bretzelitos

Little Bretzels trip to Lithuania

Third stop: The castle of Trakai

So far traveled: 1475 KM

Today we traveled from Vilnius to Trakai. Trakai is a small town which is surrounded by several lakes. On one of the islands in the lake is the famous castle of Trakai which has a long history since the 14th century and is an important landmark for the Lithuanian culture.

We checked out of the Hotel around 11 am in Vilnius and walked 15 minutes to the central autobus station of Vilnius where all long distance buses start their journey. Muni quickly organized two tickets for us and found out which bus is the next and fastest. At 11:30 we took the bus and arrived around 40 minutes later in Trakai. We found luckily fast our Hotel which is located directly at the lake and checked in after another 20 minutes walking through Trakai. The city it-self is rather small and certainly tourism orientated. A lot of hotels, souvenir shops and restaurants can be found easily.

After a quick shower, we walked to the castle over two small bridges and started our castle tour. The available tour within the castle guides you easily from station to station and gives you an insight into the Lithuanian culture since the 14th century. All over a very interesting visit. Very interesting is the history of the Lipka Tatars here in Trakai which settled around the 14th century and developed their culture here underneath of the duke of Lithuania.

After our castle visit we decided to rent a pedal boot for one hour and to discover the lake around the castle and I went swimming in the lake. That was a very nice experience and I hope we will find time tomorrow for another round on the lake! Unfortunately, during our round on the lake the first thunderstorm of the day developed and moved into the direction of Trakai. We quickly decided to return to our boat rental. When we arrived there, already the first flashes were visible. We returned for a thunderstorm break to our hotel and got luckily before the rain into our hotel.

When the thunderstorm was over, we decided to go to the supermarket to buy some typical Lithuanian beer and sit on of the peers at the lake in front of our hotel. As we finished our beer, we went to the restaurant Muni found to eat the traditional dish of the region: Kibinai. Kibinai are traditional pastries filled with mutton and onion. They are very delicious. I have to admit, the foot here is absolutely great and already travel worth it-self!

After our dinner we went along the lake back to the hotel… just in time before the next thunderstorm brought some rain and flashes over Trakai.

Underneath you can find some pictures of the day:

In our bus to Trakai we passed some forests which remind me a lot of Sweden

Shortly after we arrived in our small hotel room

The castle of Trakai and the lake

Muni and me in front of the castle

I got caught in the castle!

Luckily they let me go!

In the court of the castle

The castle is separated into two parts. Here we stand in the smaller castle where the people lived and look onto the dukes part of the castle

On the lake with our pedal boot

After a short jump into the water in the middle of the lake

A white villa which is build next to the lake and used for exhibitions

The lake shore with all the small pedal boot rental stations

The thunderstorm started to move in over Trakai

Our lovely traditional restaurant where we had dinner

Our dinner Kibinai and two beer – absolutely great!

Tomorrow we will travel to Kaunas where Muni is born and where we will stay with her grandma.

I hope you like my additions to the blog so far!

See you then!

Little Bretzel (Sven)