Day 4 31th Jan 2023

Exploring Kaunas 

A much better overnight sleep but we seemed to be still in UK time as we didn’t get going till around 10:00. Today was to be another museum day but this time here in Kaunas. We decided to walk to the War Museum which took us up our favourite VERY long and steep steps. 

Once we had reached the high point it was quite flat until we moved sufficiently south to descend to the centre of the old city. The variation in age, style, and size of the buildings is dramatic with very modern apartments interspersed with old wooden single story houses on Telšių g

The descent to the museum area was again very steep so we were not planning to go back this way! The square outside the museum is spectacular with the continuous flame in honour of all those who died in the many conflicts trying to maintain Lithuanian sovereignty.

On entry through the large regal doors at the top of the steps we paid our €10 for the two of us and were show where to go initially to hang up our coats and then start with the crypt where there were large marble memorial plaques in a darkened hall listing soldiers of the different regiments

From the crypt we progressed through the various exhibitions in this huge building with its very high ceilings. Some fascinating exhibits include the crushed remains of the aircraft flown by the two Lithuanians, Darius and Girėnas, to be the first to fly air mail from the US to Europe; unfortunately their plane crashed before reaching Lithuania but it was of great significance to the Lithuanian population.

Navigating round the exhibition took a considerable time so we decided to find a cafe close by. However the one across the square was full of students and pretty noisy so we walked on until we came across the Caffeine cafe which we had been in before. Now on the boulevard we turned east and walked east to the magnificent church at the end of the boulevard before setting off uphill towards the sports university and surrounding wooded park.

Along the boulevard there are lots of fashion shops and we visited a few then we went into a shoe shop which had lots of bargains on display. In here we met an Englishman who had travelled yesterday to have a consultation about his foot. I was very impressed with a particular pair of shoes and the lovely manager gave us an extra 10% off the sale price of these Bugatti boots:

 

Armed with my new, more comfortable footwear we continued on our journey past the end of Laisvės al. and its magnificant church, which doubles as a blind sensory exhibition.

It was a stiff walk up the pavement to the top of the hill where there were great views along the walk through the park past the university sports arena and the spectacular Darius and Girėnas Monument.

And then random sculptures:

From the end of the foot/cycle path we took a bus back to the Kauno Pilis junction so that Catharine could go looking in another charity shop. 

Now it was time to walk back to the apartment via IKI, which we hadn’t been in yet, and Lidl to stock up for dinner. 

Back home Catharine cooked another great carbonara and we settled down to watch some Netflix to recover from another big day of walking.

Day 3 30th Jan 2023

 A day out in Vilnius

A slightly restless night so neither of us feeling too good this morning, however we eventually got our act together and having researched our travel arrangements walked down past Lidl to the bus stop at the junction near Kaunas Pilis. 

From there we caught the no 5 bus, a trolley bus, to Kaunas Railway Station. 

We had organised the tickets for the bus on the Ziogas app but struggled to use this as we didn’t quite understand the instructions. So for future reference the bus has a code like 161 and a QR code on a sign near the Wi-Fi scan unit. The code can be input into the app and then the app asks for the ticket to be confirmed. Now you have a limited time for your travel.

The bus journey took us through the centre of Kaunas old city and out to the station. At the station the lady at the ticket office was helpful but as the UK is no longer in the EU we were not allowed to claim the senior citizen discount! However the fare for our 1:15 hour train journey to Vilnius and back was great value at €35:50 for the two of us.  Today's sterling value is £/€1=0.88 so the total fare was £31.24. I don’t think we’d get that sort of fare on the UK network, especially in a 2 storey carriage with superb views of the snow covered landscape. 

One of the major facets of the railways here are the many extensive sidings at large industrial areas making their transport infrastructure much more efficient.

On arrival in Vilnius we exited the station in a bit of a snow storm and walked down towards our selected venue of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of  Lithuania. On the way Catharine noticed some really good looking charity clothes shops so we planned to call in on them on the way back to the station in the late afternoon, 

The cobbled streets and snow made walking quite tricky and we stopped off at another Caffeine outlet for a coffee to keep us going for the rest of the walk. Another 850m past the café was our destination which is a very spectacular building adjacent to the Vilniaus Katedra on a significant square. 

