Fortress Hill and Museums
The City of Vilnius offers many historical sites
We visited those of most interest to us

Once Upon a Time

Outside the city of Vilnius
friends took us on a tour of
sites of Lithuania's past

The Castle of Trakai
and
a unique cultural experience
plus
a surprise finale to our time in Vilnius

Rumsiskes Open-Air Museum
Explore 19th century Lithuania
through authentic buildings gathered
from all over the country.

This concept originated in Sweden (Skanzen)
and has been replicated in several European countries

Kaunas and Vicinity
My paternal grandparents emigrated to the USA
from the Kaunas area.
40 years ago I learned about a priest with our family name.

Kaunas is the 2nd largest city in Lithuania and
once served as a temporary capital

While it did not suffer great destruction in WWII, the city
was the site of both Nazi and Soviet brutality

Our visit explored both

The City of Klaipeda
Klaipeda is a port city once called Memel
when it was part of East Prussia

The Curonian Spit (Part 1)
A slice of land along the Baltic Sea
split into Russia and Lithuania

It is the source of 90% of the world's amber

The Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul
near the pilgrimage site of
The Hill of Crosses

The Hill of Crosses
Since 1850 the hill has been a focus
of religious faith and resistance to persecution
There are estimated to be more than 200,000 crosses
and religious articles on the site at present