Medway Students: On a personal note ...

Just returned from visiting country number 31 :-) Have had five most wonderful days with Aiste and her family in Lithuania.

THURSDAY

I travelled to Luton by coach on Wednesday evening and spent a sleepless night in the airport. My flight to Kaunas was a good one. My first impressions of Lithuania were that it was a land of fields and forests and lakes ... and I wondered where all the people lived?!?!

Once I'd had a shower and eaten I was good as new and ready to start exploring ... first stop was a local mall with a huge aquarium with several sharks ... followed by a dip in one of those many lakes.

FRIDAY
Trakai Island Castle is a medieval castle dating from the 14th century and was one of the main centres for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

"It wasn't me - Brexit is not my fault -

I voted to remain, honestly!"

Food featured rather a LOT during my trip - Aiste's mum is a great cook :-) I really enjoyed these kibinai ... a bit like Lithuania's equivalent of a Cornish pasty.

Next stop was Birstonas, a 'balneological' spa town where the waters are deemed to possess healing qualities.

... well, this face says it all!!! One sip was certainly enough for me.

We then enjoyed a lovely walk exploring the town and hill overlooking the River Nemunas.

SATURDAY
There really is nothing I enjoy more than a good market and this is how our day began. We drove to Kedainiai where Aiste's family have a property they are renovating.

A scrumptious breakfast of strawberries,
blueberries & curd cheese :0)

We then drove the 1 1/2 hours to Siauliai to see the Hill of Crosses; a centre of pilrimage within Lithuania. The tradition of placing a cross on this site is believed to have arisen as a symbol of defiance against foreign invaders. I read somewhere that there are an estimated 200,000 crosses there, but, personally, I think it's far more.

The variety and size of crosses is incredible ... everything from huge to tiny, intricate & ornate to simple.

xxx
I am in no way a superstitious person but it was good to take a
few moments to plant a cross and pray for each member of my
immediate and wider family. Front centre of this photo
(directly above the 'xxx') is the cross I planted for them.

This is good advice on a hill that's covered in thousands & thousands of wooden crosses!!!

A break for coffee :-)

Then back to Kedainiai for a marvellous BBQ ...

To round off the day Aiste, Arunas and I took an hour long walk by the river and through the old town

SUNDAY
We all went to 11am Mass at the Pazaislis Monastery this morning. I took LOTS of photos (not during the service) of the interior which was all marble and painted scenes.

The weather wasn't quite so great today but after some lunch and a break back at home we drove to the Ninth Fort. Constructed in the late 19th century during the occupation by the Soviet Union the fort was used as a prison for those being transported on to labour camps. Then during the Nazi occupation of WWII it became a place of execution ... some 50,000 people, including 30,000 Jews lost their lives here between 1940-1944.

The museum is really interesting and informative and we had a great tour of the underground tunnels.

I think this sign will make me smile each time I look at it. I pressed the button several times and nothing happened ... eventually, in frustration, I hit it and we were all almost deafened by the unbelievable ...