Kaunas, Lietuva

We got to Kaunas -- eventually. When we hit the bus station in Druskininkai, we were the only travellers there. The WC concierge had yet to set up shop (though scurried over before we could sneak in for a free pee). I endeavoured to buy bus tickets at the booth -- the woman asked where we were going. "Now?" she inquired, stunned to hear we were off to Kaunus on the 9:35. Seems we had selected the milkiest of runs. We were instructed to buy our tickets from the driver (he seemed unsure of the price "all-the-way-to-Kaunus"?) and were the only ones to board. I asked the driver how long it would take to get there. (Distance from Druskininkai to Kaunas: 126 km)

--How long until we arrive?
--One.
--Is that all? Just one?
--No! One!
--Really? One?
--No! After three -- I mean, at one!

It finally clicked. "One" as in "one o'clock", not meaning the trip would take an hour. This was the only option available, so we settled in for the ride and the country-style views. Our mid-size bus bucked and bobbed through a zillion tiny hamlets with wooden houses, carved totems and busy markets and some more sizeable towns arranged around grey, yet grandiose, squares and wide avenues interminably lined with dingy Soviet-era apartment blocks. Road signs heralding places called Leipalingis, Veisiejai, Lazdiju, Balbieriskis and Prienu trickled past as the bus trundled on, taking on passengers and usually dropping them off just a few stops down the road. The city of Alytus was our mid-point; we spent 5 minutes here, at platform 5, before resuming the journey to Kaunus.

Kaunas, Lithuania's second-largest city, was an interesting town -- grittier, dingier, seemingly more volatile than Vilnius, apparently its much-detested rival. Like a Vilnius that didn't get invited to the prom. We checked in to "Kauno arkivyskupijos Svečių namai", Guesthouse of Kaunas Archdiocese, then spent the evening checking out a handful of Kaunas cafes and nightspots. The city was hopping. It was March 8th -- Women's Day -- after all. Restaurant vases poised themselves for incoming tulips amid the 'pop' of champagne corks from darkened alleyways. We dropped into Miestos Sodas for beer and cheesy easy-listening piano accompaniment, had a snack at a restaurant called 55° -- that made its own "moonshine", and capped the night off at B.O. (standing for Blue Orange), where we enjoyed observing the inability of young Kaunas bo-hos to sit still. After darting back and forth, pacing, entering and exiting, stumbling over here and wobbling back over there, a sizeable bunch eventually became sufficiently inebriated to gather at one of the back barrooms to engage in a raucous group sing-along. Our holier than thou accommodation provided suitable respite after being privy to the March 8th debauch.

Back to the bus station, and on to Siauliai...