At the end of the Danube bike and barge trip, I took a short flight to Vilnius, Lithuania. My maternal grandparents were both born in the Village of Trasninkas, about 90 minutes from Vilnius. Traveling to the land of my ancestors was always on my bucket list, so this was a dream come true. I did a lot of research on the various Ancestry sites to learn the origins of my grandparents. The only photo I could find on the web was of the large cross that greeted you upon entering the village. I hired a translator who drove me to the Village.
The cross at the entrance of the Village of Trasninkas
The last fulltime resident of Trasninkas. He share the same last name as my grandmother.
Per Wikipedia: Trakai Island Castle (Lithuanian: Trakų salos pilis; Polish: Zamek w Trokach) is an island castle located in Trakai, Lithuania, on an island in Lake Galvė. The construction of the stone castle was begun in the 14th century by Kęstutis, and around 1409 major works were completed by his son Vytautas the Great, who died in this castle in 1430. Trakai was one of the main centers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the castle held great strategic importance. The castle was rebuilt in the 1950s–1960s by Lithuanian initiative, although it had received resistance from Soviet authorities. The Trakai History Museum was established after the reconstruction