Another drizzly day but Giedrius our driver/guide came at 10 and we set off for Trakai castle.built about 1400 for grand Duke Vytautas. It is on an island and so was easily defended. After the Second World War the castle was in ruins but it was reconstructed between 1951 and 1961.
Trakai castle viewed from the foot bridge to the island.
The castle as it looked in 1940.
One of the courtyards of the castle complex.
In the village of Trakai there are several of these distinctive wooden houses.they belong to Karaites, a Judaic sect who are also Islamic and originally came from Baghdad. They believe in the Law of Moses and were brought to Trakai from the Crimea around 1400 to serve as bodyguards.
Giedrius then drove us to Grutas Park where a mushroom farmer has collected discarded Soviet sculpture and set it out in a sculpture park.
All the old villains are here
In true monumental Soviet style.
One of the cattle trucks used to deport hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians to Siberia.
The mushroom farmer is a true entrepreneur and has built a playground for junior visitors and also has a zoo.
Which even has a camera shy emu.
On the way back to Vilnius we stopped to buy wild strawberries - tiny but delicious!
So you've seen Australian beef, a kangaroo on a roof, and now an emu!
ReplyDeleteYour guide is finding some very interesting places for you to visit.
ReplyDeleteLots of interesting sights. The colour of the Castle roof tiles and stonework are lovely.
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