Our Fifth Day

Friday June 1, 2018

We had quite a long day today, and it's not even really over yet!

Our alarms went off at 6:15AM so we could catch a bus to the train station. We had to be there before our 7:50AM train left for Trakai, which is the home of Trakai Castle! We had prepped all our food the night before, so pretty much all we had to do was grab our stuff and hustle out the door!

 






If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you already know we stopped at this really lovely chocolate shop on our walk up the cities main street to the castle. I was having a rough morning with my allergies and just generally feeling a little down - a little due to being sleep-deprived, a little due to missing people that are no longer with us, and a little due to wishing we had our dog with us. But, as always, a little chocolate did the trick to cheer me right up!

Once we made it to the castle we were blown away with how much history there was in this little part of Lithuania!

The high walls and spires are made of a mixture of cobblestone and red brick, much of which is the original structure. We learned that the Trakai Castle had been built once, then suffered a fire and had to be rebuilt. They took the opportunity to redesign it and add a few new features, of course. Throughout history, the castle was a fortress during the many wars that Europe faced, but eventually it was abandoned and fell into a state of ruin. In the early 20th century the castle was restored and now it serves as a sort of museum and historical landmark, which reminds everyone that Lithuania once was a large and powerful Empire in Europe.

One reason I really wanted to come to Lithuania is because growing up I was always told about how my great-great grandparents immigrated to America from Lithuania. My great-grandma, who was always referred to as "Nana" was the first American-born citizen on my mother's side of the family. She died shortly after I was born, so I never had the chance to know her, but with the loss of my Grandma this past January... and then my mother last week... I just have been feeling a strong urge to reconnect with this side of my family heritage. While I was in the castle, I was struck with the realization that at some point in the not-so-distant past, some of my relatives could have been walking on the same land inside these walls that I was treading over today. It gave me goosebumps to think of how many people this amazing structure has seen come and go throughout the years, and I found myself wishing walls could talk. If they could, I would have had so many questions to ask them!

The Great Hall reminded us of a church with its stained-glass windows and rows of pews but, instead of a pulpit and cross, it featured two ornate thrones.

We wandered through room after room displaying all the beautiful art and tools that people of the past had developed, from porcelain dishes, glass-beaded tapestries, enameled utensils, and so much more!

We also gazed at the various weapons and armor that were used by armies and guards in the ancient days, each blade and shield a reminder that what we watch on television and call "fantasy" today was all too real for the people of the past. It's easy to romanticize it all in hindsight, but it's also important to learn from our histories and strive to prevent it from repeating. That is ultimately why we restore, protect and study these monuments and artifacts.       

Still, of course, Tim and I had to have a little fun playing in the shackles, cages, and gallows in the castle courtyard! It's not gloom and doom all the time, after all! 😁 


After the castle we decided to sample some authentic Lithuanian cuisine in the form of kibinas! 
Again, if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you will have seen my post about the taste comparison we did for two different vendors of this local delicacy! We could have taken a bus home earlier, but we decided to wait around and enjoy the view of the lake so that we could take the train home - which was just a much more pleasant experience all around. 

Once we got back to our neighborhood, we popped into a market for a few items we needed for dinner which I just finished eating not too long before finishing this post!

I hope everyone is still enjoying our updates! Let us know if there's anything you want to hear more about, or any places you think we should visit in Lithuania!

Love from across the pond! <3

Checkout all of our photos in our European Adventure 2018 album:

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0WGrq0zwG7hjZE