Lithuania

Vacation is a wonderful thing!! First two weeks of July 2001 we were in Umeå. Strangely, there is not a single picture from those weeks - guess what we did during that time:-)).

Then we went to Lithuania for a little more than two weeks. Here are some nice pictures!!

Maps over Lithuania.

Kaunas' Lagoon. Ausrine's parents have a summer house nearby.

Vytautas the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Statue in the middle of Kaunas. Remainings of Kaunas' castle.

Irresistibly cute kitten.

Pay-back time!! Ausrine and Egis showing Kaunas and Lithuania to their former boss and a very good friend Palli from Iceland. Geir is another brave viking from Iceland who dared to come to Lithuania!

We all went to see Trakai, the medieval castle in the middle of the lake Galve. Trakai was a capital of Lithuania, now it is a tourist attraction, 70 km from Kaunas or 40 km from Vilnius.

Cold beer is tastes better when it is +30C and you find a place in shade.

Vikings in Lithuania - Per and Egis. Egis is an old friend of Ausrine, a Lithuanian guy, who has been living in Iceland since 1994 (hmmmm, still not frozen??)!!!

Palli enjoying blueberry sorbet in a cafe in Kaunas.

A view from Vilnius TV-tower. An area where Ausrine's cousin Nemunas and his wife Egle live. I wonder were the pictures of Nemunas and Egle are, cause we had a really nice evening in Vilnius - lots of good food, lots of rain, thunder and lightning as well as fantastic views of Vilnius at night.

One of the squares in Vilnius old town.

Weekend camping close to the Polish border, near Leipalingis (approx. 170 km from Kaunas). We went to pick mushrooms, afterwards we had to clean them. It was fun!

Ausrine's father Giedrius making fishing ropes to the kids.

Robertinas got a present, an Arabian outfit. Even though we bought size XLarge, the sleeves were at least 15cm too short :-)

More brave vikings in Lithuania! Fia, Per's sister joined us for a week. In a cafe in Trakai, playing medieval games.

Ausrine's cousin Vilija, her husband Jurgis and their daughter Egle.

Ausrine's aunt Audrone with her granddaughter Ugne. Trying to put together some facts for the family tree.

We went to the sea coast for a weekend. We took the "long way", by the river of Nemunas which is Lithuania's largest river and runs into the Baltic sea. On the way we passed several old castles.

This one is Raudones Castle, built in the end of XVI century by a Dutch timber merchant. Today it is used as a school.

This is Panemunes Castle, built in XVII century. Today is not used at all, cause it is only half renovated. They ran out of money in 1994....

We reached the Baltic Sea cost, first Klaipeda, then Nida. Here is the beach in Preila.

The Hill of Witches in Juodkrante - the hill decorated with tree sculptures symbolizing

Fia playing cards with a witch and a devil. Per & Ausrine taking dance lessons.

Ausrine's favorite Lithuanian dish - cepelinai. Something similar to Swedish "kroppkakor", but much tastier!!

Cemetery in Kaunas. Memorial to several hundred thousands of innocent people, the refugees deported to Siberia by the communists during 1939-1957. You can say that the pine tree symbolizes a Lithaunian and the chain and the locker around the tree a town in Siberia were Lithuanians were sent to. On the right picture you can see the name on the town.