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

With the help of my GPS I rode along the country side towards Kaunas. I had booked a hostel here for Friday night, and after my parking ticket at Trakai, I would need to be a little more careful with where to park the car. I got to the city around 7pm, and luckily found a parking garage near my hostel. I parked the car, and simply hoped it would be there in the morning!

My 2nd night was also in a very cheap hostel, the Monks Bunk. And as I walked up to it, I could tell why. But I walked inside, and was totally wrong. It was clean, and the receptionist spoke great English. The walls had flags painted from around the world, they also had a shelf of Lithuanian beers. Of course I picked one out. And the best part was that she gave me a great recommendation on where to find local food & a great walk afterwards to take in the city. So I cleaned up, and headed out!

As I walked around I saw more evidence of oppressive times. Kaunas was a blue collar city, and so certain streets and buildings were still pretty run down. I then passed a sign that said "Georgia on my mind". I read it and got a little emotional. For me, it wasn't Georgia...but Michigan, South Carolina & Mississippi. I had been thinking about family non-stop during the day, and I strangely felt this message speak to me, as if it knew what I was thinking about.

For dinner I walked to Bernuliu Uzeiga. A great Lithuanian feel. I sat down and ordered Cold Beet soup for an appetizer. The tour guide had talked about it all day, so I had to try it. It looks a nasty pink, but tastes very good! For the meal, I looked the menu up and down, and wanted to try several dishes. But since I was alone, I had to choose one. The server recommended the troskinta jautiena (see the picture!). Again, it was delicious.

During the meal, there was some old time music playing in the background, and I started to have thoughts about Mom, Gpa Urbon, and Benedicta that I hadn't had before. Benedicta left a farm in 1905, and ended her life in a house, wow she must have felt like a queen! What about her husband, what was my Great Gpa like? My mom never knew her Gpa Urbon, as he died when she was young. And my Gpa Urbon, he didn't grow up with grandparents, since they were back in Lithuania. How did that change the family dynamics? And what was it like when my Gpa Urbon was younger. What was a Christmas morning in 1930 in Grand Rapids Michigan like for their family? I imagined my Gpa and his mom playfully dancing together to music, like every mother-son should.

These were some great thoughts, and carried me the rest of the night. It was a lovely evening, so I strolled down a walking mall to the center of the city for about 2 hours. It was a Friday night, so the street life was in full force. And while walking around, I saw lots of tall, thin guys that looked just like me! Again, it was a warming feeling. Since I had an early morning again, I headed back to the hostel and rested up.

I woke up early again and showered up (this time they had towels!). It was breakfast bars again, and out the door again by 8am. I arrived to find my car where I had left it, with no tickets (woohoo!). The next stop was IX Fort (Ninth Fort) just outside Kaunas. It was an fort, but was better known as a huge memorial to the 10000s of Jews killed during WWII. It captured the struggle and pain of so many years and so many people.

I arrived at 9am, and was the only one there. Surprising, but I ended enjoying it all to myself. Once again it was a blue sky, and the birds were chirping a little bit. The park was huge, and you could see the epic structure from the parking lot. I walked up to it, and it captured my mind by design. The pictures are the only way to describe it. I walked the grounds, and read all the plaques. A lot of Lithuanians had suffered here, and all within the past 100 years. The Russians & Germans of early 1900s were pretty cruel to the Lithuanians. I could see why Benedicta decided to leave, and didn't want to go back.

It was after nearing 11am so I walked back to the car, headed for my next stop 2 hrs away, the Hill of Crosses.