An early rise to sunny skies for a 8+ hour ride to Vilnius, Lithuania. The train was sold out, so I caught a bus instead. Surprisingly, the bus was faster than the train route. Go figure.
I’m headed northeast out of Poland toward the capital cities of the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, before finishing my last couple days in Helsinki, Finland.
We had a surprisingly aggressive bus driver who would pass other vehicles, especially semis, on two-lane highways with little room to spare. Always smooth so I guess he knew what he was doing. Gotta schedule to keep, ya know!
Northeastern Poland was pretty flat, with just a few rolling hills. Lots of farmland and forested areas of pines, cedars, and birches. There were also numerous lakes with resorts and cabins, and numerous hiking trailheads along the rural highways.
After 5 hours we crossed into Lithuania and moved the clock ahead an hour. The Baltic states and Finland are all an hour ahead of the rest of Europe. The scenery in Lithuania was largely the same, although the roads were clearly not as smooth or well maintained.
We passed through a beautiful town named, Druskininkai. It must be a popular resort town with massive parks, resorts, and rental cottages. There were also a much higher percentage of wooden houses as compared to the previous countries. Almost Scandinavian in appearance.
The bus arrived a couple minutes early to spectacular weather in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuanian. It’s a beautiful city of 550,000 inhabitants. I’ve already-y-y-y found-d-d-d that-t-t-t, like Prague, there are too many cobblestone streets here, although still a lovely city it seems.
A fifteen minute bouncy scooter ride got me to my hostel for the next couple days. Quite nice and conveniently located. After dropping my bag I headed out to see the local area.
There is a TON of road construction going on around the city that made navigation a challenge. Plus bike lane markings are limited, so a lot of guess work is involved on road / sidewalk routes.
Ascension of the Lord
Dinner was an amazing sampler of various Lithuanian favorites and some red house wine.
Try saying that…once! Anyway, the meal included: Fried bread sticks, fried bread with cheese and plum spread, fried chicken nuggets, chicken drumsticks, fried cheese donuts, fried pieces of cheese with spicy Jalapeño peppers, smoked pig ears, pickled olives, pickled cucumbers, and green onions. Served with garlic mayonnaise and adjika (spicy) sauces.
Now I’m full! Time to relax and plan out tomorrow’s day.
Words of wisdom, or just to amuse…?
In books, there hides great knowledge; knowledge is power; power corrupts; corruption is a crime; crime doesn’t pay… basically, if you keep on reading, you’ll end up a beggar.
A Captain’s Adventures 