Lithuania

Vilnius

January 25-27, 2008

The first somewhat sunny day that I could enjoy during my Baltic trip! Later it rained for hours!

Day 5

So after leaving Riga I arrived at Vilnius bus station at 17:30, and of course it was already dark by the time I got a Taxi and found the hostel. I got settled in, ate some food, talked to some people and watched Gold Member. It was hard for me to fall asleep because the other hostel members were having a party in the kitchen. But once I did it wasn’t half bad!!!

Day 6

This was an interesting day. I woke up around 10:30, saw the sun and decided I needed to be outside! I dressed quickly, grabbed my map and went out. Although the sun was shinning it was chilly and rain clouds were rolling in, how typical! But I took advantage of the time I had of good sunshine, and walked and walked and walked. But before I set off for the long journey I stopped at a grocery store and got nourishment (pigs in a blanket, GOOD)! Although I grabbed my map, I never used it once while I was exploring. I simply just walked on aimlessly. I wondered upon the Town Hall, where they happen to be filming something, although what, I’m not sure. Continuing on, I walked past, Holy Trinity Church, Holy Spirit St. Teresa, and the Gates of Dawn. After passing through the Gates of Dawn, the town became dismal and sketchy, so I decided it would be better to go back. So I went back the way I can, picking up some postcards along the way. I walked for hours, talking pictures, people watching and enjoying the day. I walked to the river that runs through the city, past Gediminas Tower, the Cathedral, past the National Drama Theater, which as this point was well out of Old town, and on! It was much nicer than the other side, out of old town. There were many shops and Double Coffee’s. I think Double Coffee is the equivalent to Starbucks of the West and Dunkin Doughnuts of the East in the States! One on every corner! On the last parts of my exploration I found a ZARA!! So I did a little shopping. It was fun and they had some good sales! After that I ate and read at one of the Double Coffee’s, because it started to rain. I was there for quite some time, passing time until the rain subsided. However, the rain was very persistent and wouldn’t let up, and it was getting dark so I had to head back. At this point I was really far from the hostel, so I walked quickly in the rain, for about 20 minutes or so. Back at the hostel, I talked to some more people, read and organized my taxi ride for the next morning and my things.

Day 7

I barley made my flight to Stuttgart on time. After waking up at 5am, and getting dressed I found my taxi waiting patiently outside. I got in and 40 minutes and 24 lht’s later I was in the airport past security and boarding the plane. The plane from Vilnius to Copenhagen was late, which of course made me late for my connection on to Stuttgart. Luckily there weren’t that many people on the flight, a total of 13, so they waited for everyone. I made it to Stuttgart eventually, then Reutlingen shortly after that! What a fun 7 days!

Vilnius was a 3, nice, average, but also better than I expected.