Somehow Jay has been elected as the front seat passenger/asker of questions. Poor Tomas…. He just doesn’t know what he’s in for, but we’re all in for an education!! One thing we did not mention about our guide is that he has experienced two major changes in his 40-some years on earth – the fall of the USSR/the independence gained by Lithuania and then Lithuania joining the European Union. Totally unfathomable for most!
We headed out of Vilnius today to the village of Trakai (hence, Jay having opportunity to ask lots of questions). Trakai was the original capital of Lithuania in medieval times, but is now a “village” of 4,000. It’s also a popular weekend destination due to it’s proximity to Vilnius.
We took a short stroll down one of the main streets, which was lined with many traditional Kairam homes. Karaim is an interesting, but dwindling, people. They hail from areas in/around Turkey and have their own religion – a form of Judaism, with a little Muslim thrown in – and their traditional dress and meals are more Turkish than Western European.
There is a recognizable feature on their traditional homes – they generally have a stone base, but most distinctively have three street-facing windows but never a door on the front. We referenced several sources to confirm who each window is for, but found conflicting info.
Here are some pictures from our walk along the street to the castle. The building in this first picture was from during the Russian Empire control (not the Soviet occupation of the 20th century, but the 19th Century time-frame. It was the imperial post office, with the two columns indicating that it was an imperial building.
With pictures of the street views as we walked down the lane, with first just general community houses, followed by the traditional Karaim houses described above.
Our village stroll ended at the bridges out to the Island Castle. There were previously multiple castles in Trakai but this is the only one that survived centuries of war and conquest, due to the protective nature of the distance from shore that it sat.
The first bridge ran to an intermediate island, from which a second bridge ran over to the island castle.
Most of the visible stone work in the outer wall is original, as is a good portion of the brick seen in the picture above. Up close you could tell where some of the restoration brick started, but overall a large portion of this front area was still intact.
As you entered the castle grounds, there was a large inner courtyard with main buildings to the left, and then the castle itself back and to the right as seen below.
There was even confinement apparatus in the courtyard that Blake was kind enough to demonstrate.
To actually gain entrance to the castle proper, you had to go up a set of stairs, which got you to the bridge level of the castle walls. The bridge ran across the moat (currently dry) and into the castle.
Overall, it is a beautiful site with ongoing (and current) major renovations. Even with all of the renovation work we encountered, the castle had impressive displays of artifacts such as weapons, coins, steins, etc. as well as a multiple-display graphic on how the reconstruction has evolved through all of the ‘ownership changes’ Lithuania has experienced (Germany, Russia, Poland) in the last century. One surprising fact was that Russia financed some of the improvements during their reign. Here are some interior pictures.
While one might call this a “throne room”, it was more of a reception hall or main hall, where foreign dignitaries were heard and business was done.
And a view from the interior courtyard…
Our last scheduled stop in Trakai was at a Karaim restaurant where we were treated with a traditional Karaim meal, traditional drink, and traditional dessert. The drink – Krupnikas – was very fragrant, mostly cinnamon but other herbs/spices as well. Blake described it as ‘very smooth’ and while others agreed it was tasty, we were unable to finish all shots provided.
The meal was Kibinai, which is pastry filled with meat or cabbage. We were treated to one beef and one cabbage. After a little ‘table trading’, everyone seemed quite pleased with their meals. Dessert was also a pastry filled with curd, some with jam, and was equally delicious.
Upon arriving back to Vilnius we stopped by a local market. While it was nowhere near as impressive as the markets we visited in Uzbekistan, it still looked capable of providing the various meat, fruit, and vegetable needs of local residents, along with a number of small restaurants.
In the evening, we walked to a traditional Lithuanian restaurant for dinner, different than yesterday’s Lithuanian lunch. We had a small flight of beer (near-beer and watered down beer were some of the descriptors), a sampling of cranberry tea (which we later found was black-currant wine with a cranberry in each shot glass….not tea at all!!), a variety of dishes, and hot donut balls for dessert. A great choice for our evening meal!
Since we were so close to some of the old town areas we walked yesterday, we decided to meander about and see some of the sites at night. We saw the Gate of Dawn (not illuminated well), visited the Town Hall Square , and many churches and old buildings. The old area of Vilnius, which is very walk-able was nearly deserted and we took our time strolling about.
The suggestion was made by one very wise traveler that ‘if I see a dessert place I’m stopping for dessert’. Excellent idea!!! We happened upon a chocolate shop that was still open. We bought chocolates, hot chocolate, two kinds of cake, and a couple of lattes. An unexpected delight!! And Marla was a bit excited to learn they have a location in Orlando, but sadly not within the confines of the Disney property.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by the “discofonas” we passed several times. It was a phone booth with opening hours beginning at 8 pm, so it hadn’t been checked out previously. While it sadly wasn’t working (a few disco balls, but no lights or music), Blake made his own lights (a cell phone light shining on a spinning disco ball) as well as his own music. Quite a party!
We all called it a night after a long, action filled day and were ready to see what adventures awaited on Day 5!
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