VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

Dates: 08.08.2020 – 12.08.2020

RIGA – VILNIUS

08.08.2020: We leave for Vilnius a little later than originally planned. Looks like we’ll arrive just before 1 AM, but everything has been arranged with the apartment owner. The road is good and pretty empty. I’m slightly surprised by Lithuania’s motorway, which starts around 150 km before Vilnius. Nice driving.
The apartment is very much focused on activities in the bedroom – the kitchen is tiny, there’s basically no living room, but the bedroom is huge and even has a bathtub in it. Perfect for a bachelor or a newlywed couple. We fall into second one.

UŽUPIS

09.08.2020: The original plan was to go out for breakfast somewhere, but instead we survive on an éclair and a mini burger we brought with us.
Around 11 we slowly head out to explore our local neighbourhood – Užupis.
Užupis is the smallest district in Vilnius and is separated from the Old Town by the Vilnelė River. Apparently, back in the 1990s it was a proper ghetto area, but since then it has developed quickly into a nice little hipster neighbourhood.
There are quite a few pianos in parks and on some side streets around Užupis. Why? No idea. Need to find out the story behind that.
Overall, it’s a really interesting little area. Lots of cafés, and despite all the Covid situation, they’re pretty full. Plenty of interesting streets, statues and graffiti. Staying here was definitely a very good choice.

GEDIMINAS TOWER

09.08.2020: After realising that we can’t go up to the Hill of Three Crosses – Madara’s knee rehabilitation still doesn’t allow that kind of climbing – we head towards one of Vilnius’ main symbols, Gediminas Tower. You can see it from many different parts of the city.
You can get up and down by funicular for €1 each way. At the top there’s a panoramic square overlooking Vilnius Old Town and, of course, Gediminas Tower itself. It was built in 1409 by Vytautas the Great.
To go inside the tower, you need another ticket. €5 for an ordinary mortal, €2 for students. The stairs are narrow and steep, so I quickly run up alone, take some panorama photos and come back down. You can see all of Vilnius Old Town – red rooftops, plenty of churches, the Vilnius TV Tower and much more. Although, to be fair, the view is almost the same as from the square outside.
In the distance, it looks like there’s a risk of a thunderstorm, so we start heading back towards the city. Time to begin some serious café “testing”.

VILNIUS CENTRE

09.08.2020: We settle down at a central restaurant next to Vilnius Cathedral, so we can eat and have a few drinks while looking at one of the city’s most iconic views. Naturally, the prices on the menu reflect the location.
At least when you order a beer – good or bad – you’re guaranteed a certain amount of liquid. With wine, at least here, things seem to work differently. What they call “a glass of wine” is basically a tiny splash at the bottom of the glass.
The full name of the 57-metre-high cathedral is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus of Vilnius. It was built between 1779 and 1783. Several important figures in Lithuanian and Polish history are buried in its crypts, including the already mentioned Vytautas the Great.
While sitting here and waiting for the predicted thunderstorm to pass, we also finally write down some impressions from yesterday.
Afterwards, we slowly head back towards our neighbourhood – Užupis. Madara has managed to walk much faster and further today than expected, so it’s still relatively early and we decide to sit down at an Užupis pizzeria for a while.
In Lithuania, alcohol can only be bought in shops until 3 PM on Sundays, which also doesn’t exactly motivate us to head straight home.

