Get Me Out of Here!

Day 207
I woke up around 9 and got my act together. I packed up quickly and put my things into storage before heading to the bus station. I was headed to Traki Castle, about 40 minutes away. It's really a pretty cool castle located on an island that you have to go to another island to get to. Its all connected by tiny bridges though, so no boats!

Traki Castle was built in the 14th century to be a nobles home. It was occupied for a few hundred years, but then was no longer the cool place to be. It fell into ruin. In the 17th century the Russians attacked it, even though there really wasn't much going on here. As all the bridges had been destroyed there wasn't much access. The ruin just sat there. Luckily it was never mined for other buildings. In the 1960's restoration was begun. This took about 30 years.

Today the castle has a few odd collections in it. There are loads of medieval coins and several hundred clay pipes. There is also the mandatory collection of furniture. The thing that was missing was a detailed history about the castle.

I grabbed a hot dog before heading back to the bus stop. One the way there were 4 girls walking across, they refused to move over so I could pass and actually pushed me off of the side walk. What is wrong with these people?!?!

While I was waiting for the bus I met two friendly Aussie chicks. They too had complaints about how rude people were. At least I wasn't alone in that thought. Thankfully we did manage to meet the one friend Lithuanian there is and she helped us find the right bus. The ride back was quite nice as we chatted the whole way. One of the girls told me a story about loosing her pants in a park in Pampalona.

Back at the hostel I made an early dinner. The cleaning lady yelled at me to clean everything up. I had just sat down with my pasta. Was I meant to clean the plate before I could eat the food? I felt really uncomfortable hanging out there and had a late bus. I went back to the bar I had met Chad at, I was sorta hoping that I would run into him again. As luck would have it I did and we spent a couple of hours talking before I went to get my stuff at the hostel.

At the hostel the woman at reception yelled at me for making a mess while making tea. I hadn't even been in the kitchen. I have no idea why she would blame me and not one of the 2 dozen drunk Latvians that were running around like crazy people. I hated this hostel and I was beginning to really despise Lithuania as well.

I had never been so happy to get on a night bus before. All I could think was thank god I was leaving the country full of rude and disagreeable people!

Tourist Play

Day 206
My entire time on Lithuania has been a bit boring. Well, there was excitement yesterday, but not the kind I was really looking for. I really wanted to get out and see things in Vilnius, luckily I was able to wake up early enough to do that.

The first thing I checked out was the 17th century Gate of the Sun. It was pretty cool. I then walked into the Russian Orthodox Holy Spirit church. There was meant to be a few saints bodies here, unfortunately they were covered up by a blanket, all I could see were their slippered feet. How very disappointing.

I then found the church of St. Casimir. I didn't go in, but it had an interesting history. The baroque structure was built by the Jesuits in 1604. During the 18th century it was rebuilt, only to have Napoleon destroy it shortly afterwards. In 1868 it became a Russian Orthodox church. After WWII the building was turned into the Museum of Atheism. In 1991 it was returned to the Jesuits.

My first real site of the day was the Lithuanian History Museum. This had a wide range of objects, from Egyptian to loads of old nails. There was a large section on an 1830-31 uprising by the serfs. Apparently the Jesuits arrived in 1569 and brought the idea of higher education with them. Lithuania was converted to Christianity in 1387, years after the rest of Europe. I wasn't allowed to take pictures and that made it a bit less fun.

There is a huge hill with a fort looking thing on it behind the museum. I walked all the way around only to find out that it was closed. Bummer. After checking out the Parliament building I went to the Jewish Museum. It was closed, however, for technical reasons. I have no idea what that means.


I was a bit foot sore at this point and grabbed some pizza for lunch. It was ok, but it took ages to get the check.

Nearby was the Museum of Genocide Victims. This wasn't really what it was about though, it was an occupation museum. It was housed in the former KGB headquarters and prison. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I found some that people before me had snuck.

Lithuania's occupation story was much like Estonia and Latvia. One bit that is a bit different is that in 1939 Hitler occupied the Klaipeda area under the pretenses that it had belonged to Germany at some point. When the Soviet Union took over the rest of the country the newly appointed Russian government officials said that they were there to "bring back Stalin's sunshine." I somehow think that the Lithuanians disagreed. About 11,000 people were deported in one year alone, only have returned. Stalin had about 3 times as many people deported and or killed as Hitler did.

Tourists were allowed into parts of the country, but they were followed constantly. When the KGB occupied the building they had a place called the Room of Glories. This was meant to be a museum that depicted their greatest achievements. It was really disturbing.

The basement was a KGB prison and had been left as it was found. Most of the rooms had space for 4 prisoners. The padded cell was meant for those that wouldn't confess or for torture. The squalid solitary confinement room was not long enough for a person to lay down in. I really could hardly stand the place, it was so creepy.

On my way back to the hostel I found the Frank Zappa monument. I don't know why it was here, he never was. I guess that he had fans. Back at the hostel I ate dinner and spent quite a bit of time working on the blog. It's nice to finally get caught up!

