Lithuania – known as the flat land with lots of rain - the highest point is 300m and it rains most days!
Vilnius is a very interesting city with 600,000 people and 2 million cars (more than 3 cars per person). The streets are crazy – some only wide enough for one car, so they honk at each other trying to force the other to back up.
The people of Vilnius tend to be rather unfriendly. They certainly do not go out of their way to make tourists feel welcome. I wasn’t alone in thinking this – many tourists at the hotel commented on this. On my first night, I went into a restaurant and was told there was nothing I would like on the menu. I told them I actually liked some of what they offered and the reply was “it’s too much food for you and you won’t like it”…so I left and ate at the hotel. On the second night, a group of us went to the hotel restaurant at 9:00pm and were told they could not serve us because the kitchen closed at 10:00 and it would mean they might have to stay late. We actually had to get the manager to convince them to feed us.
In terms of language, most understand English and can speak it, but they refuse because they want to preserve their own language and customs. Perhaps this is because they have struggled for their independence from both Russia and Poland. In fact, they celebrate two independence days – one from Poland in 1918 and the other from Russia in 1991. There are reminders of the suffering that was experienced during soviet rule – genocide victims and those families exiled to Siberia – all through the city. The KGB Museum was rather disturbing.
As for the Old Town, it is typical with cobblestone streets and many cafes – where they are not very friendly (did I mention that?) The streets are filled with stands where locals sell amber and linen - two popular items in the Baltics. Buying amber tends to be a gamble – there is a lot of plastic and coloured glass being sold as genuine amber. The key is to go to the certified dealers with actual shops instead of a cart parked in the street. The dealers are checked on a regular basis. Needless to say, the amber is more expensive from them.
A busy street in the old Town.
The houses in and around Trakai (a small village about 45 kms from Vilnius) all have three windows facing the street - one for God, one for family, and one for friends.
Trakai Castle sits on an Island. A worthwhile day trip. The lakes and entire area are beautiful.
This is a bridge connecting the Old Town to The Republic of Užupis - a somewhat independent neighborhood of Vilnius where artists live. The locks on the bridge are put there by couples on their wedding day to lock their union. There is a rumor that hacksaw sales have gone up in recent years!
Interesting food finds:
1. Strawberries and whipped cream = a bowl of whipped cream with a spoonful of jam on top. This surprised me because fresh strawberries are sold everywhere.
2. Fresh fish everywhere – especially salmon and pike
3. Potatoe pancakes are nothing more than heavy greasy starch
Lithuania's equivalent to Starbucks and well worth the 3 block walk each morning.
The main building of the University where the EARA conference was.
Leia and me at the conference, standing in front of her thesis poster.
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