The old and new of Kaunus, Lithuania

A few years ago I went to Latvia and Estonia, but didn't make it to Lithuania to complete the three Baltic countries. Lithuania has been pretty high on my to go list since then, and I finally made it there recently.

My first stop was Kaunus, Lithuania's second largest city after the capital Vilnuis. The two cities are about 100km apart, easy to commute by train which is what we did.

We spent two days in Kaunus, the first day staying in the town centre checking out all the touristy stuff. And the second day we went to visit a couple of museums. Kaunus is a very nice and clean city, very pleasant to walk around, especially the Town Hall square. It's flanked by the Church of St. Francis Xavier, with the Old Town Hall to its right. Unfortunately, the square is rather exposed, with just a few trees on the side with benches underneath the shade. If you want to sit and soak in the vibes leisurely, then there's always the option of the tourist-level priced restaurants, which wasn't short of customers.

One of the iconic landmarks in Kuuanas is the castle, it dates back to the 14th century. Most of it was damaged over the years, and it has been carefully restored in recent decades. Despite its appearance and the historical exhibits inside, you can still feel it was quite "new" and I felt it lacked the ancient vibe one would expect from a 14th century castle.

Mokslo Sala

Kaunus has a new modern side to it as well. One building that really impressed me was the Mokslo Sala, or the Science and Innovation Promotion Centre. The museum is built on an a small island called the Nemunas Island in the centre of Kaunus, and is a short walk via four foot bridges. As I crossed the bridge, I could recognise the museum from afar immediately. Its massive disc opening extended out at the rooftop.

I'm not a hugh fan of science museums, and didn't go to see the actual exhibitions etc, though I heard they're not bad. Maybe another time, when I'm not with a group. It's always a bit difficult to tour museums when you're with other people as everyone goes at their own pace. We went to the public areas, and stopped for a drink at the cafe because it was a hot day. From the cafe, we could go up the stairs to the roof top.

I didn't really feel the magnitude of everything as I went up, it was just like another set of stairs. Until I got outside and walked around the rooftop.

It was quite something, really impressive, and makes one feel so small against the 25 metre wide, 250 tonnes disc opening. You can see the size of the people next to it, like a Pac Man ready to gobble them up.

If you're a photographer, I think you'd love it here. I wasn't one, and I still found it fascinating. Despite the heat, I walked around a few times, and always saw something different about it. The light reflection, the clouds movement, another interesting angle and background. I ended up with loads of photos, here's a little dump.

As we left I took one last look back. Another interesting feature. Lots of little holes in the ground with grass sticking out. I wonder what the plan was supposed to be here? A failed rooftop garden, or an abstract design? What do you think?

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