I had another early morning today, but for a change I was actually going sightseeing. Andy and I had decided to go and have a look at the castle at Trakai early this morning. We got up and had breakfast at 7am and then walked down to the bus station and hopped on a mini bus, which we I promptly fell asleep on. Forty minutes later we had reached our destination, the former Lithuanian capital of Trakai.

We got off the bus and the driver pointed us in the direction of the castle. It was much further that we thought it was from the bus station and we walked through the small town, which was deserted at this time of the morning for what seemed like ages.

Finally, we came to a path down by the lake and I could see the red brick castle through the trees. We walked over a wooden bridge which had old men fishing on it, What a life, remarked Andy, Someday I'd like to do that. Yeah that would be nice, I thought, it looks so peaceful. Over the bridge was the best view of the castle, which is actually built on a small island in the middle of the lake, providing it with a natural mote.

Unfortunately for us, we had arrived way too early and the castle was closed and did not open until 10am, so we decided to have a walk around the perimeter and have a look before the crowds arrived. It was really peaceful and we actually walked under the castles drawbridge, which separated the fort from the citadel. We hadn't killed too much time wandering around so we walked back over the series of bridges and found the only open café, (actually it wasn't open, we walked in and persuaded the owner) and had a coffee, me included. I actually had a cappuccino, I can't believe I've actually started drinking actual coffee. It must be the job.

At exactly 10am we walked back over all the bridges to the castle, even at 10am a hoard of Russian tourists had beaten us to the punch and were farting around at the ticket booth. I waited patiently, thinking of the infinite patience one must have in the job. Finally, I paid for Andy and I to get in. We took some pictures in the central courtyard, before racing past the Russians and onto the drawbridge. I don't think I've ever stood on an actual drawbridge before, this one was even held open with chains.

We went over the drawbridge and into the central courtyard, which seemed really eerie in the now misty rain. It was three stories high and there was a turret just in front of it. There were different exhibits on every level, including some really big coin hoards. We left the courtyard and went back into the central court and had a look at some more exhibits off to the side, one actually had some old maps of the area and some weapons and armor. We were about to leave, when I noticed some old stocks in the central court. Not to miss out on that kind of fun, I insisted on putting Andy in them and then pretended to walk away. He then promptly did the same to me.

We finished at the castle and headed back up towards the bus station, we had just missed a bus so we had about a forty minute wait to get back to Vilnius. We spent our time in a nearby second hand market looks and some of the strange stuff they were selling second hand, bras for example. We also found a fruit market, where you could buy a punnet of Raspberries for 2 Litas, about 50 cents. Andy bought some and we sat at the bus stop eating them. I don't normally eat fruit at all because I find it too sweet, but these were a little bitter so they were ok.

We got in the bus to get back to Vilnius and Andy fell asleep this time and I proceeded to take pictures of him. We arrived back in Vilnius and Andy went off to join the free walking tour. I went back to my room to do a bit of paper work and then spent the rest of the day watching TV.

At 7pm I met Paul for dinner in the lobby and we went back into the old town to Kaimas to meet Andy for dinner who was waiting there with some new local friends. It was my try something new day at Kaimas, so I had potato pancakes and crumbed pork. Wish I had just stuck to my usual order of cheese balls and dumplings with mushroom and onion sauce. After dinner Andy decided to stay out and have some drinks with his new friends and Paul and I walked back to the hotel, where I watched some more TV before heading off to bed.