Day 33 – Vilnoja lake, at last

Sunday morning looked promising that Palanga weather would not return. We were out of any food that Georgia would consider for breakfast so we walked over to Cili Pica on Didzioji gatve. The waitresses there were very friendly at this ungodly time of the morning (9am). They were particularly taken with Isabella. One of them asked if she could hold her and Isabella smilingly obliged. The waitress picked her up and carried her away, towards the kitchen area. Dan and I just sat there not sure if we should continue staying excited or run back there to get our kid. But she came back in a few minutes with a bun (and the kid). They were very nice to Georgia too – brought her a chocolate drink and pencils and paper to color.

We walked towards Gedimino prospect planning to check out the little farmer market that takes place there on Sundays. It was OK. One lady was selling bright yellow samosas. Nothing something you would see this far out North. I tried one, and it was very good. It would be nice to try to reproduce it back home. It is essentially a kibinai with dill seeds and lots of turmeric.

We also stopped by at Mano Guru to check out a little organic farmer market that takes place there on Sundays. It has maybe 5-6 vendors selling vegetables, cheeses, and meat. It may be all-organic but the range is in line with what is sold on the markets. When we were there, there were only foreigners at the place. Still, it is a very good idea on the part of the restaurant owners. The place would likely stay empty at on Sunday morning/early afternoon anyway so it is a good use of their real estate and additional advertising as well.

We returned home, got our swimming gear and went to Vinoja park picking up Alicia on the way. We had a really good time there. At 11am when we arrived there were very few people out, mostly residents of the cottages overlooking the lake. Statues in and out of the water, clean sandy beach, and perfect temperature. They even sell buns of several different kinds. It gets deep pretty fast and is great for dive-ins. Boys climbed some of the statues and sunbathed and jumpted from them. We all had had a really good time and could hardly drag ourselves away at two when the place filled-up.

The charge for the lake is 10LT per person. But when we arrived, the gate guy was just getting organized and only charged me as Georgia, Alicia and I were going down to the beach (children and seniors are free). Dan and Isabella came down a bit later and he was away somewhere.

After Vinoja, we went back to Kavine Pusynelys a few km away. Interestingly, since our last visit a few weeks ago, several things are broken or missing on the playground. These kinds of places probably require constant upkeep. Alicia enjoyed the view.

Back in the city at 4pm. It rained while we were away so it was pleasant and cool. We tried to do our usual route but the kids rebelled and after 2 final buns from Svejais Bandeles (they have really nice working hours now) we went back home and called it a day.