Vilnius; Tuesday, 29 May, 2007

The now customary overnight spectacular storm was delayed. When I woke at about 4:30 the sunlight was streaming through a crack in the curtains, and at this point, whilst had paid a quick visit to the toilet, I seriously started to give some consideration as to how I was going to deal with the "land of the midnight sun" in six weeks time. I closed the curtains and quickly fell back asleep. To my concern, when I next awoke it was dark again, had I slept the whole day through, a few seconds later it became quite clear why as the room was illuminated by a bright flash, and almost instant boom and the sound of the contents of the Baltic sea being emptied onto the roof (and being on the top floor it was a little noisy). I checked my watch, just before 8, outside you could just hear the shouts of school children and commuters getting soaked. I turned over, pulled the duvet a bit tighter and blissfully snoozed for over an hour (have I ever given the impression that I'm a nice person!)

By 9 the storm clouds were disappearing behind the hills to the west of Vilnius, and light fluffy clouds, with the odd hint of blue were the order of the day. With a another large breakfast in me I headed to the bus stop and onwards to the station to head out to the temporary inter-war capital of Lithuania, Kaunas.

In the frantic horse trading the took place after the first world war Europe was carved up by the victors and their allies, in some cases settling old scores, and in other cases trying to re-invent empires. At it's height the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Dutch of Lithuania, was an important country, and Vilnius's population reflected that with the Poles in the majority. With that still the case in 1918 Vilnius and the surrounding area ceased to be part of a newly independent Lithuania, but instead became part of Poland. Without a capital it fell on Kaunas, the second city (and third largest in the Baltic’s) of Lithuania to take on the mantle of capital. And so it remained until the manoeuvrings of Molotov and Ribbentrop carved up Eastern Europe between the USSR and Germany. Lithuania got Vilnius back, but also got a detachment of Red Army troops that equalled and eventually heavily outnumbered the Lithuanian army.

I, just, caught the 10:30 express bus to Kaunas, which completed the 100Km journey in about 75 minutes (on roads where there were several long stretches of 40KMH restricted roadwork’s!) The bus was moving so fast that it managed to catch up with the mornings weather from Vilnius, on its way west, and by the time I got to the bus station in Kaunas I got to actually enjoy in person some of the weather I had listened to others enjoying. With my Karma score for the morning reset to zero I caught the trolley bus from the bus station to the centre of the old town. You can walk, but at nearly 3KM, most of it along shopping streets it doesn't make for a particularly thrilling walk. I got off the bus at the stop for the castle, and after initially walking the wrong way, found myself at the castle.

Kaunas, unlike the rest of continental Europe, is not closed on a Monday. It's closed on a Monday and a Tuesday, and in the case of the castle Wednesdays as well. After having a look around the outside, in the last of the drizzle, I had a wander through the park that the castle is located in. The park eventually tapers to an end where the rivers Nemunas and Neris (which also flows though Vilnius) merge. I walked back along the bank of the Nemunas and crossed over on a modern bridge, which had quite clearly replaced an earlier Soviet built one (it's a bit difficult to hide the stars, hammers and sickles when they are on the top of the support struts!). On the opposite bank is one of Kaunas's two funicular railways.

This one, called the Aleksoto Funicular and from the top viewing platform offers stunning views over the city. Having taken in the views and the first rays of sunshine of the afternoon, I wandered back through the old town, and into the new town, up the long and very boring shopping street, past several museums which were all closed, because it was Tuesday, with the exception of the zoo museum, but that was heaving with young children so I decided to avoid it. After 40 minutes walking I reached the city's other Funicualr, the Green Hill Funicular, which rises up the Green Hill (strangely!) From the top there is no view over the city, but you are in the shadow of the massive white church which has been built up here. It was once a Soviet radio factory, and before that a Nazi paper warehouse. Today, it is a church, which is also closed on a Tuesday!

I walked back down the hill, and having exhausted most of the attractions of Kaunas that are actually available on a Tuesday, caught the trolleybus back to the railway station, to see if there was a train anytime soon (there are only a handful a day, and this is Lithuania’s busiest railway line!) Amazingly enough, a train was due to leave within 10 minutes, so I purchased a ticket (a whole 4Lts - £0.90 cheaper than the bus!) and boarded for the slightly slower, but more scenic journey back to Vilnius.

By the time I arrived back in Vilnius, it was almost 5 and the humidity and heat had climb back to their levels of the previous days. I boarded and empty trolleybus back to the hotel, that by two stops on was absolutely heaving and not particularly pleasant. When I got back to the hotel I dashed straight into the shower to cool off a little, before changing into clean clothes and heading back out into town in search of dinner.