Klaipeda Hotel Vilnius

... Decide on staying in the room tonight and not venturing out exploring as the rain seems to have set in for the night. Well I say rain, its more like that light wimpy drizzle that occurs when the rain really cant be bothered to come and play full on but feels it needs to make an appearance because its been dull and cloudy all day and if we dont get some rain we feel a bit short changed.<br>

... Baltic north country, though even in Vilnius you&#8217;re still almost 55 degrees north latitude, which is farther north than Edmonton on the other side of the northern hemisphere and as far as you could go south even in Tierra del Fuego. Still it&#8217;s already dusk as our bus takes off at 9pm, and little by little we crawl further under the ...

... the evening. As I say, if you don't mind too much where you end up, much of interest can be found. After realising that we were further away from the main part of the Old Town than we had intended, we happened to be near a place we'd thought too far away to visit, so this time we headed there deliberately. The Gates of Dawn are the only gates of the original 16th century town wall still intact. The gate building houses the 18th century Chapel of the Blessed Mary - which ...

... but I was headed a little bit further to begin my Lithuanian experience. I was going to a small city called Klaipeda. It's on the Baltic Sea coast and is actually close to Liepaja. The two places are probably only a few hours apart. I think I could have got a bus direct from Liepaja to Klaipeda but not being able to read Latvian I wasn't sure exactly when it came to reading the bus schedule so I opted to play it safe and back track. Plus I don't think a bus went to Klaipeda until ...

... tell you all at this point, we have not paid for a single method of public transport since hitting the Baltics - I know how naughty are we!!But the bus drivers really do not care, and we have never once seen an inspector - we're on a budget here, gotta make savings where we can!Its quite interesting on the buses, as you dont generally know where you're getting off, but just judge it by the other people on the bus and if they look like they would be going into the ...

... to the old town is through the 16th century 'Gates of Dawn' approximately 500meters from the hostel. The gate is the only intact remainder of the town's original nine gates. If I was going to give Vilnius a nickname it would be, the city of 1000 churches. Now I've no idea exactly how many churches there are but believe me when I tell you it's a lot. At the gates alone there are 4 churches, with the pink domed 17th century orthodox church of the Holy ...

... to dodge anti-utopia. At least it has so far. Or at least that's what we've been taught in schools. But let's say at least that such centres have not precisely converted me and turned me into their biggest fan. Of course, my general aversion to such type of places was no reason whatsoever not to take a walk around. After all, liking or disliking something, without ever making an attempt to get acquainted with it, was even less smart than the paranoia that I may be accused of ...

... restaurant-lined street, and the centre of tourist activity in the old town, I headed shopping! My experience in Riga had convinced me of the necessity of alternative footwear, and I figured different shoes would offer a nice break from hiking boots, as well. Lithuanian stores (including Marks and Spencer and La Senza) sell clothing at western prices, which I rather expected, but it makes me wonder what percentage of their annual incomes Baltic women spend on clothes ...

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... mainly well dressed, and normal looking, even if half of them were drunk, or in the process of becoming drunk. We finally arrived in Trakai, and wanted to get straight back onto the bus back as there was not much around. But we persevered, and walked in the direction that most people seemed to be walking until we came across a Tourist information. We picked up a map, and saw that the castle we had come to see was not very far away ...