2022-01-23
This morning at breakfast I indulged in various different offerings from the display including sausage, bacon and fried egg; slightly out of my normal boundaries. A final fling before my fasting from this evening.
I can’t decide what to do now as today will be my last opportunity to walk anywhere for a few days; it is a beautiful morning with clear skies and snow on the ground. I walked around 2.6km and that is the final wear test on my right knee before it is removed! This walk took me to the confluence of the Neman and Neris rivers where the difference in the ice floating down the two rivers was really interesting. The Neris, flowing faster than the Neman, had way more floating ice and as a consequence most of the waterfowl were in the Neman. There were lots of locals out enjoying the sunshine and their young children sledging. Just like in the UK most people in urban situations seem to avoid eye contact when passing on paths etc. for a country bumpkin that always seems strange to me.
As you can see I took a slightly odd route initially as Google Maps was finding it difficult to locate me within the tall buildings and relatively narrow streets. I went back to using my normal navigational skills looking at the angle of the sun and walking in what I knew to be a northwesterly direction until I hit the park, then I just followed the footpath even though it was covered in snow but it had been used sufficiently to show the general direction. Along the way were a number of children's play areas and some park training equipment.
Link to the google album for DAY 2 2022-01-23
Kauno Santakos (Kaunas Confluence Park) is where the Kaunas Castle is located, a Defensive mediaeval castle, and in the grounds is a status of Vyčio paminklas "Laisvės Karys" which is a representation of the Lithuianian Coat of Arms.
This photo shows the Kaunas Castle in the background.
On the return to the hotel I followed the bank of the Neman River with its various bridges.
Vytautas the Great Bridge
Vytautas the Great Bridge, also known as Aleksotas Bridge before 1930 and from 1940 until 23 February 2008, crosses the Nemunas River to connect Aleksotas and Old Town in Kaunas, Lithuania. Its length exceeds 256 metres, and its width is of 16 metres. The means of payment for the building of the bridge was arranged back in 1927. After several stages of competition, Copenhagen-based engineers obtained the rights to build the bridge. Finally, on January 11, 1930, the bridge was completed, being named after Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great.
Pontoon bridge in 1873
During World War II the bridge was blasted away. Due to the strategic relevance of the city Kaunas, the bridge was rebuilt in 1948. In 2005 the bridge underwent a major reconstruction.
I was fascinated to see the movement of ice at a point where I assume a culvert drained into the river from the Kaunas builtup area.
This island which I walked onto yesterday is now being developed under an EU scheme worth some €25M as National Science Island. Apparently Kaunas ‘Consistently ranked as Lithuania’s best student city, Kaunas’ lively atmosphere derives from the thousands of young people who are seeking higher education at its eight eminent universities.’ From the document linked below ‘...Lithuania, the largest of the Baltic States, has one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.’ as can be seen by the amount of new builds going on around the area.
With the new bridge toward the western end of the island being built as part of this latest project. For me as an old construction engineer it was a fascinating sculptural design with curved concrete faces from the retaining walls to the buttresses. This bridge is so new that google street view doesn’t have any photos showing the bridge.
Because I hadn’t taken photos of this bridge on my way back as there were too many people wandering around, I walked back this afternoon to take some photos.
One of the cool things about pedestrian crossings here is that EVERY one stops if you are waiting at a no traffic light pedestrian crossing; and the traffic lights have a countdown to show how long before it goes green for pedestrians and cyclists. There are also good audio signals for blind people.
This shows 17 seconds to go to the change to the green man. So after two walks today I am now resting the soon to be removed knee before I go down to the restaurant for dinner. After dinner I will pack everything and settle the hotel extras such as items from the fridge. Then an early night as the logistics department’s driver is collecting me at 07:15 tomorrow.
The restaurant was not open this evening so I had to suffice with another Bolt delivery
Not the greatest of evening meals I have ever had but it will suffice to keep me going until I am through the operation tomorrow.
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