Tuši's blog: 15448

Lithuania: Road Trip - Lithuania, Day 7: Kaunas, Bisons, Crosses, Mushrooms and Baltic Sea

Lithuania is the land of nature. Forests covers 1/3 of the country, including many protected regions, nature reserves and the national parks. Lithuania is also known as "the land of storks", which is their national bird and Stork Day is celebrated on 25 March. It has one of the oldest oak trees in Europe, called The Stelmužė Oak, which is 23 meters high, and is more than 1500 years old. It requires 8-9 people just to hug its trunk.

In the morning I did a quick walk through the temporary capital of Lithuania between 1920 and 1939, when Vilnius was seized by Poland. After the breakfast we continued our road trip to Krekenava Regional Park with freely pasturing European bison. Hill of Crosses was next, following the walk in Žemaitija National Park, where we picked up a few mushrooms. We ended the day with a dinner in Klaipėda, the third largest city in Lithuania.

Previous day of our road trip to Lithuania: Day 6, Day 5, Day 4, Day 3, Day 2, Day 1.

Our previous road trips: Romania 2017, Ukraine 2018, Bulgaria 2019.

Vytautas the Great Bridge over Nemunas River connects Aleksotas and Old Town in Kaunas.

The House of Perkūnas is one of the most original and Gothic secular buildings, located in the Old Town and quite nearby we can find the Town Hall.

Church of St. Francis Xavier (Šv. Pranciškaus Ksavero bažnyčia) was consecrated in 1722. After Lithuania was occupied by Soviet Union the St. Francis Xavier (Slovene: Frančišek Ksaverij) church was turned into a technical school, the interior of the church was used as a sports hall. The church was returned again to the Jesuits in 1989, and renovation of the church took place in 1992.

Town Hall Square.

Archeological evidence suggests that Kaunas Castle was originally built during the mid-14th century, in the Gothic style. Its site is strategic - a rise on the banks of the Nemunas River near its confluence with the Neris River.

A 16th century legend claims, that Kaunas was established by the Romans in ancient times. These Romans were supposedly led by a patrician named Palemon, who had three sons: Barcus, Kunas and Sperus.

Party for breakfast.

After a while we left our apartment and our "Dizlca" took us to Krekenava Regional Park, the only protected area in Lithuania where you can see freely pasturing the largest European beast – the European bison (Bison bonasus L.).

The European bison is the heaviest wild land animal in Europe and individuals in the past may have been even larger than their modern-day descendants.

During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, bison became extinct in much of Europe and Asia, surviving into the 20th century only in northern-central Europe and the northern Caucasus Mountains. During the early years of the 20th century bison were hunted to extinction in the wild. The species - now numbering several thousand and returned to the wild by captive breeding programmes - is no longer in immediate danger of extinction, but remains absent from most of its historical range.

Modern animals are about 2.8 to 3.3 m in length, not counting a tail of 30 to 92 cm, 1.8 to 2.1 m in height, and 615 to 920 kg in weight for males, and about 2.4 to 2.9 m in body length without tails, 1.69 to 1.97 m in height, and 424 to 633 kg in weight for females.

The last wild European bison in Poland was killed in 1921. The last wild European bison in the world was killed by poachers in 1927 in the western Caucasus. By that year, fewer than 50 remained, all held by zoos.

In Lithuania the bison are being released to freedom since 1973. Currently there are about 50 bisons in Lithuania, some of them are in the farm, others run free in the wild. During 35 years of operation, 140 calves were born in Pašiliai bison paddock, more tan half of them were born in freedom.

The European bison (Bison bonasus) is also known under the names the European wood bison, wisent or the zubr, or colloquially the European buffalo.

We were on the safe side of the fence.

Time to go back in our Fiat Ducato, now already known as "Dizlca".

Today, our driver was Rok and his full focus was always on the road.

Time to visit more hills. Next - Hill of Crosses.

Hill of Crosses (Kryžių kalnas) is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. The precise origin of the practice of leaving crosses on the hill is uncertain, but it is believed that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaičiai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising.

Over the generations, not only crosses and crucifixes, but statues of the Virgin Mary, carvings of Lithuanian patriots and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims.

The exact number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 55,000 in 1990 and 100,000 in 2006.

Poles and Lithuanians unsuccessfully rebelled against Russian authorities in 1831 and 1863. These two uprisings are connected with the beginnings of the hill: as families could not locate bodies of perished rebels, they started putting up symbolic crosses at the site of a former hill fort.

When the old political structure of Eastern Europe fell apart in 1918, Lithuania once again declared its independence. Throughout this time, the Hill of Crosses was used as a place for Lithuanians to pray for peace, for their country, and for the loved ones they had lost during the Wars of Independence.

The site took on a special significance during the years 1944-1990, when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. Continuing to travel to the hill and leave their tributes, Lithuanians used it to demonstrate their allegiance to their original identity, religion and heritage. It was a venue of peaceful resistance, although the Soviets worked hard to remove new crosses, and bulldozed the site at least three times (including attempts in 1963 and 1973). There were even rumors that the authorities planned to build a dam on the nearby Kulvė River, a tributary to Mūša, so that the hill would end up underwater.

On September 7, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses, declaring it a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice, in 2021, we visited the place.

Number of crosses over the years: 1800s - over 9000, 1900 - 130, 1902 - 155, 1922 - 50, 1938 - over 400, 1961 - destroyed 5000, 1975 - destroyed 1200, 1990 - some 55000 and 2006 - over 100000.

Desecrated but never destroyed, set on fire but never burned down, the Hill of Crosses - Kryžių Kalnas is a potent symbol of faith, hope, and freedom.

The size and variety of crosses is as amazing as their number. Beautifully carved out of wood or sculpted from metal, the crosses range from three meters tall to the countless tiny examples hanging profusely upon the larger crosses.

After some more driving we stopped in Žemaitija National Park. Our drone was back in the air.

We decided to do a trail called Šeirės takas - Šeirė trail.

Soon we run into the mushrooms and wild animals.

Mushroom map, you just have to know how to read it.

We walked along the Lake Plateliai - Plateliu ežers, with 12 km2 the biggest lake in Samogitia and 9th biggest in Lithuania.

The lake has 7 islands and maximum depth of 49 m.

Lakes cover more than 7% of Samogitia National Park or Žemaitija National Park.

Soon we left the shore and started following the mushroom map, updated with the latest intelligence data from our drone.

And we started to pick them up - Macrolepiota procera - parasol mushroom.

Ana was a successful mushroom hunter.

Maja in action. At this point we decided to leave some smaller ones behind.

Unfortunately we didn't have time for a boat trip.

Family.

Few more mushrooms and over the swampy area back to our Dizlca.

This time we only took photos of the frogs. Next time we will also pick them up like mushrooms.

Time to try some domestic food in Klaipėda.

Lithuanian Cold Beet Soup - Šaltibarščiai and Krabų pomidoru salotos - crab sticks with tomatoes salad.

Another salad and a national dish of Lithuania, cepelinai or didžkukuliai, made from grated and riced potatoes and stuffed with ground meat, dry curd cheese or mushrooms.