Close to 11 pm we reached Trakai castle, we got out of the car to take a stunning view at this medieval castle in the brilliant night light. But it was closed at this time so we headed for a nearby camp and settled in for the night. We woke early morning and went into lake Trakai for an early morning swim, we were the 1st and only people there and it felt great, just the ducks kept us company. After the refreshing swim we made our way to the castle, ran in to reach it before a tour bus, then recalled we don’t have enough cash so we raced back and pulled out some money, only to come after the tour bus. On the way Alla got some Burekas type thing with too much onion for my taste. The castle is really nice, the best we have seen this trip and its situated on a small island in the lake, it’s the former capital of Lithuania and was brilliantly restored. We went in and went to the inner castle with an archery field so we tried using a bow and arrow, I managed to hit the target but not the center, I need to work on my technique but it’s really fun to unleash the arrows, and we tried some crossbow, you get to reload it and do it all yourself, this was much easier with something to look into to aim and I got 4/5 inside the middle ring of the target, bull’s-eye. Feeling more medieval than ever we explored the castle with its ancient armor, coins and manuscripts. This is the best kept castle in Lithuania. After the enjoyable visit we hurried back to camp to pay, then hurried back to Vilnius to return the car, we made it on time but then met Pavil, the car rental dude who decided to be extra Russian.
Before the rental they told us that if we don’t wash the car ourselves it will cost 20 (litas) , now he says 20 for the inside 20 for the outside. He went to check all the scratches , and I mean really check. This is a local car rental and we were already in the mood that we are about to get hassled somehow and Alla decided to get into an argument with this guy. We went to wash the car in a nearby self wash center and returned back paying 8.80 (better then 40) and now the guy “found” more scratches than the original guy found (Alla thinks it’s the same guy which makes this sham worse, I disagree, one of us is delirious), under the car… he called this “crash” a crash and I was in my , ok, a** what will it be, how much. And then some other guy came and said that under the car scratch is ok and let us go. We don’t know if this was a scam that went bad or for real but we left without paying extra with a bad taste, it was already after 1 pm and we didn’t have breakfast yet so we went for the super market and got bad food, other than the milk chocolate (so good here, it’s like Israeli Dani but in liquid form) the rest were bad. One roll with seeds that was dry as a dry desert, another something with unclear stuff inside and another roll with a cold hotdog inside! We threw it all out. We headed for the bus station and Tried to find a bus for Tallinn, the next one would be at 9 PM so we had another day in Vilnius, so we placed our bags in storage and headed back for the city. Right after passing the gates to the city we came across a salon that we know said 14 Litas for men’s haircut and you have seen the photos and know I need one bad. So we went in and it was the best hair cut ever. Not the quality of cutting but the 5 types of wash on my hair (which was in lake water earlier today) than cut, than another wash and shampoo, then more types of product, results are in another email, meanwhile Alla noticed a pedicure and got a treatment for herself. And when we came to pay my 14 became 40 (still cheaper then US, and well worth it but feels less since we thought it 14). Feeling cleaner and more stylish we went to breakfast at 4 pm and I had another Zeppelini (stuffed potatoes) which are my top Lithuanian Dish and Alla beet soup with chicken and mashed potatoes, which hit the hungry spot, we passed more shops and climbed the Gamenidis hill (city founder) and reach the top castle 10 minutes before closing but they wouldn’t let us in, but it was still a high hill with nice city views. We went back down and got ice cream than walked slowly through town to the bus station.
We used our last litas on provisions for the night (water, milk chocolate and yummy yogurt) and hopped on the 9 hr and 40 minutes bus ride to Tallinn. Never been on a night bus before, not a totally bad experience but not really recommended, the seats recline all the way but only if the person behind you reclines as well, ours did not and talked all the time.
So what is better, bus or train?
Bus- you have breaks every 2 hours and walk a bit while on the plain its hard to step off. You get food on the plain or the option to buy food on the closed stores outside. There is no middle seat on the night bus and the urinals are not the best in both. The plain reaches another continent in 9 hours, bus only 2 borders. Not sure which is better. In Estonia Stalin looking border patrolman checked our passports at about 4 am (does not happen on planes) and at 6:40 we were in Tallin, Estonia which is now my 50th country!!!!!!!!
We walked to our hostel which is an interesting service hostel, I think it’s a training school for hostel employees or a tech school dormitories , and the nice thing about it was the hot shower with the strong water flow, so nice after a night on the bus. We walked to Old town Tallinn and did the free walk (and gave donations later), the tour is nice but unlike the one in Riga, it focuses on the old city which makes it a regular tour (just free and not alternative as it aimed to be) but it is still a very nice tour, after that we went back to the hostel, Alla felt sick from my yummy yogurt which we drank now instead of the night before, after a few hours she was fine again and after that we did the self tour from our guide book which went back on almost the same tour as the free one but slowly with more meandering( meaning more shops, shops and looking at more shops). Tallinn is very pretty , and well kept medieval town but is somehow less impressive after our saturation with Riga and Vilnius, and with its too many tourists (more than the other cities) its feels too much. I tried some Schnapps in a Medieval looking place and Alla tried so way way too sweet( like syrup) black current juice and threw it away (it’s not our food shopping day). We were happy to discover a Lido (our place from Riga) with a branch here, the food was not as good, but still good (and more expensive with the euro).
Today we place our stuff in storage at the hostel and walked to town to catch the funky bike tour, but it was full, so we walked to the oldest pharmacy in Europe that still works (Boring even for Alla) and to the marzipan place (I dislike marzipan) , then we headed for the beach. We have been on the Baltic sea for the entire trip but we have not swam in it. We came to a nice windswept beach. Nice long wide starch of sand, sunny day but windy. The water were strangely yellowish, brownish, reddish kind of color, not sure from what. Very few people went in and those who did didn’t stay for long, so we stayed next to it taking a beach nap. At some point I went it. This beach is very shallow so you walk for more than a minute in the cold water below knee level till you reach well over knee level. I stayed at that level trying to adjust and waves kept hitting points of interest and making me shiver. I decided to plunge at the next wave, it came and went and I had several more of these “now” decision till I finally did it and came right out, went in again for 3.2 seconds and out again. That’s it I swam in the Baltic, I went quickly out back on the 1 minute shallow walk pass the algae. Alla stayed out but tomorrow she will plunge in Helsinki or bare the shame forever.
We walked back for 2 hours to town and had dinner at Lido once more. I enjoyed my spicy carrot salad and fries while Alla had some salads. We both had drinks, Alla with 3 berry kompots and me with 3 Kefirs (some yogurts with strawberries which I like very much, hence the 3) so now with belly full of yogurts we got our bags and began walking to the ferry, this is where we are now, on the ferry to Helsinki, we already see the city lights and we recently witnessed a sea sun set at close to 10 PM.
Last day it tomorrow L , well it was great and time for the big Finnish
Cheers from the ship superstar in Finnish international waters…
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