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Published: February 22nd 2017
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Reflections
Buildings along River Neris A very rainy weekend in Vilnius
In 2007, less than a year after we started this blog
we went to Vilnius in Lithuania for a couple of days. We liked it there and we like Eastern Europe in general and the Baltic countries in particular so now that we think about it it is strange that we haven't been back in almost 10 years. But in October last year we finally did go back and here is our story from that trip.
First the short version, one word is enough to sum it up: Rain.
Now for the long version
When we came to the hotel in Vilnius we noticed an advertisement for something called Museum of Illusions. As we have already mentioned it rained a lot during the weekend we were there so we thought a museum was a good idea. Now afterwards we are so happy that it was raining because the museum was absolutely awesome. It is all about illusions of various kinds and we have added several photos to give you a taste of what it was like.
One of the illusions at Museum of Illusions must be seen
Uzupis constitution
Uzupis is a selfproclaimed republic and they have their own constitution or declaration of rights in a film. Here it is:
In central Vilnius there is a district called
Uzupis. The population in Uzupis consists largely of artists and it is a very laid back place.
Uzupis is a selfproclaimed independent republic by the way. One of many joke republics in the world. We once actually made a blog entry about
a joke republic in Skane in southern Sweden.
When we think of Vilnius we think of it as an artistic city. There were several examples of this
• Uzupis - We have already mentioned Uzupis. The many artists who live there have displayed their art in windows and in their gardens. All you need to do is walk around and you'll find art
• Literatu Gatve - In the old town there is a short street called Literatu Gatve, Literature Street. On the walls there are more than 100 plaques and artworks commemorating Lithuanian and foreign authors.
• Frank Zappa tribute - In one of the parks in Vilnius there is a tribute to Frank Zappa. There is a statue and there are paintings on a wall. The statue consists of a pole with a
Uzupis
Mermaid statue in Uzupis bust of the famous musician at the top. Last time we were in Vilnius the statue had been destroyed - someone had stolen the bust so all that was standing was the pole. It looked better now, the head had been replaced. A somewhat funny detail is that we nine years ago actually didn't realize that there was supposed to be a head at the top of the pole. We looked at the pole and thought that it looked strange. But we thought that if they wish to honor Frank Zappa by erecting a metal pole with his name on it who are we to argue with that. We took a photo of the pole and left. Does that make us stupid? We prefer to think it makes us open minded.
It was in the month of October we visited Vilnius, that is it was in the middle the autumn. In one courtyard they had a kind of art exhibition (yep, art again!) where they had created characters and scenes using autumn leaves, apples and pumpkins for example. That exhibition looked very autumn-esque.
Finally we have to mention that we visited a cat café.
Literatu Gatve
In the old town there is a short street called Literatu Gatve, Literature Street. On the walls there are more than 100 plaques and artworks commemorating Lithuanian and foreign authors We have heard of cat cafés before but this was the first time we actually visited one. A cat café is very much a regular café but with an added feature, it is also the home of 10 cats or so. If you are a cat lover its a must when visiting Vilnius. There is a limited number of seats in the café so you need to make a reservation a day or so before.
When we bought the tickets for this trip we wanted to go on a spa weekend. We never managed to drag our butts to any spa but we did manage to cram in a lot of other stuff instead. The spa weekend we have postponed to a later time. We're thinking of trying to make it to Hungary. There probably is no better country if you wish to go to spas. But it will take time before those thoughts will be turned into a trip because we have other trips planned for the next couple of months.
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Rainyb
Lorraine Brecht
I agree..... adorable!