Trakai Island Castle, Trakai, Lithuania

Zagan the motorhome has paid for his privileged parking position for tonight overlooking Trakai Island Castle (N54.65005, E24.92294). The cost was just €4.50 to us (find out why below), but I suspect it may come with a bit of sleeplessness as cars continue to join us to admire the view, with maximum volume tunes and wheelspins.

This morning we said au revoir (until we meet again) to Chris and Helen as our paths were bound to cross again sooner or later. They headed off, while we stayed at Grūtas Park to give Jay’s eyes chance to focus again (Lidl’s strong beer does not lie when it says strong!).

By noon the car park was filling up and we were at risk of being blocked in, so we headed off. Fortunately the drive wasn’t too taxing, in the first 100 kilometres Jay had to move the wheel for four roundabouts, the rest was long straight single carriageway. Locals lined the road selling bottles and jars from their car bonnets (not quite a car boot sale) while a chap sold brooms and bunches of twigs – not sure how he was getting on as he was surrounded by forest.

As we joked about the upcoming slight curve in the road ahead I glanced out of my window at a stream we were going over, there stood in the middle of the stream was a moose, or an elk, not sure which (or if they are the same thing) but it was massive. I wasn’t fast enough with the camera but I’ll never forget the sight of it, a fantastic creature out in the forest where it should be, not locked up in a zoo like the animals we saw yesterday.

Now they warn me, no signs before I saw the Moose!

What does that mean? It slowed us down. Turns out it’s an incident spot

Trakai’s car park was pretty full, houses along the approaching streets had opened up their drives and used home made signs and waving grannies to entice you in. You can’t blame them, as the place is overrun at the weekend, so it’s not like they can do much else. Finding a spot in the far corner we see a familiar-looking motorhome in the car park. Chris and Helen had been round the place and seen it all so were in their cab deciding where to go next. They gave us their half-used parking ticket with a couple of hours left on it. After another au revior and a spot of lunch in Zagan we spent a couple of hours wandering the castle.

The only way to reach the island is a narrow wooden bridge, the Ambulance nearly created several extra passengers on the way

A hot Sunday afternoon saw the place packed as families and couples made the most of the boats for hire on the lake and the cool beers in the lakeside bars. At one point I heard a couple speaking French and someone else speaking English – as we are now just half an hour from Vilinus we’re seeing more ‘foreign’ tourists, like us. A quick nip into the tourist office sees us full on info; a map of Takai and Vilinus (which will be useful tomorrow) and a leaflet on campsites in Lithuania.

Sneak view inside Trakai Castle – no pooches allowed

Paying visitors take the bridge, freeloaders you walk below

May need a tad more than repointing

The city of Trakai is known for its significant Karaite population, a small Turkic-speaking religious and ethnic group who were resettled here in the late 1300’s. In the town the Karaim kenesa is a rare example of a surviving wooden synagogue with an interior dome, however what everyone really comes here for is the Kibinine, a traditional Karaim pastry, which looks very much like a Cornish pasty.

Kibinine stall with the shape of one above the door

By now it was spitting with rain and dark storm clouds were gathering. Our hangovers had eased, but we really didn’t feel like battling with the masses around the town, so we headed back to Zagan. When our gifted-to-us parking ticket ran out, we popped in a few more euros to see us through to tomorrow morning. A Sunday afternoon nap and a movie took us through to a late tea, and now at 9.30pm we are sitting watching hot air balloons float over the castle as the sun sets (and listening to Charlie grumble at them, he doesn’t like things in the sky). A most relaxing end to the day.

Charlie cools off in Lake Galve

Is that really amber, it seems very cheap?

Enjoy the Bank Holiday in the UK, I hope the weather is as good for you as it is here (now the clouds have gone, it’s hot)!

Ju x