Sunny Weather in Lithuania

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008--Klaipeda (Continued)

I walked out by the university, because I thought I remembered seeing a mall out there when the bus came into town. The campus is nice. There is a cluster of old buildings that were constructed at the same period of time. But there are other buildings, too.

Sure enough, there was a mall. But it was only half a mall. One half belonged to the university. It had multiple levels (I could tell because of stairways that were exposed), but I am not sure if it was a basketball arena, a large lecture hall, or what. Maybe they let the mall owner build on their property with the understanding that he would build this facility for the university. In the half of the sturcture that was a mall, there were a couple of restaurants. But I was looking for a food court where I could see their offerings and try to find something that would represent local food.

I returned to the area around my hotel and went to a corner bar that I had seen earlier with a sign board outside. I compared my list of Lithuanian foods noted in my guidebook with the items on the signboard. Only one item matched--cepelinai. It's a roll made with a potato/flour dough, stuffed with a meatball, and topped with a cream sauce. It is tasty, but I am sure it is very fattening. One order is č fist-sized rolls. A man at the bar was friendly. He told me what I was eating is the national dish of Lituania. He worked in London one year and speaks English well. He knew about San Antonio because of the Spurs.

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008--Klaipeda to Kaunas

Lithuania is costing me more than I expected. It is more expensive than Estonia and Latvia were last year or Georgia was this year. Buses are especially expensive. And food is costing me more so far. Finally, I am paying more for rooms here, too.

The country is essentially flat with some hills. It is very green with lots of forests, so it is pretty. Autumn is just starting a few trees are already a bright yellow, red, or golden color. Most trees are pines and will stay green. Of those that aren't, most are still green and just starting to show signs of changing in color.

Kaunas is a bigger city than I expected. It has a long pedestrian street connecting the New Town (where it is wide with a double row of trees) to Old Town. There is a bit of a strange feeling being here, though. I think it may be due to lack of restoration. The Old Town is nice, but it seems OLD. The New Town has lots of new stores, but the buildings themselves seem to need work on top and the paving stones seem old and dreary. It's just a bit depressing along the route, for some reason. I saw the St. Michael the Archangel church, the Statue of Man, the Cathedral, the House of Perkunas, etc., as I explored the area. Someone was rehearsing on the organ in the cathedral, so I just sat there listening for a while.

I also went around the universities here. This is a city known as a university center in Luthuania. The area just did not have the atmosphere that I found in the university town in Latvia last year. I also did not find a student canteen like the nice one where I ate last year in Latvia. But there are many students everywhere I go here in town. I am sure it has a lively nightlife, especially on the weekends.

Again, I tried a shopping mall in the evening for dinner. There is a huge one called Akropolis just a couple of blocks from my hotel. It has an ice rink, a bowling alley, a huge food store, many shops, but no fast-food court. Instead, it has many sit-down restaurants with menus. I guess that Lithuanians just prefer a sit-down place when they go out to eat. Anyway, I went into the supermarket and bought me some salami, olives, crackers, and a beer and took them back to the room for a self-catering dinner.

Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008--Kaunas

I finished reading A Scarecrow's Bible by Martin Hyatt. I was bothered by all the drugs being taken toward the beginning of the book, but the story eventually took off with the drugs left behind. I gave it 3 stars out of 4.

The weather has been sunny every day since I arrived in Lithuania. I am lucky. It is cool and even cold at night and in the mornings, but the afternoons are quite nice with the warmth of the sunshine. This time of the year could be cold and rainy. I hope the weather will hold out for my next few days as I travel to Vilnius tomorrow.