Linda and I had planned on taking a hot air balloon ride this morning, but the company cancelled it last night due to the cloudy weather. That was O.K. with me because we would have been picked up at 5:30 A.M.
I enjoyed our activities today. First, the bus took us to Trakai Castle. Then we took a boat ride around the castle. Our city guide walked us through this reconstructed castle for two hours. I appreciated the small size of our group when I saw other groups from two to three times the size of our total of 13.
Our OAT Group at Trakai Castle
Trakai Castle
Next, we went to Kybynlar, a local restaurant with Karaim cuisine. We each learned how to make Kybyn, a paste cake. Ours were beef. They baked them for us, and we each got the one we made. While we were waiting, though, we ate two smaller ones with different fillings. We drank a liquor glass of spicy krupnik. It actually tasted good.
My kybyn ready to go into the oven
Our group’s cooking accomplishment
We then took a train back to Vilnius. After we got off, we walked to a private room in a restaurant where we heard an interesting talk about politics in Lithuania. Then our bus met us and took us to the KGB Museum. I was not prepared for what we would see. It was a prison for political prisoners. Each small cell had a concrete floor that would hold about 6-10 prisoners with no beds or blankets. There was a covered bucket in the corner to use as a toilet. The lights were kept on all the time. There was a torture chamber and an execution room in the facility. Before the KGB the Nazi’s used it as gestapo headquarters and a prison. The Russians claim innocence to killing so many people here.
Next, the bus picked us up and took us back to the hotel. I packed and got ready for tomorrow’s checkout. Then we walked through part of the old town. We got a special stamp in our passports. Then the group split up and went to restaurants we choose. Linda and I each had a glass of Pino Grigio and we split a medium pizza.