Vilnius, Lithuania

This trip was a pure improvisation. Our friends from Belarus stayed in Vilnius for two days and even though our countries are not that far from each other visa regime makes visiting pretty complicated. That's why we were so happy to find out they were in another EU country, even only for 2 days.

We woke up at 5am and after short "packing" consisting mostly of cleaning lenses, checking chargers and so on we started our drive not long before 7.

The drive is about 600km long divided pretty much equally between Estonia,  Latvia and Lithuania. After the first couple of hours drive we were to our surprise stopped by Latvian border control.had driven quite a few timed back and forth and always thought the checkpoints had been abandoned. Wrong. That day they were checking all papers and as we did not have passports (only ID cards) and passports are required for EU residents (not for the citizens though) they had to make official report. Luckily they let us continue our drive.

Lesson to learn: omnia mea mecum porto - take all possible papers with you! You never know...


This was not the only adventure on our way. Entering Vilnius we felt something was wrong with our brakes. Praying and keeping distance we made it to the city and now had yet another problem: not only to find where to stay but also to fix the car as we still had 600km to drive home. And this is not something one wants to do with broken brakes...

Of course, it was not such a pure improvisation as we had checked possible accommodations in the Old Town. We had a scrap of paper with addresses we liked most in the pocket. So knowing the problems with parking in most modern cities we left the car at one of the parking lots that was available and free (since it was weekend) and went forward afoot. We were to find where to land for the next night.
Another tip. Vilnius is pretty well equipped with parking lots and one can always find a spot, even in the old town. However there is one thing to remember: all parking machines accept coins only. It is impossible to pay neither with bills, nor with card. All parkings are free between 8 in the evening and 8 in the morning as well as on Sundays.

The next thing we did (and this is something we highly recommend!) was to buy the city map in one of the first stalls. And since we were meeting with our friends we also bought a pre-paid phone card for easy communication. This option is often overlooked with people preferring to pay for expensive roaming but for those who do not expect any urgent business calls this is ideal as we got a fully functional phone card with instructions in Lithuanian, English and Russian for about $2.5.

Map in the hand we dove in the labyrinth of the cobblestone streets.

One of the hotels there was on our the scrap of paper had an exclamation mark as it supposedly had a fireplace in every room and nice restaurant and wine bar on the ground floor. However when we found ourselves where we thought the hotel would be we could not spot any signs. Desperate to find the hotel we kept staring at the address on the scrap of paper again and again comparing it to the street name and building numbers. Eventually we walked in the bar that was located where the hotel was supposed to be and asked the bartender whether he knew anything about the hotel that supposedly was in the same building. Even though bartenders are in general very well informed people this one was truly perplexed by the fact that there supposedly was a hotel in the same building. However even though he did not know anything about it he immediately offered his help, used his laptop to find their phone number, made a phone call and informed us that someone from the hotel would come out to pick us up.


On the sideline during our short stay in Vilnius we noticed quite a few times how helpful Lithuanians are. Once and elderly couple saw city map in our hands, approached us and insisted on helping us find the way. Another day we overheard a bartender explaining to a lady "then you have to take bus number 54 and go 3 stops. You will need a bus ticket...". The lady was not a client, she just walked in for directions and the bartender was really detailed and patient with her. 

Back to the story, hotel was in the inner yard and indeed did not have any indication of its function. When we walked in it strongly smelled like kitchen and owner's wife and kid were there too. The kid was running up and down the stairs. The owner asked 50 euro. However as we were planning to drink wine with our friends we felt like we would be looked at by the wife and the kid when coming in and going out so we opted for a more intimate option.
Needless to say there was no fireplace and no restaurant or wine bar.
Walking along the cobblestone streets we saw the hotel we eventually stayed at.
It was light and beautiful with large open windows on the ground floor. Also the name Artes reminded of Arts so Erkki went in to ask for prices. It was a bit too expensive - 95 euro per night so I insisted that we kept walking even though Erkki was shyly offering to stay. We checked another hotel - it was 65 euro and even though the room was a bit dark (which was for some reason emphasized by dark daycovers on the bed) I inclined towards staying there. At the end of the day it was only 15 euro more expensive but a big step forward compared to the previous one.
But Erkki was of a different opinion. First of all being very smell-sensitive he immediately smelled stale smoke in the room. And secondly... well... he had already made up his mind and wanted to return to Artes. His argument was that we work hard without days for 6 months in a row so that when we have time off we can afford ourselves a bit more.
This was hard to argue with and we returned to Artes.
The rooms were light and spacious, there was gym and swimming pool (it was free of charge in the morning but we did not think of taking swimwear so unfortunately never used the facility). The breakfast was one of the best we have had and included not only cereals, fruits and pastries but also vide selection of famous Lithuanian sausages (both hot and cold), selection of smoked and lightly salted fish and croissant that tasted like it is supposed to.
The service was good and personnel attentive: for example  when we asked to check out a little later (as our car was not yet ready) this was not a problem.

Location in close proximity to all main attractions makes it a good landing spot for those who don't mind to pay a little extra. 


