Home from Kernave

What a lovely afternoon it had been in Kernave! We were hungry and ready to call it a day. There was a cute little bar along the way back to the car, but Birute would have none of it. She knew of a better place about ten kilometers on the road back to Vilnius. Since we were not starving, we decided that we could wait. She was so right, as it turns out.

We arrived at this regional park and pulled into this little restaurant. From the front it looks like any other country restaurant, but that is where the resemblance ends. We walked past the indoor seating to the patio area. It was actually a long way out to the seating area. We passed an aquarium suspended from a tree. There were all sorts of entertainments for children.

The waitresses do not serve on the patio and so we had to make do!!

We found a place in the corner and were awestruck by the view. I had heard many stories of the forests in Lithuania over the years I have been coming to APPLE. Tales of the Freedom Fighters living in the forests. The forests I have encountered so far are more like woods. The stories tell of whole regiments living in the forest, hiding from the various invading armies. Frankly, I often wondered how they hid in the few acres of woods. I figured the invaders weren’t really interested in finding them or didn’t know where to look. It would seem easy enough to form a line of soldiers to walk the woods I have seen from one side to the other to roust the Freedom Fighters. I now have an entirely different perspective.

We looked out over the tops of some mammoth trees. The Neris River flowed by the restaurant on its way to Vilnius. As we peered out over the trees, we saw something very large reflecting in the sunlight. All indications were that it was Vilnius that would be twenty kilometers away. This is a forest. I can now picture those Freedom Fighters foraging through the forest, outsmarting the invading armies, wreaking havoc in surprise attacks. It all makes more sense now.

Dinner was fabulous. We watched the cooks grilling our meat on an outside grill. We laughed our way through two huge plates of duona. I have never had this anywhere except Lithuania. First dark bread is cut into fingers and fried. Then it is slathered with a mayonnaise and cheese sauce. There is nothing better!

Behind the seating area was a zip line – probably for little kids. We got it into our minds that we should try it. I walked the contraption to the top of the hill, put my head through it and sat on the seat. I gave it a kick-start and flew to the bottom of the hill. I felt like a kid again. Soon, everyone was trying it. None of us was disappointed. It is a shame that we all had to grow up.