We are driving our motorhome around north-eastern Europe for 6 months, and have just crossed out of eastern Poland into southern Lithuania. Our first stop there was Marijampolé, a city with a chequered history of occupation, and lots of churches.
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| St Michael’s Basilica, Marijampolé, Lithuania |
Looking around, the church that caught our eye was the twin spires of the white Basilica of St Michael. But there were many other attractive churches too. We also saw a huge city square, an interesting railway station, and many Soviet-style housing blocks.
Lithuania dates back to 10,000 BC. In 1940, it was annexed by the Soviet Union along with Latvia and Estonia (the 3 Baltic States). It took 50 years before Lithuania would once again, claim its independence. Travelling here over a decade later, there is still a sense of the Soviet influence.
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| Sunset over Lake Galvė, Trakai, Lithuania |
We were looking forward to seeing more of this Baltic state, and so drove on to Trakai, where we found a camping ground on the edge of Lake Galvė. It was pretty, but the mosquitoes were quite prolific, even more so than on our recent visit to the Białowieża Forest - bug stuff is essential.
Our neighbours were a Swiss couple who were very interesting to chat to, and they shared information on campsites in other parts of Lithuania that we are yet to explore. They said the campsite in Vilnius, the capital city, didn’t open for another 2 weeks, so it's just as well we didn’t go there first!
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| Marg outside some Trakai wooden houses, Lithuania |
Trakai is very pretty, quite old, and surrounded by lakes. All the houses there are wooden, which seems typical in Lithuania. Trakai has been inhabited by a range of different nationalities over time, such as Karaims, Tatars, Lithuanians, Russians, Jews, and Poles. The houses reflect the different architectural styles of those inhabitants, and are very interesting.
There was a bumpy cycle track from the campground, around the lake into Trakai. We used this several times, avoiding tree roots and potholes as best we could, to get to the village. It was an interesting cycle and great fun.
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| Marg at the top of Trakai Castle, Lithuania |
On one outing, we visited the restored Trakai Castle. It sits on a small island in the lake, and is now a national museum. We had an interesting time wandering around admiring the beautiful treasures they have there.
Trakai is about 30 mins from Vilnius. So, the next day we cycled into Trakai again, left our bikes there, and caught a bus into Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
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| Sv Kazimieros Street, Old Town Vilnius (UNESCO), Lithuania |
The Vilnius bus stop is very close to the old town, and once we held our map around the right way (!), we set off to explore it. Dating back to 1323, Vilnius is now famous for having the best-preserved old town in northern, eastern, and central Europe, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We wandered around it for ages seeing monuments, St Anne’s Church, St Peter and Paul’s Church, the Presidential Palace where Napoleon Bonaparte lived for some time, attractive Pilies Street with its beautiful shops and cafes, and more.
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| Leigh at Gedimina's Tower, Vilnius (UNESCO), Lithuania |
After that, we wandered some more seeing Cathedral Square and the cathedral, and the city gates. But it seemed so much more subdued than other capital cities we have been to, and lacked some of the vibrancy.
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| Skyline of the new city centre of Vilnius, Lithuania |
We did however, spot a more modern looking city across the river (new compared to the historic old town), but did not have the inclination to really explore it, being more attracted to the historic centre.
Later, we asked a young teenager and his mother for directions to the bus station and he translated from English to her - they were very helpful and friendly. English seems to be spoken by only a few people here, but most are helpful - although sometimes they are too shy to smile.
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| Marg at the Orthodox Church of St. Paraskeva, Vilnius (UNESCO), Lithuania |
On our next visit, we saw several more churches that reflect the varied populations of Vilnius, including the pretty Orthodox Church of St. Paraskeva, the two pink churches of St Catherine’s and St Casmir, and the Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard.
Meanwhile, back at the Trakai campsite, a very large noisy contingent of German campers had left, so we had a quiet afternoon. But in the evening, there was a street party and the music was diabolically loud, and went until 5.30 am! Needless to say, we had very little sleep. Then, after some young drunk guys had a very loud conversation outside Vanni at 7.30 am, we gave up and moved on.
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| Marg at the Hill of Angels, Trakai, Lithuania |
Leaving the Trakai campsite, we came across the Hill of Angels. This is around 26 very tall oak sculptures of angels, that are scattered across a hill as a monument to ‘Faith, Tolerance and Love’. It opened in 2010 to commemorate the Millennium of Lithuania, and the 600th anniversary of the Trakai Church.
The Lithuanian folk-artist Algimantas Sakalauskas started the Hill of Angels. Later other wood carvers joined him, so each angel is different.
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| Leigh at Girija (Centre of Europe), Lithuania |
Nearby was the small village of Purnuškės (population 120), which was identified in 1989 as the centre of Europe. However, this was later revised to be 1 km up the road in the smaller village of Girija (population 9). The centre of Europe is now marked in Girija by a pillar with a crown of stars.
Later, we stopped for diesel and an old gentleman came over and expressed much amazement that we were from New Zealand. His son spoke English and explained that his father was a traveller too, had seen our NZ flag, and really admired how far we had come. He also loved our motorhome!
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| St. Joseph's Wooden Church and belltower, Palūšė, Lithuania |
Driving north-east now, we went through several small villages, with some having old and interesting wooden churches. One of these was in Palūšė, where we saw a church with an octagonal bell tower (the only one like this in Lithuania apparently).
Built in 1750, it is considered to be the oldest surviving wooden church in Lithuania and was constructed with saws and axes, and without using nails.
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| Lake Lūšiai, Aukštaitija National Park, Lithuania |
We were now in the Aukštaitija National Park which is a 200-year-old forest with many lakes. We spotted a wild deer in one of the fields, and many storks as we drove through this pretty area.
Although Lithuania still shows signs of its communist past with dreadful Soviet style apartments, drab clothing styles (mostly in older people), and generally a rather reserved outlook on life, we enjoyed seeing this corner of it. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of it in a month or so. But for now, we are headed to Daugavpils in Latvia.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around northern and eastern Europe, which began in Prague.