Sat16Jul16: Anyksciai - Vilnius (125.9km, 1,194.7km YTD)

Four men sleeping in a dorm with absolutely no air movement in the room, but at least it's not raining on the roof.  Roommate is up at 5:20am so very soon we're all moving.  Down to the gymnasium to pack up the tent, collect the clothes (still damp) and roll up the clothesline, back to the room for a quick shower and pack the bag.  Gergo is upset that many people (including me) were early and dumped their bags in the foyer, instead of carrying them out to the van at 6:45am.  Small buffet breakfast but enough fuel to start the day.

Away at 7:20am, uphill and upwind, low cloud and cool, Road #181 is a one-lane pavement with wide hard-pack shoulders just like in outback Australia.  This countryside reminds me very much of the Adelaide Hills, small rolling hills dotted with small farms, narrow winding road with surprise traffic at every turn.  Remains of the collective farms that "Uncle Joe" Stalin set up after occupying Lithuania in 1944, but the buildings have fallen into disrepair since that experiment failed in the mid 1950s.

Interesting road kill this morning is a hedgehog that I roll off the pavement so he doesn't get squished any more.   

More carved crosses at farm turnoffs, a herd of cattle, the occasional goat, lots of storks on their nests or walking around the fields.  Lunch at 65km but the food just doesn't feel interesting today.  Our route crosses the A14 highway and heads toward a Europa Parkas (guess what that means!).  However, the suburbs have now enveloped this little oasis of tall pine trees and the traffic is fast and heavy, even for a Saturday.  The10km stretch after leaving the park turns out to be my most dangerous stretch of road since leaving St. Petersburg:  narrow lanes with curbs on both sides (so I can't pull over), cars honking to pass (when they should just stay back and relax and wait), cars passing when they shouldn't (and nearly hitting my left arm), etc.  Not fun.
Traffic and safety is much better when we get into the city streets, and on the main road there's an "Autobus / Taxis" lane that is virtually empty - they must have CCTV and huge fines to make private vehicles behave this well.  Through the new city, across the bridge, and up into the Old City of Vilnius.  Our bicycle route heads up through a pedestrian mall, Gergo has placed flags about every 30 metres along the route, huge churches with crowds of locals attending weddings (it is Saturday afternoon! after all), crowds of tourists following the flag leader from one historical site to another back and forth across the street.

Slow down and turn left at the bottom of the steps leading up into the Cathedral of Santa Maria, through the steel barred gate, and you're in the courtyard of the nunnery, newly renovated and called the "Hotel Domus Maria".
The rooms used to be nun's cells, but everything have been cleaned, freshly painted, and modernised.  Chris has arrived ahead of me and strung his laundry out on the heated towel drying racks, so I have to string up a clothesline on the construction scaffolding outside our room window to dry my stuff.

After a refreshing shower, it's time to walk down into the Old City, both to stretch out my legs and also to get a glimpse of what will be on my walking agenda tomorrow.
Supper with Eric & Ed (from Queens, New York) and George (Switzerland).  George had scouted the restaurants this afternoon and makes a great choice - "Gusta" - I have a Caesar salad, potato pancake with bacon, and jug of lemon water.  After supper, George likes to have coffee and dessert so the two of us head down to Coffee Time for a caffeine 'appertif'.

"Rest days" are important to our cycling group, not just because of the opportunity to rest our bodies physically, but also because of the change in mental/emotional opportunities.  Tonight there's a piano recital at St. Catherine's Church at 9pm, so that's just the change I need this evening.  Although billed as "Vasaros Rapsodija", there's nothing rhapsodic about the music the two pianists have selected - whether as soloists or during the duet, they each pound the keyboard loud enough to wake the dead.