Lithuanian Folk Museum testifies that it is not necessary to travel thousands of miles to feel the spirit of place, to understand what drives the local community, to immerse yourself into the Lithuanian history, culture and legends. It is enough to visit this museum devoted to the ethnography of Lithuanian people and enjoy each exhibit that literally allows touching the history.

The Lithuanian Folk Museum is a colorful representation of the history of Lithuania. It is a huge open-air museum in the small village of Rumsiskes (Rumšiškės) a few kilometers from Kaunas. The 200 hectares of the museum is a real reflection of the Duchy of Lithuania of the 18th-19th centuries, which shows how peasants, artisans, and merchants lived in all the regions of Lithuania.

The open-air museum has over two hundred historic buildings, including century-old peasant houses, mills, and chapel, in the bosom of pristine nature. The ancestors of modern Lithuanians once worked and lived in these historic buildings, and today they became a part of the permanent exhibition of the Lithuanian Folk Museum. Some of the historic buildings are authentic, others are carefully restored based on old black-and-white photographs and archival documents.

A 6-kilometer route runs inside the open-air museum. It is possible to have a walk or choose a guided tour or ride an old cart, enjoying wooden vernacular architecture in the greenery of trees. In case of a longer stay in the museum, I would recommend having a swim in the warm waters of the Kaunas Sea, walk along its shores, and have a barbecue, although the local tavern serves delicious dishes of Lithuanian national cuisine, traditional pastries, and cool rye kvass.

Even the air in the Lithuanian Folk Museum seems special, due to the natural aroma of herbs. It has a special atmosphere of harmony with a barely murmuring stream and splashes of small fishes in the sea, breaking the silence and peace.