Natalie Downe

Our plans to see the Soviet Theme park today were hampered for the same reason as yesterday, far too far to travel if you set out at 11am. Journey from Vilnius would have included two sparsely running buses and a 30 minute walk. The park contains recovered sculptures of prominent Soviet leaders that were built in Lithuania under the occupation. The park also has a zoo and a mini Train!

Wanting to see a bit of Lithuania outside of the capital, Simon and I headed to Trakai. Trakai is a beautiful town on a series of Islands surrounded by lakes, at the top there is the only Eastern European castle built on an Island.

Trakai is only 40 minutes away from Vilnius and well worth a trip. We decided to get to the Train station from our hotel by bus. A note if you are traveling in Vilnius by trolly bus, unlike the private busses you cant actually buy tickets on board. Quite an important point, we threw some money to the driver which he was ok with but we didn’t get a ticket in return. So when the ticket inspector decided to do a spot check we were a bit scared! luckily for us there was a bit of a kerfufufful as the ticket inspector found an illegal traveler before us and dragged him off the bus.

Hurriedly scrambling off the bus we ducked into a bakery before our train, I ordered entirely in Lithuanian (with some pointing) some random looking baked goods. These turned out to be 2 different types of pasties, one doughnut and a brioche filled with vegetables.

The train was quite exciting, lovely old classic trains really high up from the platform. Its worth noting that, for the smaller routes at least, you can buy tickets on the train, quite a relief! we saw lots of forrest on the journey to Trakai, as well as some allotments and a huge stork flying to the biggest nest we had ever seen!

Arriving in Trakai we explored the castle a little and had a look round the museums. Trakai castle used to be the home of the Teutonic knights which is pretty exciting!

Trakai is also home to the Karaite who settled there long ago, the architecture food and culture still remain. We ordered a traditional Karaite dish unsure what to expect. When it arrived it was very very similar to a Cornish pasty! I guess some things are universal.

We arrived back in Vilnius in time to go to Rita’s for dinner. We intended to bring a bottle of Lithuanian honey liquor as it is apparently traditional to bring as a guest to someone’s home. On arrival you then all drink a shot, (be careful not to shake hands over the threshold or whistle indoors though as thats bad luck - according to the random city spy map we found). However we couldn’t find any of the right brand so we made do with a nice bottle of JP-Chenet.

It was really lovely of Rita to cook for us, and a fantastic dinner it was too. All in all we have enjoyed some lovely Lithuanian food this week. After dinner we went for a really nice walk toward the old town to see the city view by night.