After a good night’s sleep and getting ready for the day, I returned to Crustum Bakery/Café. I told the barista that I kept coming back because of the music she played. She seemed to appreciate that. Today, she served up a mix of Phantogram, Interpol, Sinéad O’Connor, Thom Yorke, Nine Inch Nails, and some other songs I couldn’t identify by performer or band.
While at the coffeehouse, I read a couple of chapters of Democracy Awakening. I realized that Heather Cox Richardson, like Howard Zinn and FDR (and many others), uses storytelling to emphasize what’s wrong systemically. I’ll have more to say about this at a later date. For now, I’ll just note that, for a long time, justice advocates were wary of individuals’ stories (especially to the media) because it can, when done incorrectly, reinforce the idea that success or failure rests with the individual rather than with the systems that prop some people up while keeping others down.
I understand that concern, particularly when the connections aren’t made explicitly. But stories, more than statistics, evoke feelings and create memories. My preference is stories first, followed by statistics and an explanation of the systems that show just how widespread an injustice is.
After my time at the bakery/café, I walked to the top of the hill where Gediminas Castle Tower stands. From the top, you can look in one direction and see the massive Old Town below, then turn around and see the modern city that Vilnius also is.
While I enjoyed the views, I also remembered something yesterday’s tour guide told us. Because of climate change—the freezing and melting, refreezing and remelting, over and over again—the erosion of the hill has accelerated. While I was there, crews were working to repair the damage, as they have been since 2016, when the first landslide occurred. The cost so far: 25 million euros!
Next, I returned to the apartment to pack a lunch and change for the hotter afternoon weather.
Then I headed to the minibus that would take me to Trakai, a town and castle about 45 minutes from Vilnius.
Almost immediately, I had to call upon the mentality I told myself I would have for this trip: No expectations.
Trakai Castle is pretty from a distance but, to me, “meh” up close. The lake surrounding it is lined by development—homes, two-story buildings, and kitschy trinket peddlers. I decided to walk to and around the castle and then head back into town for an Americano.
I found a place called Nokas Coffee. While I was ordering, the barista and I got into a conversation about travel, food, and the Twin Cities. I told her how a large number of lakes in Minneapolis are surrounded by public parkland. In my opinion, this is one of the best things Minneapolis planners did to create a better public recreation system in the city.
She told me that, while her job depends on tourism, all the tourists constantly taking boats onto the lake surrounding Trakai Castle have put a lot of toxins into the water. It’s affecting the waterfowl.
We moved on to talking about travel. She told me she really wants to visit the U.S. and Canada—Toronto, specifically—because the tourists she meets from those places are so friendly.
Then I went outside to drink my coffee. Five minutes later, she came out carrying a note with a food recommendation and another place to visit in Trakai. She also gave me a chocolate with a hazelnut inside.
I hadn’t told her that I don’t eat meat, so the food recommendation wasn’t particularly helpful. And I didn’t have time to visit the sight she recommended because my bus was leaving soon.
Still, her act of kindness really brightened my day.
Again, I had no expectations. And again, I left the coffeehouse feeling pleasantly surprised and happy.
Next, I walked back to the parking lot where the bus was picking up my group. There was a short dock just across the road, so I sat down and read more of Democracy Awakening. I enjoyed listening to the waves hitting the rocks along the shoreline.
Everything felt good.
The ride back to Vilnius was uneventful.
I decided to grab an early dinner, this time focusing on local recommendations—including one from the barista, and nearly every other local person I’ve asked. I remembered from yesterday that The Cat Café had what I wanted, so I returned. I almost didn’t get in because reservations were coming in, but luckily I got a table in the room with the most cats.
I ordered cold beet soup and fried bread topped with cheese. The soup also came with fried potatoes.
I’m both glad and sorry I got what I ordered.
Cold beet soup is all the rage here. And while I like beets, I give the soup a 6 out of 10. The fried bread was tasty, so I’ll give it an 8 out of 10 for flavor—but a 0 out of 10 for health. Finally, the potatoes were basically American Jo-jos: 5 out of 10.
I surrendered half of the fried foods—and I hate wasting food.
But again, I’m here to experience Lithuania. I did it once. I don’t have to do it again.
I finished preparing this post around 6:30 p.m., so I think I’ll have to head out and burn off some of the calories from dinner.
