Trakai is Lithuania's ancient capital and a short day trip from Vilnius.
It has a beautiful red-brick Gothic castle on an island in the middle of Lake Galve. The castle dates from the late 14th century. The locals were swimming, riding paddle boats and sailing on the lake. Along the path to the drawbridge were beggars, berry sellers and a busker with an accordian.
In 1400, Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas needed some bodyguards so he brought about 380 families to Trakai from Crimea. They belonged to a rare Middle Eastern religious sect called Karaites and 63 remain in Trakai with another 280 in the country but the numbers are dwindling rapidly.
There are still some very old wooden houses where some of the Karaites people live in the village of 6,ooo people.