Around 8 I started to get bored and managed to find a really laid back pub. I met several Americans who were in town for several months for some sort of construction thing. A couple of them were pretty drunk and left early. I spent most of the time talking with Chad. Around midnight we called it a night and I headed back to the hostel. I was happy to finally have had a busy day in Lithuania.

Bazarro World

Day 205
By breakfast time I was pretty much all packed up. There were loads of buses to Vilnius so I wasn't on a time schedule. I decided to pull myself away from Animal Planet and actually get some blogging done while I had free internet. I am really mad at myself for getting so far behind with the blog. This needs to stop, not the blog, being behind.

By the grace of the travel gods I made it to the bus station on my first try and only had to wait about 10 minutes for a bus. I watched Walk the Line to entertain myself on the just over an hour trip. I found my hostel with no problems and changed my booking from 3 nights to 2. My next destination was way further away than I had thought.

As it was rather late in the day and the guy at the front desk had said he would take out whoever wanted to go I decided to spend the evening deciding on a plan for the next night, making dinner and blogging. I also spent some time chatting with the other people in the hostel.

There was a group of Belorussian guys in the room off of the common room. I could hear them yelling and screaming at one another. At one point they were so loud that the hostel called the cops on them. After they arrived there was more silence. I was in and out of the common room so I don't know if the cops were still around when this happened. I was writing when I heard a noise behind me. One of the guys was out of the room, he had a huge bump on his head and there was blood everywhere. I had never seen so much blood. Apparently, the night before, he had tried to feel up another woman in the bar. I didn't want to be alone with him but to leave I had to walk by him. He didn't even notice me. There was just so much blood it was unbelievable. It wasn't long before an ambulance came and took him away.

The guy at the hostel was really ready for a drink when his shift ended. He took me and a Swedish couple in their late 50's to a jazz club. The music was live and it was pretty good. The Swedes were pretty drunk though and the man was a bit offensive. I was pretty happy when they decided they were took drunk and left. The hostel guy and I moved tables to join some of his friends. They were quite friendly, but we didn't stay long. Hostel guy was telling me that I should stay at his sisters the following night and I was trying to figure out his motives. Hostel guy was nice enough to walk me back before heading home himself.

This had been an extremely odd evening and I fell into bed exhausted.

Playing Hooky

Day 204
Breakfast was at 9 and I had no problems getting myself ready by then. I love a free breakfast, I ate as much as I could fit inside of myself.

My plan for the day was to visit the Ninth Fort. This is where the Nazi's slaughtered about 50,000 people and a former KGB prison. There is meant to be a memorial there and a museum.

Now, when I get on a bus and I don't know when to get off I tend to just ask the people around me. This time when I asked I was completely ignored. People would just turn their heads. I never knew that I was so threatening. Eventually the bus stopped and everyone got off. I was at the end of the line. After about a 15 minute walk I found the next bus station and waited for the bus. Again I asked for help and no one replied. It was also pouring rain at this point and I decided to just give up.

I got off the bus and tried to figure out how to get to the mall. I figured I'd go and see a movie. Once again I went past it and no one helped. On the way back I passed it as well. I was getting so frustrated. I have never had so many problems getting places. I have never had so many people simply ignore me. I usually get poor-little-foreign-girl-all-alone looks, not disgust. In the region guide that I picked up at the tourist office the mayor wrote that “the citizens of Kaunas are very friendly and tolerant towards the foreign-borns.” I have clearly ended up in a different city.

When I had passed the mall again I got off the bus. I was going to just try it again, but I was on a one way street and needed to look for another bus stop. Somehow I ended up on the main shopping street. There was a Hesburger here and I decided to go. At least I could get some food that I liked! I had issues ordering and somehow ended up with two burgers. They guy behind me had problems ordering as well. His name was Gary and he was from Australia.

Gary and I ate lunch together and then decided to hide from the rain by playing pool and drinking a few beers. I was terrible, but it was nice to chat with someone and get my frustrations out. The gods of travel (or the travel angels as Elaine had put it in Paris) really do come through when you need them the most.

When the rain had stopped we decided to check out the old town that I had visited the day before. In the region guide it says that you will know that you are in the old town from the distinctive 16^th century phone booths. Wow, Lithuania sure was advanced.

After some more chatting and wandering we parted ways. I headed back to my hotel thinking I would spend the evening blogging. Instead Heartbreakers and the 40 Year Old Virgin was on tv. I couldn't pass it up and fell asleep before I could get any work done.

A Fresh Start

Day 203
I got up at 6, I wanted the heck out of this town. By 10 am I was in Kaunas. I figured that Lithuania and I just got off on the wrong foot, it was time for a fresh start and a new city.

Lithuania, however, didn't feel this way. I knew what bus to take to get to my hotel but not when to get off. Usually I just ask people and they tell me when to get off. This time my questions were ignored and it got to the point that I knew I had passed it.

