Baltic States Tour - Vilnius, Lithuania 4

We ran around shopping on the last day of our trip as usual. We went back to Kmyninė, the bakery in the Užupis district we enjoyed breakfast at the day before.

More baked goods were on the counter than previously We bought thirteen kinds of cookies, two pieces per each. We also got a small box of Šakotis, Lithuanian version of traditional German "baumkuchen" (tree cake) as well as a block of traditional Lithuanian rye bread.

I didn't forget to take two of the traditional mushroom shaped cookies, known as Lithuanian Grybai, too. They looked adorable.

I wished I could take those cakes with me, too...

For breakfast we both had a savory pastry roll filled with cabbage and something else. I liked it. Also, we had Skarelės, traditional Lithuanian cookies. There were two kinds of Skarelės. One was filled with apple and the other one was filled with... I don't remember... cherry or red currant. I also don't remember which we had but I recalled it was freshly baked and still warm and was certainly delicious. We both enjoyed a cup of hot ginger drink again, too. What a lovely bakery!

Good-bye, the Republic of Užupis!

We slowly went back to the hotel. We still had a couple of hours before we had to leave to the airport.

We couldn't go home without Lithuanian cheese. We stopped by at a local grocery store and bought a cheese and chocolate. Then we also visited the Cheese Džiugas House. Džiugas is a hard fermented Lithuanian cheese that is produced only in the summer period, from the highest quality milk of cows grazing in the fields, which makes the cheese smell like a summer meadow... well, Džiugas's unique and characteristic flavor is sometimes described between Gouda and Parmigiano or between Gouda and Grana Padano. Anyway, we couldn't miss the opportunity to get to know the new cheese. 

12, 18, 24 and 36 month-aged Džiugas were available. J chose 18 months and 36 months to compare.

The Cheese Džiugas House was not only a cheese shop but also a cafe. J had a stuffed pastry with chicken (?). I ordered a slice of a kind of blueberry layer cake. The cream tasted like cream cheese. Perhaps, Džiugas was mixed in it? 

At the last minute, we walked up to the Gates of Dawn. We saw the historical gate a few days ago but didn't see the other side which faces into the Old Town. On the way we stopped by the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit. The Vilnius Old Town has many churches indeed.

There was the Gates of Dawn. It looked quite different from the other side. This side clearly showed how the Chapel of God's Mother was integrated with the Gates in the 16th century.

Our first Baltic States tour is over. The three cities we visited shared some aspects while each has its own charm. I hadn’t known anything about Baltic States until we made this trip and I was so fortunate to have a chance to walk around in the Old Towns, visit the historical sites, and try the local foods there. Overall we had a great time throughout the whole trip. We saw only a small part of each countries this time. When we flew between the cities, I saw endless forests as well as lakes and coastlines. It would be wonderful if we could explore the natural wonders outside of those capitals in the future.