Kaunas & Vilnius Lithuania

I am combining these two Lithuanian cities into one post since we only stayed in each one night. I would have loved to stay longer in Vilnius, the capital. I think there was definitely more to see in the capital city but since it was at the end of our trip we were kinda beat and tired and also it stormed and poured down rain half the time we were in Vilnius so that kind of sucks. I will say the best lodging we stayed on our whole trip was in Vilnius. It was the Artagonist Hotel. It was right downtown and the hotel was beautiful and comfortable. Also we only paid 8euro for street parking which is pretty cheap in the main old parts of town. I highly recommend this hotel, honestly probably the only one I recommend from our trip. The breakfast was also legit. So much food and options and included with the price of the hotel. Also since we were in the Vilnius at the end of our trip we really appreciated a comfortable big bed!

There was two main things I wanted to see in Vilnius. One was the Trakai Island Castle. Which technically isn't in Vilnius but it is just 30 minutes outside the city and we loved it. There was actually lots of other tourist there as well. We started keeping track of the different country licenses plates that we saw (we always enjoyed doing that in the states on road trips.) At the end of our trip our list included: Belarus, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Czechia, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, Sweden, Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, Kazakhstan, and Luxembourg.

The Trakai Island Castle was very cool. We noticed that most of the castles that we saw on our trip were red brick which is different than other parts of Europe. Most of the other castles we have seen in Europe have been stone. We went out to visit the castle and walk around the grounds. It is actually not that big of a castle compared to the one we saw on our last day (Malbork Castle.) But nevertheless it was a beautiful castle and had a great view of the castle from the towns docks. Also on nice days you can rent a paddleboat or even a paddle board and enjoy time in the lake with a view of the castle.

The other thing I wanted to make sure to see in Vilnius was the Trump and Putin mural. I think it is just hilarious. I guess the original version they were actually kissing but someone graffitied on it so the artist changed it up a little bit. We found the mural it's on the outside of a BBQ restaurant, called Keule Ruke. We took some photos and then had ourselves some wonderful pulled pork from the BBQ place inside. I would seriously recommend there food. Yum. And if you are looking for the Trump Putin mural in Vilnius just type in the name of the BBQ restaurant ( Keule Ruke ) on your GPS and you can't miss it. A little while after we got to our hotel it started to pour down rain so we decided to stay in for the rest of the evening. I know there is so much more to see in Vilnius but sometimes we need to relax on vacation too haha. 

Outfit

Dress: TJ Maxx

Cardigan: Thrifted

Nike Shoes: Amazon

Kaunas was actually our first stop in Lithuania. Sorry for writing about these in the opposite order. We drove from Gdansk, Poland to Kaunas Lithuania on our 3 day of vacation. We drove through northern Poland and seriously saw so many storks. You know the bird that delivers the babies ;) We saw over 60 nests and probably over 150 birds. It was a fun little surprise to see so many. We got to Kaunas in the evening because the drive from Poland was about 7 hours. We ate at a fun little tex mex restaurant and had dessert at Holy Donuts. They have amazing milkshakes. We also went back in the morning to get some donuts for the road. That is one thing I have a hard time finding in Europe, good donuts. Most places put hard chocolate on the top and I am just not about that. But these donuts were amazing and so rich and flavorful. 

There is a really great walking area in Kaunas that has lovely bike paths too. We did notice how bike friendly northern Poland and the baltic states were. We came across the St. Michael the Archangel's Church which is a beautiful Catholic Church. The day we were in 
Kuanas there was lovely weather so we also strolled along the riverwalk for a bit. Both 
towns were very nice. 
love, Carlee

Dress: Forever 21

Shoes: Belk