TRAKAI CASTLE

10.08.2020: Today’s plan is probably Lithuania’s most famous castle – Trakai Castle. Construction was started in the 14th century by the Lithuanian Grand Duke Kęstutis and completed by his son Vytautas the Great. Vytautas himself died here in 1430.
The castle stands on one of the islands in Lake Galvė, and basically all the infrastructure of the small town of Trakai revolves around it.
We park in somebody’s backyard opposite an old lady’s tomato greenhouse. She’s running a proper little local business and it seems to be going very well. €4 per car and the yard is packed down to the last square centimetre. There must be at least ten cars there right now. She’ll definitely be able to afford some new tomato plants for next season.
It takes around 40 minutes to drive here from Vilnius. We decide to explore the castle rooms and courtyards by ourselves without a guide. One ordinary mortal plus one student = €12 entry.
The castle is now almost completely restored. By the end of the 16th century, Trakai had apparently lost its strategic importance, and from the 17th century the castle was abandoned and started falling apart. Serious restoration work only began in the 20th century and was completed in 1961, when the castle was also turned into a history museum.
We spend around 2.5 hours walking around and looking at the exhibits. Quite a challenge for Madara – there are a lot of stairs. Somehow she manages to crawl her way through them all!
We probably won’t remember this as one of the most impressive places we’ve ever visited, but it’s definitely worth seeing at least once.
After 12, I start getting soft while Madara cools her knee in the lake. A decision is made to recharge with some cake right on the shore of Lake Galvė with a view of the castle.
My combo is kvass + coffee + ice cream, while Madara goes for an Aperol cocktail with ice cream. The service, however, is painfully slow. No tip.

EVENING IN VILNIUS

10.08.2020: After getting our daily dose of history and culture, we head to the gigantic Akropolis shopping centre in Vilnius to spend some money. The most enjoyable purchase is probably a mega burger for €5, although the new clothes will come in handy too.
The main mission is to find water shoes for Madara so she can reach the “Swing of Fate”. Under the Užupis Bridge, right above the Vilnelė River, there’s a swing with a dreamcatcher hanging from it.
Madara is constantly worried that her wedding ring is just slightly too big, so she’s looking for something that can act as a “blocker”. Apparently, losing the wedding ring would be emotionally unacceptable. The solution: another smaller and thinner ring whose main job is simply to keep the important one in place. She briefly starts dreaming about diamonds again, but luckily her inner cheapskate activates in time.
The biggest disappointment at Akropolis is the missing shark aquarium. I don’t know whether I dreamed the whole thing up or whether they removed it years ago, but I was sure there used to be one here. At least around 15 years ago, when I was last here. Once we find the water shoes, we head from home to the Swing of Fate. It’s only about a three-minute walk from our apartment. After a mini photoshoot, Madara almost loses her sunglasses. While bending down, they fall into the river. The water is shallow, but with all the rocks it’s impossible to see anything.
The people waiting behind us immediately join the sunglasses rescue operation. Mission successful – found them! After that, we walk over to the Gate of Dawn. It definitely symbolises something important and is obviously a significant place, but our lack of knowledge prevents us from really appreciating it, so we move on fairly quickly.
To speed things up, the two of us jump on one scooter and make a loop along Gediminas Avenue. There’s an interesting urban “beach” with sun loungers and a beach volleyball court. The only actual water here, though, is a fountain. For dinner, we choose Manami sushi restaurant on the pedestrian street – Vilniaus Street.

HOT AIR BALLOONS

11.08.2020: The weather forecast looks good today, so we get the green light for a new adventure – a hot air balloon flight.
We book with flywithme.lt. €99 per person for a one-hour flight. At 5:45 in the morning, they pick us up from our apartment and drive us to the take-off point.
We’re actually taking off from a small field right inside the city, not far from Akropolis.
We have to help hold the balloon while the pilot fills it with hot air. All six passengers climb into the basket and off we go. Everything moves so smoothly and calmly that there’s no real feeling of danger or insecurity at all. We fly alongside the Old Town, over the Neris River and then past the Vilnius TV Tower in the direction of Marijampolė.
The views are impressive. When we fly over major roads, the cars below look like tiny ants running around. After around 45–50 minutes, we land in a field near the village of Paneriai. We had assumed the route would be a loop, but apparently hot air balloons don’t really work like that. We take off in Vilnius and land somewhere completely different.
While the balloon is being packed away, the pilot prepares a small picnic with nuts, lemonade and his own homemade beer. Unfortunately, I have to skip the beer because I still need to drive today. At the very end, we’re officially initiated as first-time balloon passengers and receive certificates. Really cool experience. Definitely recommended!

