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The museum was small and filled with creepy skulls and outdated medical supplies.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.