We called our friends and as they were at the moment in Acropolis shopping center we decided to take a stroll on the charming streets of Old Town.

Our friends soon joined us at the hotel and we went for dinner. Of course we wanted to get a taste of Lithuania so Forto Dvaras restaurant on Pilies g. 16. They had a good selection of traditional dishes including cold beetroot soup, all sorts of potato dishes as well as cepelinai (zeppelins), a potato-based dumpling dish characteristic of Lithuanian cuisine. The menu was translated into English and most items had colorful picture so it was easy to order.

Another local brand worth mentioning is herbal liqueur "999" ("Trejos devynerios"). According to the legend this drink is known since 13th century. 26 different herbs were used in its production with 27th being hornbeam (tuns made of fresh hornbeam gave its flavor to the drink as well). Of course this drink was also used  against cold, joint pains, for wound healing and general body toning.

Ask a straight up shot of 999 at any of the bars and restaurants and if you like it you can find 4 different kinds (classical, with mint, lemon etc) in any shop: they have all sizes so you can take them home as a souvenir.



Speaking of dinners.
The next night Erkki got hungry pretty late and after a walk in the neighborhood we discovered that in a handful of places that were still open the kitchens had already been closed. Luckily our hotel bartender advised us that a Čili pica restaurant on Gedimino pr. 23 was still open: it was open till 3am Sunday through Wednesday and till 6am Thursday through Saturday. We did not expect much merely hoping to find pizza at this time of night. To our surprise we found a very extensive menu of soups, salads, appetizers, pastas, pancakes, dumplings and of course a variety of pizzas. They also had a special healthy menu. And even when Erkki ordered dessert he could tell it was made to order - not pre-cooked. We believe it is a great option to eat normal healthy meals at pretty much any time of the day.


Even though old city of Tallinn is truly beautiful we were impressed by Vilnius as well. First of all, it is much bigger than the one in Tallinn. Secondly as Lithuanian are more religious than Estonians they have many more churches and cathedrals, all beautifully ornate, each in its own style.
Wherever you look you will end up seeing at least two churches

Roofs of Vilnius. In the background - Three Crosses (Trys kryžiai)

Well, here there are way more than 2 churches...

One of the most famous is St. Anne's church. 

It is a prominent example of both Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic styles. St. Anne's is a prominent landmark in the Old Town of Vilnius that enabled the district to be included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.  ©Wikipedia

According to a well-known legend, Emperor Napoleon, after seeing the church during the Franco-Russian War in 1812, expressed a wish to carry the church home with him to Paris 'in the palm of his hand'. ©Wikipedia

It sure does look like an ornate treasure box. Luckily Napoleon failed.

St. Anne's church, general view

St. Anne's church, detail

Obviously, St. Anne's church is one of the heavily visited and heavily photographed tourist attractions. But it is still possible to find spots a bit off the beaten path. On of such spots is Užupis district.

We were surprised to have found a spot in such a touristic city with crooked streets, some houses being in ruins and used by some vagabond artists as their ateliers. There are bikes and lifebuoys hanging on the trees, sculptures - painted and dressed up, linen hanging out of the window and that atmosphere of 

Užupis means "on the other side of the river" in the Lithuanian language and refers to the Vilnia River. The name Vilnius was derived from the Vilnia. The district has been popular with artists for some time, and has been compared to Montmartre in Paris due to its bohemian atmosphere. The district houses art galleries, artists' workshops, and popular cafés. On April Fools Day, 1997, the district declared itself an independent republic (The Republic of Užupis) with its own flag, currency, president, constitution, and an army (numbering approximately 17 men). They celebrate this independence annually on Užupis Day, which falls on April 1st. Artistic endeavours are the main preoccupation of the Republic <...>. ©Wikipedia 

Hopefully, the collage below renders the spirit of this free-minded community, whose life is outlined by the following articles of Constitution of Užupis:

"Man has the right to individuality." (Article 5)

"People have the right to live by the River Vilnelė, while the River Vilnelė has the right to flow past people." (Article 1)

"A dog has the right to be a dog." (Article 12)

"People have the right to have no rights." (Article 37)

and even contradicting article 16 "People have the right to be happy." and 17 "People have the right to be unhappy."

Strolling along welcoming Užupis streets we got hungry and stumbled upon Restaurant Tores. The restaurant overlooks the wonderful scenery of Vilnius Old town. And it does have great food, pretty extensive wine list and most popular terrace with the most delightful view of the city.
We had turkey liver in puff pastry and fried - smoked curd cheese for appetizer, for the main course: salt - baked salmon with potatoes and celery puree, fried pepper and lemon sauce and rabbit thigh with fried vegetables - all we had was excellent: artfully cooked and  beautifully presented.
The terrace is decorated with a cute gargoyle and the sculpture of resident drunkard. Good idea if one needs a drink but does not have a company :)

Resident drunkard of Tores - perfect drinking companion!

Eventually we walked our friends to railway station.

The next day we walked up the Three Crosses mountains and enjoyed more beautiful views of the city.

After our car was fixed it was time to head home.

But we decided to get a bot closer look at Lithuania and so we drove to Trakai...