I took a bus from Riga to Vilnius, not sure on what to
expect about the Baltic bus lines. I have to say it was a very pleasant
surprise. The Lux Express Bus was actually first class, with plane like seats,
personal screens to watch tv, really comfortable and cheap trip.
The only thing most people have heard about Lithuania is
that their major ran a tank over a car parked on the bike lane… true story, you
can google it.
If you are into religious architecture, then you will not be
bored in Vilnius, 41 Churches are scattered through its streets. Plus, one of the city’s icons: the gate of
Dawn, a 16th century gate that houses a chapel dedicated to the
Virgin Mary, who will take care of the travellers going through the gate.
Apparently the story about the country’s religiousness is
something like this> Lithuania used to be a “pagan” country, turned into
Catholicism when they were conquered by Poland. People were baptized in masses
*rumor has it they were offered shirts to get baptized), all girls named Maria
and markets started flourishing in the church squares to attract the people
into church…
If you are more of an alternative hipster, then this is the
place for you as well… alright, not Lithuania per se, but Uzupis, a country
within a country, this is the story… There used to be a very dark part of the
city, really poor and dangerous, and therefore, very cheap to live in. One good
day, an artist decided he would make that area the coolest area of the city,
and along with a group of artist friends set the goal of rescuing the quarter.
They started buying properties and giving the area a whole new personality.
They decided they wanted to be independent, they created a constitution, put up
a three people army and have opening for ambassadors from all over the place.
Of course the whole thing is a big joke, but they did turn the place into an
exciting, artistic, trendy neighborhood. Their constitution is displayed on
walls in several languages, it includes some crucial human rights articles such
as “a dog has the right to be a dog”.
There is a Tibetan square, the first square in the world to
be dedicated to the conflict area and a street dedicated to literature, where
each author has it’s own tile on the walls.
There is also a literary street with tiles commemorating
Lithuanian writers decorating the walls along the way.
And keeping up with the quirky little things, there is a
tradition in Vilnius in which grooms, after the wedding, have to carry the
bride through the seven bridges of the city.
I really recommend the free walking tour, guides are
brilliant, full of funny stories and with all the insight knowledge on where to
whatever you want. You will discover a very pleasant city to stroll. Keep an eye for special events at the
different parks, mainly during the summer. I ran into a bubble festival, a
couple hundred people gathered in a park blowing bubbles… yes, bubbles, adults,
toddlers, teenagers, grandparents… everybody. You couldn’t help but smile.
There is a very nice
view from the Gediminas tower, just be careful with the flying ants ;) 
Number one attraction for me was the KGB museum,
not only it is very interesting because of the history, but it also depicts
picture reflecting life going on as usual despite the horrors that people were
living. It was warming to see the humanity of those moments and amazing how we,
as humans, have an impressive ability to adapt, to anything.
A nice day trip from Vilnius is Trakai. A lovely palace in a
small town, that offers a good opportunity to watch the local life and a fairly
well kept castle.
There is also the Europas Parkas…. Not my kind of place… it
is supposed to be at the geographical center of Europe, so they tried to make
an artistic park, with statues from different countries… If you ask me, getting
there without a car is too complicated and not really worth it… but I don’t
want to discourage anybody, you should see it for yourself.
Food is similar to Latvia, but with its own things as well.
Cepelinas for instance are unique to this country, a huge potato dumpling
stuffed with meat (sometimes cheese or mushrooms) and accompanied by sour cream
and bacon. I am a coffee person, and I found Lithuania cafes extremely amusing
with all sorts of funny coffee flavors.