To the east lies the Ducal Palace of the Upper Castle. Due to my lack of research we discovered that the palace was closed on Mondays and so we decided to go on the funicular ride to the top of the hill on which the tower and associated fortifications stand.

The fort overlooks the river on the north and the older areas of the city on the south. 

Day 2 Jan 29th Kaunas

Catharine and I slept well after our long day yesterday and didn’t get out of bed till around 09:00. After a lazy morning breakfast and organising ourselves we set off to walk down the bank of the Neris river to the confluence and then back upstream on the Nemunas to the south of the city. It is a lovely walk past many odd statues/sculptures, the old Kaunas castle and various play areas. Even though it was cold and snowing there were a fair amount of walkers out with their dogs and lots of kids.

One of the art installations at Kauno Pilis

We returned to the apartment via Lidl for our lunch and some recuperation time after all the walking around. I had bought some dark rye bread the day before and Catharine had her baguette with slices of pork which seems to be high on the list of foods here. 

Later we prepared to go back to try another menu at Avilys. I had the paella and Catharine the pork

Mark's Paella and Catharine's Pork

Return to Kaunas Jan 2023

Return with Catharine to Lithuania 2023

The plan is to return to Kaunas, this time with Catharine, to have a week visiting the Kaunas region of Lithuania and to go for a checkup with Nord Orthopaedics team and to give them some feedback on my TKR revision from January 24 last year.

Yesterday we set off from home on stage 1 of our trip taking our dog Jazz to our sons work  so that they can look after him while we are away. 

We checked the traffic at Britannia Bridge before setting off from Star Autocare, Gaerwen. Our departure time from the garage was well judged with very little delay getting off Anglesey, usually a problem with the closure of the Menai Bridge since last year. And We were lucky with the remains of the journey to Catharine’s Niece's house in Warrington. They had kindly offered to deliver us to the airport in time for the flight this morning. So we had a good evening catching up with them all and a comfortable overnight sleep.

We are now onboard the light from Liverpool to Kaunas, Ryanair 09:55 which took off 2 minutes early. I was refused permission to take my computer bag through check in as I was not a priority boarder. 

The flight is due into Kaunas at 14:30 local time (EET) 2 hours earlier than GMT. I changed my phone onto EET to see how much longer we are in the air, but I couldn't see the document as I hadn’t made it visible offline.

As we disembarked we had quite a long wait in the queue for passport control, but as we passed through there were two taxis from Nord Clinic waiting for their passengers. As I had not arranged to be collected we were asking for directions to the bus stop but then the taxi driver put two and two together and realised when he ran my phone and I answered that we were the ones he was waiting for. So we were transported to our apartment here in Kaunas directly!

The entry details for the accommodation were not quite as precise as we would have liked but eventually we twiggeed we were at the wrong door. The smart lock also had us confused on exit but we got the hang of it as we started our walk to Lidl to do some shopping.

 

Before setting off we had been looking at how to get to the old city centre and I forgot to change the destination as we set off to Lidl. A bit of a detour climbing a huge flight of concrete steps before I realised the error of my ways and stopped Google maps, restarting it to find Lidl. Snow was mostly cleared from the roads but the pavements were still covered in a thin layer of snow making some areas quite slippery. 

Lidl was just beyond an indoor market with some interesting shops, including a IKEA in a very modern building . Once in Lidl we realised that our lack of linguistic skills in Lithuanian made it quite difficult to read the food labels! Lidl's bakery included dark Rye Bread, one of my favourites when in Europe.

Armed with our shopping we took the more direct route back to the apartment and had a cup of tea while we planned our evening event.

The apartment is 'bijou' approx 10 mx 5m with a separate  shower room and toilet adjacent to the double bed. The kitchen has a couple of interesting items with a drying rack inside the cupboard. Very good value at around £55 per night.

