Carol's Travels

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.

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.

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.

This morning I was reading email and lost track of time. Linda knocked at my door ready to go to breakfast. Oops….she went alone, and I arrived about thirty minutes later at the same time Miina arrived.

It was drizzling outside, so everyone in our group was wearing rain gear. This time we have a male city guide to show us the local sites during our stay in Vilnius. It was fun walking along the streets and through the old churches in the rain. Next we got on a full-sized bus where each of us could have a window seat.  

After the bus tour, we explored on our own. Linda and I followed Miina’s advice to have some local food, so we had lunch at the very busy traditional restaurant that served cipelinai (potato dumplings). We shared three plates of cipelinai (2 per plate): pork filling with mushroom sauce, pork filling with cream and herb sauce, and curd filling with cream sauce plus a glass of white wine each. The dumplings we twice as big as we thought they would be, so we didn’t belong to the “clean plate club.”  

We went outside and were enjoying music played on the birbyne, a traditional wind instrument (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKJIRix3trA ) when Miina showed up. She volunteered to take us to the chocolate shop and help us order demitasse cups of hot melted milk chocolate. How decadent!

Next, we walked into an amber shop across the street where I saw a beautiful triangular Amber stone set in a silver filigree-type adjustable band. I decided to buy this very artistic-looking ring. We walked into several other shops, and we stopped to listen to a man playing the Bandura, national instrument of the Ukraine. Then we started walkng back to the hotel. On the way, we saw a young woman selling souvenirs at a table she had set up on the sidewalk. I purchased some beautiful Amber sun catchers. Now I have to convert more dollars into euros to be prepared to buy.

This evening we attended a glorious free organ concert at one of the Catholic churches we saw today. Bernhard Gfrerer from Salzberg, Austria played their glorious pipe organ for over an hour. Even though he played Mozart, Mendelssohn, and other composers, neither Linda nor I had ever heard any of the pieces he played! The packed audience in this church, many sitting on the floor or standing, gave him a standing ovation at the end of the concert. He played two encores. Afterward, ten of us went to a French restaurant for supper. Linda and I ordered the same thing except for different wines: French Onion Soup and bread, creme brûlée, and champagne.

After breakfast we were driven to the airport to take a flight to Vilnius, Lithuania. The smooth flight took about an hour. We flew above the clouds, and we could only see the ground on takeoff and landing.

A medium-sized bus was waiting for us, and it took us to Mabre Residence Hotel. Linda and I climbed two flights of stairs to our rooms since there was no elevator. We settled in, then we met the new members of the tour group who had not taken the pre-trip. Miina took us on a walking tour of the street where tourists like to shop and dine. She pointed out churches and wall decorations along the way so we would be able to go there on our own. We changed some dollars into Euros at a bank.

Later we ate dinner at a nearby restaurant. We ate tossed salad, pork, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and apple pie with chocolate drizzled over the top.

When I arrived back in my room, a spent some time hand washing a few articles of clothes. Now I am ready for tomorrow.