Another Lithuania post from the vault, as it were. While I never really gave Vilnius the post it deserved, Trakai has never even had a post of its own and it definitely deserves it. So this is the tale of my day out in Trakai in Lithuania all the way back in March 2011.
I took the bus from Vilnius to Trakai, the medieval unofficial capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The castle that the town revolves around today fell into disrepair in the sixteenth century and was restored almost from the ground up in the twentieth century. Trakai is notable for its Karaim community, a Turkic-speaking Jewish minority from central and eastern Europe but especially around the Crimean region. They were the people who built Trakai back in the thirteenth century and they stayed there. These days, there’s still quite a Karaim feel to Trakai but actually, most of the Karaim community in Lithuania now live in Vilnius.
I can’t remember how long the bus took. I’ve looked it up on Google Maps but it’s only giving me the option to go by train. It says 36 minutes by car, and that’s probably not far off how long the bus would take because I don’t remember it being the sort of bus that made regular stops – I remember it literally just running straight from Vilnius to Trakai. It’s about 28km, so it’s not very far, good day trip distance. I got myself adopted on the bus by three retired teachers from Toronto, two of whom were living in Lithuania and teaching English. Georgina and Suzanne living here, they became my guides for the day. The bus station in Trakai is at the opposite end of the town to the castle – Trakai occupies a nearly-island in the middle of a region of lakes. It’s attached to the banks of the lake by two thick causeways at the southern end and a narrower one at the northern end. On my own, I’d have probably got lost or ambled the town a little aimlessly and not had enough time for the castle but my adopters seemed to know where they were going and we pretty much route-marched up to the northern end of town.
To be honest, everything in Trakai was so quiet you got the distinct impression that the whole town was actually one of these open-air ethnographic museums, where no one actually lives anymore. It was cold – back in the city, most of the snow was melting but out in the countryside, the lakes were frozen solid and the town was freezing. We stopped off at a cafe for snacks and coffee before venturing out to the castle, which is on its own island and connected to the town by a long thin bridge. I had hot chocolate and the Canadians had kabinas, which are a kind of Karaim pastry full of meat and gravy, which pour out liquid when you bite into them. I don’t know if kabinas come in different varieties but these ones were oniony enough that I noted it in my diary at the time, which means they must have been very oniony.
Time to cross the bridge over the frozen lake to the castle. It’s all red brick and to my 2024 eyes, very obviously not as ancient as I believed it was at the time. Did I even know it had been reconstructed? Well, apparently I knew it had been “restored” but I don’t think I even noted the red brick back then.
It’s a proper castle, though, complete with turrets and towers and wooden walkways along the high walls, a keep towering over it all, lots of museums, including one about the history of pipe-smoking, which is actually more a collection of meerschaum pipes. I’m not a big museum person anyway but I enjoyed the castle, especially getting put in the stocks, with my little Primark sheepskin mittens flapping. Then we had a bit of stroll around the lake, which was frozen enough for me to witness something I’ve never seen before or since – ice sailing – at least, I assume that’s the name for it. From a distance, admittedly, it looked a lot like a dinghy in full sail zooming around on the ice.
I thought I remembered running back to the bus station but my diary says “ambled”. We must have waited for the best part of an hour because the 3.15 bus didn’t show up, possibly because it’s a weekdays-only bus, and neither did the 3.40 bus. We came back packed like sardines into the 3.55 bus. Apparently I stood on the back steps leaning against two seats, so I assume it wasn’t too long a journey because I can’t picture even the 2011 version of my casually and cheerfully writing that I stood up for an epic trip back. Two of my Canadian adopters who did manage to get seats fell asleep on the way back. That would have been nice.
Now, looking at it from 2024, we got the 10.40 bus out to Trakai and the 3.55 bus back which really doesn’t give us a lot of time out there. I’d probably get the same bus out now but I’d definitely be coming back later. But I think we probably covered most of the town if as much of it was closed as I thought. Wikipedia says Trakai is largely a tourism town these days and I bet anyone who isn’t coming for the castle is coming for the lake, or for the summer festivals and concerts. Perhaps in the winter it’s just the local residents who aren’t visible on the streets because they’re all at work.
In the last post, I talked about a hypothetical trip back to Lithuania to do it properly. Would I go back to Trakai? Yeah, I think I would. I think I did it properly enough but it wouldn’t hurt to see it again from a 2024 perspective, to see what the train’s like and to do it at my own speed in my own time. I think you should go to Trakai too if you ever find yourself in Lithuania.