Once we had got ourselves sorted out we walked back past Lidl towards the southern part of Kaunas where we looked for a restaurant which would take our fancy. Eventually we found Avilys which seemed well attended and was open with just two tables left. The food was absolutely fantastic; duck with beetroot and blackberry sauce and a concoction of garlic potato which was very thinly sliced and reconstituted in an oblong block.

Main course at Avilys

Ice cream at Avilys

The restaurant is in the brick vaulted cellar of the building and is a home brewery too. Some people were getting beer served in a significant ‘yard of ale’.

Our table was next to a young English chap with his mum and I stopped and had a chat with them on my way to pay our bill. The meal was superb and the cost was very reasonable at €66 including one of their beers and a bottle of sparkling water.

The walk back to the apartment is now becoming very familiar and seems to take no time at all. The fuel stations here all have LPG and the price here is very reasonable, €0.65/ltr compoared to the UK average rate of £0.9/ltr

11 Months since the operation

 Date 2022-12-25

Update

On the face of things I am now pretty mobile and in less pain than before the operation on my right knee. I am able to walk reasonable distances and get my heart rate elevated climbing and descending our local sand dunes. According to my fitbit app I am doing on average 8.5 Km per day.

Whilst sailing on my yacht I note that I am not yet as steady as I was before the operation and the stiffness of the right knee makes it a bit difficult getting on and off top of the coach house roof. Much of this, I have no doubt, is a fear of flexing the knee too much.

The knee still shows signs of swelling to the outer side of the knee cap although these last few days I have noticed the swelling reducing such that I can feel all around the knee cap. 

Thoughts on pain

From about 5 months since the operation I have noticed a significant pain which develops below the knee on the inside of the leg although somedays I have no pain at all. This pain seems to increase when I: 

• Twist the lower leg in relation to the knee, 

• Go for long walks 

• Standing still for periods of more than 10 minutes. 

For a while it seemed that this pain subsides when I walk with my right foot turned inwards, so that I am walking ‘pigeon toed’ but now I am not so sure. This last couple of weeks I have been experiencing sciatica from my hip down the outside of the right leg but once I move around it eases. 

I am continuing with my physiotherapy exercises although I have been a bit lax lately and need to get back to a more regular programme. The exercises I still do are:

1. Flexing both legs at the knee lying with my legs on the peanut and then wiggling my ankles

2. Raising and lowering my hips supporting my ankles on the peanut

3. Using a wobble board

1. stretching my achilles tendon up to the back of the knee.

2. Balancing on each leg separately

4. Static bike for 50 turns of the peddals. This has become less difficult with the reduction in the knee swelling. 

Twice a day Catharine and I walk the dog for around 20 to 30 minutes which includes walking up and down sand dunes to raise my heart rate. I go for longer walks roughly 1 or 2 times per week. Typically we will walk around 8 to 9 Km per day. I wasn’t sure of the freezing temperatures of the last few days had increased the pain or not but having continued to walk through the river at low tide I rather suspect that the cold and then warm when we get home has been a benefit.

My balance on the right leg is not as good as the left leg but it is improving. My right achilles tendon was repaired when I was 25 with a carbon fibre and this has always been stiff. By flexing my ankle upward, bending the foot so the toes move toward the shin on the wobble board I feel significant tension through to the back of the knee. Additionally the tendons and muscles on the outside of the shin are very tight. I have been treating this with a vibrating massage tool, and getting this seen to in sessions with my sports injury therapist; who uses massage and cupping techniques to help separate the tendons to give the leg more flexibility.

Catharine and I are planning to return to Lithuania for the 1 year anniversary of the operation and I have asked for the surgeon to check me over. We had hoped to go earlier but there has been too much going on so we’ve delayed the expedition.

9 months since the operation

It is the morning of Tuesday 25th October. Yesterday I had another session with Steffi who was very pleased with my progress in that the reduction of the swelling on the knee continues. She worked on the area of the shin for a large part of the session and as I left her treatment room and climbed the steps up the garden my knee flection seemed much better. I have been having quite severe cramps in that area over the last few months but didn’t think to mention it before.