I got on the next bus in the right direction. Luckily there was a woman who was friendly and she told me when to get off. I'm actually staying in a hotel here, there aren't any hostels in Kaunas. I was pretty excited to find out that I had a tv with loads of channels in English. After resting for a bit I headed to the city center.

The first thing I found was the St. Michael the Archangel church. From a distance it looked amazing, up close though, I could see that it really needed a lot of work.

Wandering a bit more I found a very strange sculpture garden and the Devil Museum. Pictures were not allowed but I managed to sneak a few. There were over 2,000 devil images here. The devil is prevalent in Lithuanian folklore and various stories were scattered among the horned figures. My favorite story was of the man who was asked by the devil to do a favor. The man said yes as long as the devil would fill his had with money. The man then took the hat, put a hole in it and put it on top of his chimney. Soon his house was full of money and the hat was still not full. Tobacco is thought to be an invention of the devil and calling alcohol fire water is a devil reference. In folklore witches are the devils wife. The most interesting object showed Stalin and Hitler as devils.

After strolling down the main street and grabbing a cup of tea I headed to the Museum of Pharmacy and Medical History. I was a bit surprised to get a guided tour. The guy didn't speak much English, but he was nice. While explaining how a water distiller worked he told me that the first president of Lithuania was from Leipzig. I really didn't understand and tried to get him to explain, but my questions just confused him. I let it pass. He then told me that the president of Lithuania was from Luxembourg. This is when I realized that he wasn't saying president, but rather present.

The museum was small and filled with creepy skulls and outdated medical supplies. The last room was a recreated pharmacy from about 1900. My guide opened up the cash register and showed me Stalin era Soviet money as well as Nazi money. I don't really know what that was doing in a pharmacy museum, but it did make sense that it was being kept in the cash register.

When I was done I took a stroll around Santakos park and checked out the remains of a castle. It was starting to get dark at this point and I decided to head back to the hotel. On the way I stopped at the grocery store for dinner. There was a stand that I thought made smoothies and I went to get one. The woman told me that she made juice. I couldn't read anything so I just asked for her favorite. I ended up with carrot juice.

Back at the hotel I watched Field of Dreams and Globetrekker before falling asleep around midnight.

Lithuania 2 – Kathryn 0

Day 202
The plan for today was to go and check out a seaside town with big sand dunes. Because it was the off season there was only one bus a day. It would get me there just in time to make the one bus a day back to Klaipeda. This town sucks!

I didn't want to see another movie and I actually wasn't feeling too great. It was also raining. I spent the morning inside watching ANTM. When the sun came out I headed back downtown. I figured that I would try the brewery again. I never quite made it there. It started to pour again and I decided to just give it up. I went into a grocery store to pick up some stuff. While I was in line a woman just cut in front of me, she didn't say anything, just shoved me aside. Yesterday when I was asking for directions people would ignore me and just walk away. What the heck is wrong with the people here?

Back at the hostel I had the place to myself. I ate my junk food and watched ANTM until I was tired and could take no more.

Lithuania is really kicking my butt!

Lithuania 1, Kathryn 0

Day 201
When the bus stopped it took me a minute to realize that I had arrived in Klaipeda. The bus was meant to arrive at 5:30 am, but we got there at about 4. I had no choice but to walk to the hostel and see if they would let me in. Luckily the girl working there was really nice. I couldn't get a bed, but she let me sleep on the sofa for a few hours. I actually tried to do some bloging because the internet was free, but it was a very slow computer and I just didn't have the patience. I fell asleep with my sleep sheet and coat as blankets.

Around 9 am people started waking up and I was too cold to sleep any longer. I was able to check in and got a bed from an early departure. I didn't want to hang around though, I wanted to see Klaipeda. Yes, it does sound like a std to me too.

I didn't have a map and I got really lost trying to get downtown. Eventually I found it though. I was disappointed to see that because it was Sunday the tourist office was closed. No map for Kathryn. I then found a building with a giant spider on the side of it. When I found the history museum I was really irritated to find that it was closed on Sunday and Monday.

On the way to the brewery I found a market. It was a bit quiet but there was still stuff to check out. Some people seemed like professionals, while some were selling mushrooms that probably came from their backyards. When I got to the brewery I was really irritated to find out that it was closed as well.

I had no idea what to do with myself at this point. I just walked back to the hostel. On the way I found a bridge with a bunch of padlocks on it. They had names and dates, all from 2008, on them. I have no idea why.

Back at the hostel the girl there suggested that I go to the mall. I would be able see a movie and get a new book there. They also had a pharmacy. My allergies had been bugging me and I knew that both of my ears had small infections.

This was the biggest mall that I had seen in a very long time. There was a bowling alley, a skating rink, a pool hall, and loads of restaurants. After getting a movie ticket I went to the book store and took my time picking something out. I then spent about an hour on the internet, just screwing around.

At the pharmacy I was able to get some ear drops. I also picked up a long sleeved shirt and ate at a Hesburger that looked like an Aztec temple. One of the restaurants that I didn't eat in had live chickens in cages.

After the movie I went back to the hostel and spent some time online before calling it a night.