I pointed at what looked good, paid up, and said "achu" (thank you in Lithuanian). (Also, Lithuania just switched to the Euro on January 1, 2015. So luckily I didn't need to hunt down a new currency).

From the market, the next closest place on my list was the Gates of Dawn. I got a little lost on the walk, but I was really enjoying just walking around the streets. Seeing the people, the business signs, just being part of the daily hustle in the home country! I walked through the city walls, and finally found the religious icon. As advertised, it was beautiful.

As I continued to walk into the city, I could hear church music from the street. Vilnius has tons of churches (Catholic & Russian Orthodox) so it wasn't a surprise to hear the music. It made for a lovely soundtrack to my morning experience. I wandered over to the church, peered inside, and it was a beautiful scene. Several old ladies standing and singing together as the pastor walked around blessing everyone.

As I headed towards the center of town for my tour, I came across an old man sitting on a bench. And he looked just like my GPa Urbon. He had the same smirky smile, to go along with slightly messy ring of hair on his bald head. It warmed my heart and all I could do was smile. I started feeling at home. Like maybe I didn't look too much like a tourist, maybe I blended in a little with the locals!

I made it to the Cathedral square, where the tour started. I joined a family of 5 from the USA, and the wife was from Detriot! So there were 6 of us total. The tour guide was a Lithuania woman in her 40s who taught English in the schools. She told us all about the Lithuanian history of Kings & Archdukes, and when we got the early 1990s and Russia finally leaving, she told us about the day at the TV tower when the Russian soldiers shot people, and how it was one of her close friends that was shot in the hip. I was realizing that the people around me had recently lived history, and the oppressive Russian government was still a recent memory.

Just outside the Cathedral, there is a sign on the ground, Stebuklas. It is customary to make a wish, then spin in a circle 3 times for it to come true (you know I did it!). There was where the Baltic Way started, a 600km human chain formed in 1989.

Since we were a lively tour group, we walked all around the city. We went into the Cathedral. We walked atop the old castle remains that overlooked the whole city. We walked over to where the Lithuania President was housed. We walked over to the Vilnius University and saw were PhD students way back in the day would told to say in their rooms and off the streets, to avoid the disruptions of street life that could disrupt their studies. We saw lots and lots of churches, but an iconic one was the Saint Ann Church. We walked down Literaty Street, where 100s of Lithuanian poets & authors had been honored with plaques on the street walls. We walked past the Gates of Dawn (again), but this time there was a wedding couple parading by.

We also learned that the three colors on the flag had a meaning Green for the forests & farms, red for our blood, and yellow for sun & hope. Pretty neat!

We then walked over an upcoming part of the city that a more young feel. The tour ended here, but at a local restaurant for lunch. I joined the family of 5, and they ended up paying for my meal (very nice of them). For lunch, I of course had a beer, and then had some amazing potato pancakes. Yum! They also had stuffed cabbage, but I had to make a choice. What a great day in the city. People, music, food, history, stories. Wow...

It was then time to say goodbye to Vilnius. I took a taxi back to the airport, as I needed to pickup my rental car. The pickup was smooth, except I found out it costs 300 Euro to leave the country! WHAT?! I was planning on going to Latvia on Saturday night, but didn't want to pay the 300. So I fibbed and said I wouldn't be leaving. I thought...how could they track the car? (we will see!)

I got the keys to my Toyota Yaris and headed for the Trakai Island castle just outside of Vilnius. I arrived about 5pm, and parking was very difficult to figure out. Since I wouldn't be there long, I just found a spot, and walked over to the water to get a nice view and a picture. I returned 20 minutes later to find a 10 Euro parking ticket on my windshield. C'mon man! Argh! I had to keep moving so I hopped in the car and started my 1.5 hr drive towards Kaunas.