Last Weekend: Augustów, Poland and Lithuania?!

So for my final weekend in Europe (July 19-20), I went on a trip with my friend Agnieszka, my aunt, and my aunt’s friend to Augustów. It’s a really nice town in Poland, and a lot of Polish people go there on vacation! It’s a nice town with a lot of lakes! But, before we got to really explore the city, Agnieszka and I went on a day trip to Lithuania!

From Augustów, there are buses that leave for day trips to Lithuania all the time, so we booked a spot and got to explore another country! The bus took us to two different cities, Troki (Trakai) and Wilno (Vilnius). The bus ride started early in the morning (around 6am) and we got back to Poland around (8pm). It was a busy day, but I was glad that we got to explore a new place!

Lithuanian moneyyyy

 The first stop was Trakai and there we mainly stopped by to tour this castle called the Trakai Island Castle. It was a pretty castle with a lot of history! There were so many different tour groups from all over so it got kind of crowded, especially when we had to pass each other on the stairs!

Crossing the bridge to get to the castle!

There were a lot of people there- even a group of US soldiers!

pretty castle

So many stairs!

Hanging out at the castle!

The water surrounding the castle was so blue!!

After that stop, we got back on the bus and headed to Vilnius! First stop there was this famous cemetery called the Rasos Cemetery. There are a lot of polish soldiers buried there as well as the heart of Józef Piłsudski (important political figure in Poland).

Heart of Józef Piłsudski buried with his mother's grave (and the lady in white and red was our tour guide!)

This was my favorite sculpture at the cemetery.

So many graves...

After a short stop at the cemetery, we got back on the bus and then followed our quick guide around the city! But really, she was so fast, taking us from place to place… but I guess there was a lot to see and not a lot of time! 

We saw a lot of really nice churches, and one in particular was especially beautiful. There were sculptures carved into the entire inside of the church, and there was so much detail!

Such a beautiful church! There were so many weddings taking place in all of these beautiful churches.

We continued to walk around, and then had an hour away from the group to find lunch. We found a nice little restaurant where we had potato pancakes and a yummy salad. Our server was Lithuanian, but she also spoke English and Polish, so it was easy to order.

potato pancakes (I am familiar with these because they are a popular polish dish as well)

Such a pretty chicken salad!

After lunch we went to see Adam Mickiewicz’s house. He was a famous Polish poet. 

Adam Mickiewicz's house- in the top right you see a balcony type thing, this was actually a hallway between rooms! To save money on heating, they built hallways (open to the outside). Then, they wouldn't have to heat that extra space in the winter.

Here is his desk and chair where he wrote his poetry.

The rest of the tour consisted of many more churches and famous paintings.

Another cool church

This is the original of this painting and it is located in a small chapel where Polish masses are held!

Agnieszka and I with our tour group

Another pretty church!

Original of another famous painting: Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn

She overlooks the town!

Seeing the Ostra Brama (Gate of Dawn) was the last thing we did in Vilnius. Then we got back on the bus and made one more stop at a Lithuanian store where we spent the rest of our Lithuanian money on chocolate, tea, etc. 

We got back to Augustow around 8pm and then walked around the city. It was such a nice night!

We stayed at a hostel near a lake!

We spent Sunday in Augustow. After going to mass, we spent the rest of the morning at a market :). There we were able to get some souvenirs! Then, we spent the afternoon at visiting a site that was created in honor of John Paul II. After that short visit, we returned to the market, bought lots of polish tea (there was a sale) and we had ice cream. We then made it back to the car and drove back to Białystok. 

Church where we went to mass in the morning!

At the main market in Augustów!

At the market in Augustów!

My lovely aunt and I

Pope John Paul II statue

I had a really great time with Agnieszka, my aunt, and her friend! I am really thankful to have gotten to explore a new city in Poland as well as a couple cities in Lithuania!

So sad that my trip is almost over,

Magdalena