I enjoyed the brekfast in the morning sun. There had been no other people at the campsite, so I had a peaceful night and had the small kitchen all mine.
The day’s route was mostly through beatiful Lithuanian forests. There were small towns, of which Varena was the biggest. At Varena, I visited the Maxima supermarket and bought a lunch sallad with beans and mushrooms. The lunch spot was found right after Varena, wooden table and benches by the side of the road.
I had decided to visit the Gruto Parkas, where I had been 2013 Easter trip. The park is established by a Lithuanian businessman, who just started to collect the Soviet statues in 1990’s. The park is more or less the same as it was back then. I was mostly interested in buying a souvenir: a tea mug with a text: “Tea is not vodka, don’t drink it so much”. I already have one at home, but another one was broken by a window-washing guy at work. It was a great loss, which now got compensated.
It started to rain, so I walked fast through the park. There are also barracs having all sorts of Soviet stuff at display. It’s quite kitch, but also tells about the deportations and repression of the Soviet people. The history should not be buried and forgotten. However, the Gruto Parkas is a fine example of weird Lithuanian sense of humour.
After the museum, I went to the lake next to the park. I waited the rain to go by under the roof, but it was all grey and it didn’t really seem to change soon. Thus, I was all wet as I registered to the Druskininkai campsite. After the shower and laundry, the rain had stopped and I went for a walk to buy something to eat.
Kristiina Ullgren 