Vilinus and Lithuania: my last country and most northerly stop ever

With absolutely stunning weather, skies that never really went fully dark at night, and a gorgeous blue sky by 4am, it is difficult not to have been impressed by my short stay in Lithuania. We looked it up, because I seriously could not remember such short nights in Edmonton, and in fact Vilinus is the most northerly point I have ever traveled to (by a full degree).

From Bialystok I crossed the border by train to my last new country of this journey. It seemed I was playing yo-yo with 1 hour of time, having lost it entering into Ukraine, regained it for a few days in Poland, and now again lost it upon entrance into Lithuania. Once in Vilinus I headed for the apartment of my new couchsurfing hosts, Dalius and Armin and their two high energy cats (They should reconsider using cats in place of the Energizer Bunny. These two would be prime candidates for that role.)

With it still being fully bright outside at 8pm, we headed into the Old Town wanting to make the most of the absolutely amazing weather. We strolled through the little streets, past monuments and cathedrals, churches and basilicas (I’m not sure I have ever seen more churches and church-like structures in one city) and eventually found a nice little restaurant that still had patio seating available. The food was delicious (including the cold borsch-like soup) but the service left a lot to be desired. Apparently that is a norm in Lithuania.

Round midnight we started heading home and although the sky had darkened and the buildings were all beautifully lit up, the horizon remained pale, the darkness not quite complete.

The next morning was filled with a visit to the KGB (Genocide) Museum. As much as I have had enough of museums by this point in time, this one is highly recommended. It had very unique and well thought out displays, intermixing a variety of different media, including artifacts, documents, films, videos and sounds and was incredibly informative of the struggles that the Lithuanians faced from before the World Wars, to the time period immediately following them (where hundreds of thousands got deported, faced imprisonment and execution), all the way up through the 1990s at which point they finally declared their independence from Soviet rule which was not recognized until a year later. One of the most depressing parts of the museum, aside for the statistics about all the lives lost and affected, were the KGB prisons in the basement, including the tiny cells, horrible living conditions and the execution chamber.

After the museum I was met by Armin and we meandered throughout the old town, taking in the various sights and eventually heading towards Uzupis, the Montmarte equivalent in Vilinus. This bohemian and artistic district has declared itself to be an independent republic, created its own flag, elected its own government, and formed its own constitution which includes provisions such as:

• Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.



• Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.



• Everyone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies.



• A dog has the right to be a dog.



• Everyone has the right to cry.



• Everyone has the right to be misunderstood.



• Everyone has the right to be individual.
  

On April 1st, the bridge into Uzupis is closed down, border guards are placed at its entrance, passports are stamped and customs has to be crossed. On our visit there, no such restrictions were placed upon us, but it was nevertheless a pleasant walk through an unrecognized republic. (Am I to consider it another visited country, maybe half of one?)

On a hill above Uzupis we sat on a gorgeous little patio overlooking the entire city sipping the restaurant’s own brewed beer and nibbling on Lithuanian garlic encrusted/fried bread sticks. From there it was a hike down then up to the Hill of Three Crosses and eventually back into the Old Town where we swung by Eastern Europe’s oldest university before heading back home where Dalius prepared a fantastic dinner of potato pancakes followed by some delicious wine.

The following day it was time for a road trip to Trakai, a tiny little town about 30km south of Vilinus boasting a beautiful lake and a picturesque castle on an island. There we were befriended by two elderly Austrian ladies who noticed Armin’s Austria t-shirt and immediately asked whether he was originally from there. We chatted with them for a while, parted ways only to bump into them again and by joined by them over a delicious traditional Lithuanian lunch. I think we spent a good couple hours chatting with them. (They had driven up together from Vienna and were heading up towards Estonia and Latvia along with their 12 year old golden retriever).

And that was Lithuania in a nut-shell. The entire visit was made so much more memorable due to the amazing hospitality of my couchsurfing hosts.