August 12, 2015
Last night in Lithuania
To Lazdijai
I had the hotel breakfast, which I had booked when I booked the room online. When I checked in yesterday, they asked me to choose what I wanted for breakfast, one item from each of about half a dozen categories, which were fortunately translated into 5 languages including English. Coffee with milk. Butter or jam (I chose jam). Omelet or pancake. It sounded good, except for butter or jam. I hadn't had eggs other than boiled since I've been traveling. It didn't meet expectations. It started with the coffee, which was cowboy style. You know, with the hot water poured over the grounds in the cup. I've had that a few times, starting in Latvia, but is not what I expected from a hotel restaurant. "With milk" meant with one little packaged creamer. Coffee has been exceptionally good on this trip, and this was a disappointment. So was the rest of the meal. I had eaten dinner last night at a cafe nearby. It had been bland and a disappointment as well, so maybe Alytus is just not the place for good food.
It was another hot hot hot day, and I decided to make it a relatively short one. I stopped in Lazdijai, a couple miles short of the border with Poland. I looked up hotels on line, and only found one. Not liking what I read about it, I went into the tourist office and asked what else was available. Nothing, they said. The other hotel shown on the map sometimes takes guests, and sometimes doesn't, and the homestays are set up for larger groups, so as one person, the hotel across the square was my only choice. Okay. They called across for me, warning that there wouldn't be any English, and got a rate that was half of what was shown on booking.com. I found out when I tried to check in that they only accept cash. Since I'm heading to Poland where they don't use Euros, I've been spending mine down. I had to go to an ATM (bankomat) to get some cash. The first 2 machines I found were out of order, but at the third I got enough cash for the hotel plus a couple of meals and cold drinks, and then checked in.
The hotel itself is okay. It's a really big Soviet type building. My bike is locked away in a WC on the ground floor, and my room is on the 2nd floor (which would be the third to Americans). It just isn't very clean. There was a mat on the floor in the bathroom that had muddy footprints on it, and there is a block of soap that I'd prefer not to touch. It's generally just dusty and dirty. I think the bed is okay. There is no option for breakfast, which I suppose might actually be a good thing. On the bright side, it has a tv that has a channel in English, BBC. The news, though, doesn't seem that interesting. China devalued the yuan. Maybe if they showed what impact it was having on other currencies or the stock markets it would be more interesting.
I had a late lunch/early dinner at the picerija next door to the hotel. It was a pretty good pepperoni and mushroom pizza. I didn't think I would be able to eat it all, but somehow I managed. I walked around town a bit, and it was surprisingly quiet.
In contrast, the hotel is sort of crazy right now. Lots of rooms have sports channels blasting, and doors are open to try to cool off. I'm in the lobby where the Wi-Fi mostly works, and guys have been streaming in with bottles of beer and other alcohol from the shop which is next to the picerija. Could be an interesting night.
Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 1,151 km (715 miles)
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