Kaunas in 1 day
We traveled for 1 day by bus from Birš tonas. The cost of the trip is 3.14 euros OW, the carrier is KAUTRA. Tickets are sold by the driver, the duration of the trip is 1 hour 45 minutes. Even at the entrance to the city, Kaunas gives the impression of a very industrial and low-tourist city, many industrial zones, very old factory buildings, which are gradually being converted into shopping and business centers. Unexpectedly very large and very modern bus station is far from the center. There is a tourist information center at the station, where you can get a map of Kaunas and booklets on various sights for free, and a city transport map from the information desk at the station. The bus station smoothly flows into a large shopping center (I still don’t understand - is it a bus station at a shopping center or a shopping center at a bus station? ), which has a supermarket, a pharmacy, local boutiques, etc. After passing through the shopping center, we exit to Vitauto Avenue directly to the stop of city buses and trolleybuses.
You can get to the center by trolleybuses 5 or 14, get off at the 5th stop (the stop is called "Vilniaus gatve"), the names of the stops are displayed on the board in the trolleybus. The cost of the trip is 1 euro, tickets are bought from the driver. Tickets are banal checks on thermal paper from an imprinter (mini-cash register), which do not need to be punched or validated. A trolleybus passes along Vitauto avenue and Kestuсio street, offhand quarters 1930-1950. buildings, I did not notice the antiquity, there are several completely new buildings, mainly hotels. Just before the stop "Vilniaus gatve", the trolleybus passes by the "square of three theaters" - in the same park are located the Kaunas State Theatre, the Kaunas Chamber Theater and the Kaunas Puppet Theatre. So, having got off at the right stop through a very original underground passage, the ceiling and walls of which are decorated with various panels, judging by the signatures - decorated by the famous Lithuanian artist K. Nyakreshyus, we go directly to the Old Town.
The main artery of the Old Town - Vilniusskaya street (Vilniaus gatve), is pedestrian, it has an abundance of various cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops (including very expensive hand-made), there are very interesting museums. The architecture is already old, 2-storey, maintained in the most authentic form. One of the first buildings on the right is the Historical Presidential Palace (it was the residence of the Presidents of the State when Kaunas was the capital of Lithuania in 1919-1939). Architecture is clearly not XX century. Kaunas is considered not only the cultural, but also the religious capital of Lithuania, because there are a lot of temples here.
One of the central ones is the Archbishop's Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. But we visited the Church of St. Francis Xavier (located no longer on Vilnius Street, but on the Town Hall Square, a little further). And already behind the square, if you go towards the embankment of the Neris River, there are the Church of St. George, the Benedictine Monastery and the Theological Seminary. A visit to Kaunas by Pope Francis is scheduled for 21-22.09. 2018, as evidenced by many banners and posters throughout the city. We visited the Church of St. Francis Xavier, inside, despite the medieval asceticism and austerity, it is quite light, the temple is decorated in bright colors, large stained-glass windows also contribute to the light.
The City Hall Square itself, in addition to the ensemble of medieval two-story houses (in the Hanseatic style), is famous, of course, for the old building of the City Hall (15-16 century, rebuilt several times). Currently, official events are not held in the Town Hall; the Museum of the City functions in it. At that time, a certain sporting event was taking place near the Town Hall, as evidenced by the presence of a group of people of a sporty appearance, television cameras, and banners with the symbols of one of the symbols of the city - BC "Zalgiris". After passing through the territory of the Monastery and turning to the right (we didn’t notice prohibition signs or guards anywhere), we exit to Kaunas Castle. Around the Castle on the slope there are wooden benches, i. e. obviously there are holidays or historical restoration.
The time is approaching for lunch, so we return to Vilniusskaya Street, where we have lunch in one of the cafes. Two main courses (chicken chops, french fries, salad and salmon fillet, french fries, salad) cost 13 euros. The further way - through the "art subway" along the pedestrian street "Lasveys-alley" (Liberty Alley) to reach the Cathedral of St. Michael, then drive by trolley bus to the shopping center "Acropolis", after visiting which go to the bus station (from Acropolis to the bus station about 300 m). But time and distance have made their adjustments.
So, let's go along the Alley. One of the first buildings on the right in a small park is the Tadas Ivanauskas Zoological Museum. In front of the museum it is unexpectedly lively, there are many people of a tourist type. Laysweiss alley left only positive impressions, a fairly wide pedestrian zone, a separate lane for cyclists, in the middle - a green zone, an alley of trees, many benches (and not separately standing, but integrated into other elements of urban design - borders or embossed flower beds, in Kyiv such long gone), sometimes there are fountains. The only negative is that road works are carried out in places and the fenced areas had to be bypassed far. Naturally, fences and equipment significantly worsened the views, in particular in the future. Most of the buildings were built in the 1920s and 1930s and are characteristically yellow-brown-gray in color. Many have bas-reliefs or panels. Personally, this style reminded me of the architecture of the near-central districts of Vienna, in particular, the “Gemeinde Wien” period. For example, the Central Post Office (1930-1931), but there are also baroque houses (end of the 19th century) and houses from the 1970s-1980s, in particular, the modern building of the Kaunas Municipality.
The total length of the Alley is about 2 km, and having estimated the time left at our disposal (and the last bus left for Birš tonas at 20:15) and the desire to visit the Akropolis as well, and making the maximum photo of the perspective of St. Michael's Cathedral, we moved along the perpendicular Maironio (Mayronis) street to Danilyaichus street, along which the trolleybuses we needed went (I forgot to add that the near-central Kestutis and Danilyaichus streets mentioned above are one-way traffic). The monumental building of the Central Bank of Lithuania (Kaunas Branch) is located at the intersection of Maironis and Danilyaichus streets, also built in the characteristic style of the 1920s-1930s. The nearest trolley bus stop was 50 meters to the right on Student Square, where the buildings of Kaunas State University and Kaunas Polytechnic Institute are located.
On the opposite side of the street in a small park is the Military Museum with the Eternal Flame. A little further, in the park, there are two of the most famous museums of the city - the Museum of M. Cherlenis and the Museum of Devils. I visited the second one in 1995, and to visit the first one, you have to come to Kaunas for more than 1 day. Since I already spoke about the area where the museum is located (and both have an address on Putvinskis Street), this area is very colorful - it contains the largest number of city street art - in the vernacular of wall graffiti. But again, this is for the next time, as well as traveling on 2 Kaunas funiculars. Finally, the trolleybus number 5 we need arrives (at the stops there is a scoreboard with a countdown time for arriving transport, which is observed quite accurately). Trolleybuses, by the way, are very rare Skoda, we have not been using them for a decade and a half.
We get off one stop before reaching the Bus Station (called Griunvaldo). Another 300 meters through the old street of 1-2 storey buildings - and we go out to the Neman embankment, where the large shopping center "Acropolis" is located. From the embankment - a view of the island with a beautiful green park. The shopping center itself, as expected, is located in very old buildings of a certain industrial zone, but nothing reminds of the old days inside - many boutiques, a Maxima supermarket, Wizzair and Ryanair cash desks, and even a sauna. Prices are quite good, especially pleased with berry jams at 0.7 E per 0.5 kg. Already at a pace, we are advancing to the bus station, opposite which there is a small park, in which there is a rather atypical cult building for northern Europe - the Mosque of Vytautas the Great.
In the meantime, there is an additional quest at the bus station, right next to the ticket offices (! ) a start of a certain bike ride is being held - a lot of people with bicycles, microphones and TV cameras. We couldn’t find another place for ourselves, yeah... Still, having bought tickets, we leave on the last flight. Kaunas left a very good impression, but some understatement remained.
