Friday October 15th, 2010
Departure at noon and arrival on Friday afternoon at 4pm in Kaunas (Lithuania is one hour difference). As we arrive at the airport (we landed 30 minutes in advance), we call the car rental and wait for the car at the airport. Then we head to the hotel.
There is traffic and we lose a bit of time. The hotel is centrally located, 50 meters from the main square. We park the car and leave our bags at the hotel, we begin to explore the city. We start from the main square where there are 3 churches (the cathedral, a church and a Jesuit monastery) and the town hall, with its high white tower. Then, we walk along the two main pedestrian streets, the second 1.6 km long. On this road there are several shops, and the center is occupied by two rows of plants. We walk all the street till the church “St. Mykola Arkangel Kauno Igulos Kataliku Baznycia”.
Time passed quickly and it is now dark. Then we go back. In Vilniaus gatve we begin to look around to find a place to have dinner. There are some nice restaurants with reasonable prices, and after looking 2 or 3, we choose one. After dinner, before returning to the hotel, we walk a bit around the city and take some pictures with illuminated monuments. Back from the square, we walk to Perkuno Namas, one of the houses marked on all the guides. From there we head towards the river, passing by the church “Vytauto Baznycia” and the bridge Vytauto Didzioji Tiltas. The bridge has a long history, built and destroyed several times, once marked the border between Prussia and Poland (and also the boundary between two different calendars).
From the bridge, however, you can enjoy a beautiful view over the city. We return to our hotel, which is near.
Saturday October 16th, 2010
Today it’s sunny but the air is rather cold.
As soon as we leave the hotel we go to the castle (not far). Although in the pictures it looks like a very big castle, in reality there is only a tower and part of walls. We turn around and see the latest things that we had no time to see in the light on the previous day (like the Presidential Palace and the Statue of Liberty). By car we go to Kauno Paminkline Kristaus Prisikelimo Baznycia, on a hill and we climb to the terrace to admire the view over the city.
Leaving the city we stop at Pazaislio Vienuolynas, a former convent that sits on the banks of the Kauno Marios (an artificial lake built for a hydroelectric power plant).
We planned to leave Kaunas immediately after breakfast, and instead we stayed until after noon. It’s now time to leave the city to head to Bialystok, Poland. We stop for lunch in Suwalki, in the afternoon we reach our goal. From home we didn’t book any hotel, so we look for it when we arrive. We don’t have any difficulty, at the second hotel we see, we like it and we decide to stop there.
The hotel is located just behind the main square (in this journey all the hotels were in good position). We begin to explore the city: the market square, the town hall, the cathedral, the palace Branickich (university) and some other monuments. After dinner we walk a bit and then we go back to the hotel.
We decide to book an hotel for tomorrow night, returning to the hotel in Kaunas.
Sunday October 17th, 2010
We return to Lithuania, choosing a different route on the outward and through the many forests surrounding Bialystok. For lunch we arrive in Trakai, stopping in old Trakai to visit a church. Then we visit the castle (partly reconstructed).
Since we are very close to Vilnius, we decide to make a stop in the capital, we walk the main streets. When we are about to leave the city, the sun comes back, and it gives a great light to the city: we cannot avoid to take some pictures. Then we reach Kaunas where we have dinner in a restaurant different from the first evening.
Monday October 18th, 2010
We have no more time for sightseeing, so after breakfast, we take the car and we return to the airport. At noon we are back at home.
