I will start this blog with my journey to Lithuania.
Lithuania? Where? What country is that? Those were the questions asked by my friends when they found out about my trip to the Baltic states. Basically, the Baltic States comprises Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, a knowledge I gain from this trip.
Lithuania is the southernmost of the three Baltic states – and the largest and most populous of them. It was the first occupied Soviet republic to break free from the Soviet Union and restore its sovereignty via the declaration of independence on 11 March 1990. We flew in to Warsaw and took a coach towards Lithuania. On the way we stopped at Lomza in Poland, a place famous for its Lomza beer. I will write a separate post for Poland.
Our first stop in Lithunia was the town of Kaunas the 2nd largest city in Lithuania. It was a long journey from Warsaw to Lomza and finally to Kaunas. There was plenty of greenery and pine trees along the way. (I think they are pine trees). We reached Kaunas very late and had dinner at 11pm at Europa Royale Hotel Kaunas where we spent the night. That was like 4am Malaysian time which meant we'd been travelling for more than 24 hours! We were all dead tired! Little did we know then, that this was the beginning of a very badly planned journey by Parlo Tours our tour operator.
Kaunas is actually a small and quiet city. We had a photo stop at the city's old castle (Kaunas Pilis), 5 min from our hotel.
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| Old castle, Kaunas |
Next stop was the insular castle in Trakai, the ancient capital of Lithuania, 100km from Kaunas. The castle was built as a defensive fortress and was turned into the duke's residence, prison and is now a historical museum. As the castle is relatively new, being built in the 15th century, there wasn't much of achictectural stuff that impressed me at this place. But the scenery is beautiful. And it was freezing cold when we got there as it was raining. Inside the castle, the temperature was more bearable :)
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| Trakai Insular Castle |
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| Fridge magnets |
Souvenirs being sold at stalls on the way to the castle. These fridge magnets are made using wood and amber. I have always thought that amber is some kind of precious stone like jade. I found out in this trip that amber is actually some fossil resin derived from some kind of coniferous trees that no longer exist. It is light and feels like plastic.
Nice walk towards Trakai castle.
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| Trakai insular castle |
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| Inner compound of Trakai castle |
Trakai castle was built on several little islands on Lake Galve. Water used to come through the tunnels you see in the photo below, separating the castle into different parts.
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| Inside Trakai castle |
We climbed to the 2nd floor only. Hmmm...I wonder what's there in the upper most floor?
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| Inside Trakai castle |
This is the chapel in Trakai Castle with its gothic styled ceiling. It is some times used a concert hall in these modern days.
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| Chapel inside Trakai Castle |
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| Coat of arms of the various Dukes |
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| Painting in Trakai Castle |
This map shows the empire of the Grand Duke of Lithuania during his glorious days.
Next city, Vilnius.
