Blogs from Vilnius, Lithuania, Europe - page 2

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Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius October 11th 2017

We are in the country of Lithuania tonight. I like it! The vibe here is good and the buildings – everywhere – are gorgeous. It’s like walking around a fake town and our hotel isn’t even in the “old towne” section. Their “normal” buildings are beautiful. Kamie & I walked around town on our own for a couple of hours during lunch today and then at 3pm we took a group tour of the Museum of Genocide or the KGB Museum. This is the original prison that was the headquarters for the Gestapo during the German occupation and the headquarters for the KGB during the Russian occupation. I will tell the stories below the pictures but I warn you, they are extremely sad. At one point during the basement prison tour, I felt it was too ... read more
Vilnius, Lithuania
View from front window of our hotel room
KGB and Gestapo Headquarters

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius June 26th 2017

Hello my fellow travellers! This morning after we all woke up we had some more home grown mint tea and waffles with home grown strawberry jam before we went to the bus stop. Milda's brother Ignacius came with us, doing his best to pedal an adult size bike and doing a good job despite his young age. We all laughed at his shenanigans and it was a pleasant walk to the bus, we chatted in a relaxed way. Livija was going to her campus first to then go and meet her mother coming in from Kaunas to meet her for the day. I myself had decided to go to a nature area recommended to me yesterday by Roberta, the area is called Pūčkorių Atodanga which sounds very funny to me since the first part of that ... read more
Three Martyrs
Aušros Vartai
 Šv. Onos Bažnyčia

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius June 25th 2017

Hello my fellow travellers! This morning I took the train from Kaunas to Vilnius to check out the capital city of Lithuania. I met up with Roberta who stayed with me in Sweden last year together with Paulius and Ruta and I handed over the keys to their apartment to her as agreed upon beforehand. She told me that there would be a celebration at Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo Arkikatedra Bazilika, the main cathedral of Vilnius, as a local Archbishop, Teofilius Matulionis, would be beatified which is a rather big deal. Before I went there though I went to the church Šv. Konstantino ir Michailo Cerkvė further up the hill since I could see it from the point where me and Roberta met and it looked quite beautiful. Close to the church is a nice ... read more
Kalnų Parkas
Soldiers
Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo Arkikatedra Bazilika

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius June 16th 2017

Comparé aux latins expansifs, parfois même agités, les habitants des pays Baltes apparaissent plutôt calmes, discrets, réservés et modestes. Ce qui peut s'expliquer par les conditions difficiles et l’univers contraignant dans lesquels ils ont évolué et qui semblent avoir amplifié ces traits de caractère. Tout comme les Nordiques, les Baltes apparaîtront froids et ne se lieront avec autrui qu'après d'amples précautions. Ne vous attendez pas par conséquent à des démonstrations amicales exubérantes, le Balte reste très mesuré, trop peut-être… Peu communicatif, il demeure relativement neutre vis-à-vis de l'étranger, allez de préférence vers lui car il n'est généralement guère disposé du fait de sa nature à faire le premier pas. Voilà ce que nous raconte le Petit Fûté… et après expérience, il a tout à fait raison ! Avant de le fai... read more
01 Vilnius
02 pour vous remettre en mémoire les différents pays
03 Tout à fait exact !

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius May 23rd 2017

Our next stop is Vilnius. It is different. The centre is bigger and the old and new towns are integrated. In the old city, cobbled streets wind past 15th and 16th century buildings. Pagan Lithuania only turned to Christianity around 1400 but there are countless Baroque churches, both Orthodox and Catholic. Many buildings have large, dusty courtyards hidden behind them. Near the cathedral, an alley beside a small shop leads to a courtyard around which are 35 apartments, including our home for a few days. We arrive to find musicians playing everywhere. It is the city's open air music festival and every instrument is here, from recorder to saxophone; from guitar to cello; from trombone to piano accordion. As we walk we pass from Beethoven to modern jazz; from folk to pop to rock to blues. ... read more
Trakai castle
View from the three crosses
Cathedral and castle tower

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius October 27th 2016

The pre-dawn flight to Vilnius arrived there at 11am, picking up two hours on the timezone difference. The airport is in old and new halves, and inexplicably they have decided to assign the Soviet-era-mausoleum half as the arrivals hall and the sparkly new half as departures, which to us was not good impression management. Anyway, the information desk was helpful, explaining that we could take a no. 88 bus to a stop very close to our hotel for one euro ($1.60) each “possibly with a charge for bags”. That actually turned out to be a mini-bus, with a driver who was surly but not unhelpful. It was Sunday, and on the way in we gave up seats to two grateful and voluble (in Lithuanian) old ladies. They and a number of others were being ferried straight ... read more
Craft market stalls
Feed the birds, tuppence a bag
Classic row

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius October 7th 2016

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 ... read more
Uzupis constitution
Uzupis
Literatu Gatve

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius August 4th 2016

Day 195 Sunday 31st July 2016 – Riga to Vilnius Light streaming through our window at 5 in the morning had us a wake but we didn’t crawl out of bed till 7.30. Had asked the front desk last night when would the kitchen be opened for breakfast and she told us 8, so we headed down right on 8 to be confronted by the whole place packed to the gills with a tour group who had obviously got the jump on us by at least 30 minutes. Shelley was well and truly annoyed when there were no cups left for her cup of tea and the staff refused to help her. It was bad enough that she had to buy her own teabags for breakfast but now it looked like she needed to ... read more
Vilnius
Trakai
Vilnius

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius July 5th 2015

Today we did not bike, but walked a lot. Warm to hot, depending if you were in the shade. Nice wind if up at higher elevations. Definitely a sunblock day. Ate breakfast at our flat. Walked to National Cathedral and Museum complex. The climb to the upper castle was easy on this very hot day. It provided a commanding view of Vilnius. Went to the top of the tower, looked at various exhibits here. Then went to the National Museum. Looked artifacts and castle remnants mainly from 1350 to 17th century. Very interesting Lithuanian history lesson. Later had lunch at Japanese restaurant and sushi. I had "warm" sushi, which was very good. Later went to Museum of Genocide. This the building where the Nazis and Soviet era KGB performEd their ghastly work. Overall pretty depressing. They ... read more
Attempted panoramic at upper Castle
Yet another panoramic at upper castle in Vilnius
National Museum of History in Vilnius - tiled furnace

Europe » Lithuania » Vilnius July 3rd 2015

Biked about 2 miles today for a total of 432 miles. Sunny and warm to Hot. Cooler in the shade. Absolutely no rain. Got up at 6:30 am to catch the 7:30 am bus to Vilnius. Road with Ecoline bus service - free coffee, tea, WiFi. Straight shot from Riga to Vilnius on freeway. Arrived at 11:15 am. Left our gear at la ocker, as our AirBNB room would not be ready until 3:00 pm. We went on a walking tour in the old town and in the fictious republic of Uzupis, created by drunken artists and now celebrated by locals and tourists. Good overview of Vilnius centrally. Had a difficult time finding our new home, but it was worth it. It is a studio apartment near the only left gate to the old city called ... read more
Sign at entrance to fictious Republic of Uzupis
Statue of mermaid along river in Uzupis
Swing on river in Uzupis




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