MONEY MUSEUM

11.08.2020: After the balloon flight, we take a CityBee Mini Cooper back to Užupis for breakfast and to change clothes, because at 5 in the morning it was still far too cold for shorts.
After a small power nap, we head back out. We’re still sleepy, but sitting at home feels like a waste.
We take the same Mini to Kalvarijų Market in the city centre. It’s an interesting market where you can buy everything from classic essentials like carrots and onions to bicycles, sink taps, TV remotes and electric saws. Next, we walk through Vilnius’ skyscraper district and pass through a shopping centre, although nothing catches our eye apart from a croissant. On the way back towards the Old Town, we pass a construction site that strongly reminds me of what one of my projects in Riga, at Marijas Street 2, could potentially look like – two underground floors with a retaining wall supported by temporary steel braces. In the centre, you can visit the Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania for free. The funniest part is entering. The woman at the desk says: “Here tickets, souvenirs – go.”
She gives us tickets despite the fact that admission is free and then immediately goes back to her important work – playing Candy Crush Saga. Obviously, we don’t have the strength or patience to read the story behind every single banknote, but looking at colourful pieces of paper and coins is still interesting. In the basement, there’s a Guinness World Record exhibit – a pyramid made from 1,000,983 one-cent coins, weighing a little over 800 kg.

CAT CAFÉ

11.08.2020: After the Money Museum, it becomes clear that carbohydrates are urgently needed.
There’s a cat café right next door, so Madara insists that this is where we’re going.
The coffee size doesn’t quite meet Madara’s minimum requirements, but the food is good. We go for pasta with mushrooms.
Just before we leave, a white cat called Nika starts doing the classic cat gagging routine and eventually produces the expected result – a swallowed hairball. The early morning has completely drained our energy, so it’s time to go home and sleep before the evening. It’s our last night here, so staying in the apartment simply isn’t acceptable. I manage a 15-minute nap, while Madara takes the assignment much more seriously and wakes up 1.5 hours later. As already decided, we head to the nearby terrace at Užupio Kavinė next to the Swing of Fate. My mission is simple – I want beer. Madara wants cake. We have prawns and fries, but they don’t serve cake here, so we need to find somewhere else for “round two”.
We settle down at One for All on Užupis’ main square, directly opposite the Užupis Angel. There’s only one cake on the menu, so choosing isn’t difficult. I also order chocolate ice cream, which turns out to be excellent. Maybe not the perfect pairing with beer, but still…

VILNIUS – RIGA

12.08.2020: Breakfast places don’t open until 10, so we slowly pack our things and head to the already familiar Užupio Kavinė. Even though the sign says they open at 10, the waitress tells us they’re still closed. Time for Plan B – Užupio Picerija. I have pancakes with cheese and ham, while Madara gets a huge omelette. It still hurts quite a lot to have exchanged what was supposed to be a three-week trip around the USA – cancelled because of the Covid pandemic – for three days in Vilnius.
Still, we genuinely liked Lithuania’s capital. This was our first time properly visiting the city in tourist mode. The weather was great, Madara’s walking ability was gradually coming back, and we stayed in a really nice apartment right in the heart of Vilnius – Užupis. My inner cheapskate was pushed deep into a corner this time, and we allowed ourselves more entertainment and restaurants than we probably would have on another trip. We also deliberately leave a couple of attractions and activities for the next visit – a few seeds, so to speak, from which another Vilnius trip can eventually grow. Before heading home, we stop at Vilnius Outlet Park and somehow end up buying a pile of shoes. My most interesting purchase is a pair of Nike Air Max for €30. Amazing deal, right?
There’s only one tiny catch. The left shoe is size 43 and the right one is size 44. Honestly, the difference doesn’t feel that noticeable, so why not. Otherwise, I’d probably never own Air Max at all, because my inner cheapskate would never survive paying the normal price.
Total trip cost: €1,211.
Per person per day: €151.