I walked over to Saint Anne’s. I visited Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Bernard’s Convent, thinking that was Saint Anne’s, but learned the next day, these are two separate churches.

I window shopped on Pilies Gavte, the main street with many restaurants and stores. I found a beautiful pair of amber earrings. I had a late lunch at Pilies Katpedele, some great potato pancakes with bacon and mushrooms.

I had a few beers at Craft and Draft late afternoon before meeting my small group and guide, Signe, a Latvian, that evening.

We started our walking tour the next morning, with Signe and a local guide. Sunday was Father’s Day in Lithuania and the Catholic Congress was in town with a large gathering on the square in front of the Cathedral, so the town and streets were quite busy.

We started in front of the Cathedral, seeing the Baltic Way memorial and the “Miracle Tile”. We visited the old university, founded by the Jesuits. We walked past the Grand Palace that I had visited the day before and the local guide stopped to recommend a visit.

We talked about the history of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania, and the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. We saw Gediminas Tower, walked down Pilies Gavte, visited some of the quiet courtyards in town with houses built around a shared area. We went back to Saint Anne’s where I learned I visited St. Francis. I thought it was interesting to hear there were over 30 specialized brick shapes to build the gothic facade of Saint Anne’s. There was a service beginning in Saint Anne’s and we quietly listened to some of the music.

We stopped at Tibet Square, and the art district along the Vilnia River, then visited the Uzupis neighborhood. It’s part of Old Town, and “uzupis” means beyond the river. It declared itself the Republic of Uzupio in 1998 with it’s own constitution. 

We visited the old Jewish Quarter, learning about the ghettos built here during WWII. We made a stop at the lovely bakery, Poniu Laime. We also visited Literature Street and the courtyard of the Presidential Palace. This is normally closed to the public but was open for Father’s Day. There is a lovely fountain. The KGB museum that was on our itinerary was closed today.

Later that afternoon, I walked back to the Uzupis neighborhood and had lunch at Uzupio Kavine. Both the local guide, Elisabeth, and Signe recommended it, saying if there is a spot on the deck, grab it. When I returned, it was almost empty, so I had no problem getting a seat. I ordered the national dish of Lithuania, “cepelinai” or zeppelins, potato dumplings. Made from grated potatoes and “stuffed” with meat or cheese or mushrooms. These were described at filled with ground pork but just had a small meatball inside lots of rather tasteless potatoes. I was served two, very large, and didn’t finish even one. The potato pancakes I had the night before were much better. I did enjoy sitting on the deck and the view of the Vilnia River. I visited some of the art galleries in this area.

I went to see Three Crosses. The town’s Gay Pride parade was starting so I walked along, enjoying their music, while I walked up the hill. The parade was headed to Kalnu Park but I left halfway to continue to the crosses. There are beautiful views of the city from here.

After walking back down through the park, I went to see Gediminas Tower. After all the steps up to the Three Crosses, I decided to be lazy and take the funicular up. 2€ one way or 3€ round trip. I just wanted the view, and skipped paying to see the exhibits in the tower. There are great views of Three Crosses, the Neris River, Old Town, and all of Vilnius from here.

I returned to walk through the Jewish Quarter, now called the Glass Quarter, full of art galleries. I visited the churches of Saint Casimir, Saint Teresa and the Basilica Gate, the Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas, and Town Square. I stopped at the recommended shop, Dziugas. It’s a cheese shop but I just ordered a cup of excellent pistachio ice cream. Their cheeses looked excellent but I was going to be in a van for a week and didn’t know if all our lodging had refrigerators. They didn’t.

Trakai

We left the next morning to drive to Pakruojis. We had several stops along the way. Our first was the lovely little town of Trakai, where we stopped for 90 minutes. The town has colorful, wooden houses.

Trakai Castle, built for the Grand Duke of Lithuania in the 14th c, is under renovation but still open. Everyone else just had coffee but I walked across the bridges on Lake Galve to visit the castle. Tickets are 14€, half price for students and seniors.

There were renovations in the outer courtyard. I visited the inner courtyard across the drawbridge, the towers, and the exhibits. Despite Signe saying not much to see here, I strongly disagree. The castle is well worth the time and money. I also had time to walk around the outer walls, enjoying the views of the lake and town, before returning to the van.

Kaunas

We made a short drive to Kaunas. We had a quick walking tour. Kaunas was the capital of Lithuania between 1920 and 1939, while Vilnius was annexed by the Poles. Most of the buildings date from the 17th c. We walked past the castle, then visited Saint George the Martyr, or Kauno Šv. Jurgio Kankinio, church from the 15th c. It has beautiful stained glass. Like the Vilnius Cathedral, it was used as a warehouse during the Soviet occupation.

We walked through the huge town square and then stopped to talk about the patron god Perkunas at the House of Perkunas, or House of Thunder, used as the old tax house. We walked down to the river.

I joined several group members and Signe at Perkunas Stalas. Most of them ordered the cepelinias, but I had already tried those and once was enough. They had a stuffed chicken breast on their lunch special and it was very good.

After lunch I went over to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul before we had to return to the van. We only had two hours here, I could have spent a day. Lovely town.

Pakruojis

We spent the night in Pakruojo Manor, at the Miller’s House Hotel. The manor is a living museum consisting of 34 buildings including a main house, stable block, mill, and perfumery, all set within a stunning park. We had a tour of the park and garden with one of the staff. There are lots of interesting statues in the park. We visited the main house, then the brewery.

We met the brewer, dressed like a monk, and tried several of their beers, including a very good Baltic porter. We had dinner later in the restaurant, some good salmon. I had a comfortable room, if very small, but others on the tour complained about the layouts and single beds.

The next morning, on the way to Riga, Latvia, we took a short detour to Siauliai and visited the Hill of Crosses. We had about 20 minutes to walk through the site before continuing our trip. This used to be a bigger hill but the Soviets bulldozed it several times.  The legend is that a man had a sick daughter and prayed for her recovery. He had a vision or dream to build a cross for her on the hill here and by the time he returned down the hill, his daughter had recovered and was running to meet him. There are thousands of crosses here, from the size of necklaces to several meters.

Restaurants

Vilnius

• Pilies Katpedele
• Craft and Draft
• Poniu Laime has an excellent selection of macaroons and other baked items. I had a delicious caramel cheesecake.
• Uzupio Kavine
• Cheese Džiugas House (Sūrio Džiugas Namai)
• Ruta chocolate

• Perkunas Stalas

• Pakruojo Manor