My ability to walk downstairs now is quite good most of the time but the pain below my knee is very variable. I am now convinced that this must be a trapped nerve as it comes and goes without any particular incident. When walking the dog, which I do twice a day, I can now walk, as long as the variable pain isn't too bad, at a much quicker pace. With my Fitbit watch recording all my steps and calories burn it sits well with my new diabetic software "MySugr". 

This last few weeks I have been much more productive and have completed a number of tasks which have been nagging me for some time. With the heavy rain fall recently we had a bit of a flood in the garage under the house so I finally got round to installing the cut off drainage channel to divert the majority of the water runoff down the drive. This involved a lot of bending to use the disc cutter to cut through the paviors, lift the bits out and regrade the bedding sand before fitting the plastic channels. 

This probably didn't do my back a great favour as I still have significant lower back ache, probably  resulting from the decompression operation from just over a year ago, but having Catharine’s help with back massage and sessions with Steffi it is gradually getting better. I just can't stay sitting or standing for too long and have to get up and move at regular intervals. 

As we have come to the month of October I have had to move the yacht from the swinging moorings at Holyhead to the Academy Pontoons at Plas Heli Pwllheli. One of my sailing colleagues joined me for a lovely sail round on a weather window between the significant high winds we’ve been experiencing over the  last few weeks. It seems like we have one good day and then back to storms. 

This was the view back to Bardsey Sound as we approached St Tudwal’s Island. Although lovely and sunny it was very cold and I had to ditch the shorts for some warm trousers! The trip takes around 8 hours and that is a long time to be moving about on the boat or standing behind the wheel for long periods so the knee does stiffen up a bit from these activities, especially in the cold. Now with the yacht down in Pwllheli we are taking part in the Winter Race Series every other weekend until the end of December. 

It is great to be back to racing with a bigger fleet and feeling fit enough to really participate. 

I now plan to get to grips with all the remaining outstanding tasks on my list, rather than just moving them forward to future dates! 

Catharine and I are giving some thought to a trip back to UPA Spa so that she can see what a great place it is and we can benefit from a few days spa treatment. 

Week 34 - 7.5 months since the op

Now 24th September and I have made significant progress having walked around 6 miles yesterday with an old work colleague from many years ago. I set off from my daughter’s house to drive my MX-5 the 54 miles from Dorchester to Exeter. The car is very low and l need the roof down to make it easy to get in and out. Fortunately it was sunny so ideal for open top driving.

Having arrived at 09:45 we sat and caught up over a couple of coffees before we set off from his house in Marlborough Road and walked down to the harbour having stopped to look at where the gate had been in the city wall.

From there we walked down the canal to the double lock pub for lunch. Watching kids swimming and of lots swans & ducks. The pub was busy with lots of external tables and friendly staff. Chris and enjoyed the food and a beer in sunshine and shade from all the trees.

After lunch we walked back a different way finally getting back to his house for a cup of tea and a well earned rest! -

My knee was a little sore with the recurrent pain below the joint and a bit of swelling but after a short rest I was able to continue walking from Chris’s house down to the Spanish restaurant for a tapas dinner before I drove my mx-5 back to Dorchester where I have been helping my daughter, who has not been well. The car is very low and I still have some difficulty in getting in or out with the soft top up so I drive it with the top down unless it is raining. Diving the mx-5 for a long distance is fine with a very comfy driver’s seat. but trying to get out in the tight parking Spaces is difficult unless I can fully open the door!.

The day before I had helped Amber with work in their allotment and according to Fitbit I have exceeded my targets for the last 3 days!

I had been avoiding long drives since the operation but I felt it was appropriate at this point in my recovery to drive the 340 mile journey.

When I saw Steffi this last Wednesday she was impressed with my progress and she spent time releasing the muscles and tendons on the outside of my right leg to give me more mobility in my ankle and less restriction at the knee.

Since my last blog I have been on several long cruises on my yacht so following on from the portrush cruise next joined other yachts form Holyhead m a cruise to the Isle of Man and more recently to Dun Laoghaire and Greystones. Both proved challenging but with improvements in my fitness and balance we overcame all the issues..

Greystones marina entrance

So it seems that I am now well into recovery and with a bit more work things will be as good as the left leg!