Yesterday the weather warmed up to 14 degrees Celsius (that’s 57 degrees Fahrenheit!) and the sun was shining — the perfect day for a Sunday outing in the countryside near Kaunas. Our first stop was a medieval church in the village of Zapyškis. The original church was built in 1578, although it has been reconstructed several times, most recently in 1942. It sits on a field of grass beside the Nemunas river. Unfortunately, I walked out of the house without my camera so I don’t have any of my own photos of the beautiful scene (especially of the church and river from a viewpoint on a nearby hill). This photo from the Zapyškis website will have to suffice.
The church with the river behind it (2004-04-09, from zapyskis.lt)
We then went for a hike in the forest. My friend optimistically thought we would see spring flowers, but it’s a bit early for those. Instead we saw patches of snow and lots of mud, but it was still fun to be outdoors in the warm weather. We found a nice clearing with a log to sit on, the perfect place for our picnic lunch of beer, dark bread and smoked sausages. Spring doesn’t seem to be quite here yet, but at least it feels like winter is over!
Amanda in Lithuania 
April 4th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
You keep going to places where I used to live! I’ve grew up in a town on the other side of Nemunas, it’s called Kulautuva. I spent most of my childhood there (13 years). The little houses you see in this photo you posted are part of it 🙂