Vilnius

"According to a widespread popular belief, the word Lietuva (Lithuania in Lithuanian) originated from the Lithuanian words lyti (to rain) and lietus (rain)" (thanks Wikipedia). This was also one of the first things that our guide on the free (but not free) tour told us.

And rain it did today! Unfortunately for me it didn't seem to lower the temperature at all...

It rained about half way through the tour and it is possible that that, along with tiredness and having seen so much dampened my view of Vilnius. It has all the factors: Old Town; Palace; Cathedral; Castle ruins; Museums etc, but it didn't have the same feeling as we had in Kaunas.

We did a free (but not free) tour as I had - perhaps an omen to the day - not made any plans as to what to do/see in Vilnius.

Possibly the highlight of the day for me was entering the "independent state" of Uzupis. I write in quotations as it is a self-declared independence. When you cross the bridge it has a road sign showing that you should smile on arrival, as Stuart is modelling so wonderfully.

It is home to many "artists, Bohemians and yuppies" according to our Rough Guide. These include the former Mayor of Vilnius who is now a part time uber driver. He is known for a video of a stunt showing him drive over a car parked illegally in a bus lane. Highlighting Vilnius non-cycle friendly nature. You can copy and paste this link to see him in action! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-fWN0FmcIU

Uzupis also has a square dedicated to Tibet - which caused issues with Chinese relations - a fountain that disperses beer once a year; a statue showing Jesus as the worlds first backpacker and it even has its own constitution. This 41 point constitution is inscribed in various languages on multiple metal plaques. If you excuse me in the reflection, you can read these in the photos. Our favourites were numbers 3 and 12.

After the tour was finished we headed to try some Lithuanian food - finally!

I have the traditional potato dumplings and Stuart had potato pancakes. These were very tasty and cheap so extra bonus! After the meal we walked to find the statue to Tony Soprano at the train station. Decided to check it out as Stuart loves the Sopranos. It is huge and completely weird but helped us walk off some of our potato calories :)

Onward to the next capital city tomorrow - Riga!Read more