Bouncing in Lithuania

One thing I forgot to tell you about Riga was about the cycles, they were everywhere and appear to be encouraged to ride on the pavements. I was strolling along minding my own, when whooooosh, cyclists would come either side almost taking my arms off, you had to look behind you all the time if you wanted to change direction. A bit of a worry.
Anyhow, left Riga for Lithuania, and every one was warning me about the state of the roads there. Well, the road out of Riga towards the border was the worse one I had seen all trip. It warned on the signs about a bumpy surface, but it was worse than you can imagine. Think the prom and multiply by 100, yes that bad. I slowed to a crawl to make my way over the bumpsies but I must admit I was worried about my luggage rack fracturing.
I crossed the border into Lithuania, and lo and behold, smooth roads, you can see where the EU euro is being spent. I must admit I did come across one section where they were laying new chippings but as long as I kept inside the lorry tracks I was OK.
Today I went to the Hill of Crosses, this is a very small hillock where, some years ago, and to express themselves as Christians, people started to place crosses. The Russians tore them down on a few occasions, but the tradition continued. When the Russians moved out the crosses multiplied. At present they estimate that there are over 200,000 crosses of every possible size. This site is so important that even the Pope himself has been here. There were a few tacky stalls nearby selling crosses and people are adding them all the time. I saw crosses from all over the world, however, not one in English, however, I must admit I did not study every one of them!!
On the way from the site I saw my first stork nest with 4 birds in it. This was to be one of many that I saw during my ride to Kaunas, Lithuanias second city.
I arrived at Kaunas and booked into a newish hotel called the Magnus, I was put on the 5th floor but thankfully they had lifts. My room is the best I have had yet, with a super kingsize bed, work station and a bathroom to die for, in fact the underfloor heating in the bathroom was so hot I could hardly walk on it. Only thing missing AGAIN, is a plug for the wash basin. I am really glad that I bought a travel basin/bath plug with me, the best 3 quid I have spent, I have had to use it every single day, even on the super boat from Sweden to Estonia. It makes shaving so much easier. And all for 27 pounds a night including breakfast.
I took a walk into the old town to see if there was anything of note to see, mainly so that I could justify a second night at the Magnus, but afraid not. The old town had a very grubby look and feel to it, although I did have a very nice meal with sweet and beer for 12 pounds. I will struggle to spend the 50 pounds I withdrew at this rate as I paid for the hotel by card. I will have to fill my tank twice tomorrow and pay in cash AND buy chocolate just to use it up, don't want to take any money out of the country.
I made my way back to the hotel and decided to have a beer in the panoramic bar on the 9th floor, but no dice, closed for a private function, typical.
I have decided to make towards Elk, in Poland tomorrow and have booked an apartment for 2 nights. This comes complete with kitchen and room for 3 people, cost 52 pounds for the 2 nights. It does get excellent reviews on trip advisor so I am not too worried. I note from the map that south of Elk is Treblinca, another must see on this trip.
The weather forecast is rain tomorrow then getting better over the next days, so it will be on with the waterproofs again and make the most of the ride to Elk. I do not have to book out till midday so will leave it as late as possible to see if the rain lifts a bit.
This has been typed on the hotel compter as I could not gain access to blogspot on my own notebook, I will try to post photos of the Hill of Crosses later.