2022 World Tour – Vilnius, Lithuania
Hello from Vilnius, my 42nd stop on the trip and my 65th country.
Below is the standard summary:
– Cool Ranch Doritos: No
– Thai ATM Card Works: Didn’t try
– Thai Debit Card Works: Yes but had one decline
– Thai Internet Purchase Works: Yes
– USA Credit Card Works: Didn’t try
– Worldwide Telephone/Data/SMS eSIM Works: Yes
– Magic Jack Works: Didn’t try
– Drone Flights: Didn’t check
– Cost of Living: $$$$
– Currency: Euro ⬠1.00 = USD $1.00
– Language Issues: None
Your Short History Lesson:
Baltic tribes lived in the region for millennia until Mindaugas declared himself King of Lithuania in 1253. It grew in size into the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania by the 14th century, incorporating what are now parts of Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Russia. A Commonwealth with Poland lasted from 1569 to 1772 when Russia annexed most of the territory. Lithuania got independence after World War I but it was occupied by the Soviets and then the Nazis during World War II, then the Soviets again, as went the other Baltic states. It declared its current independence in 1990 just before the fall of the Soviet Union. Ranking high on all metrics, it is a member of the EU, Eurozone, Schengen and NATO.
“Give me a ping, Vasili. One ping only please.” (Captain First Rank Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius, commander of the Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine Red October). This line, if you don’t already know, is from ‘The Hunt for Red October’, the debut novel by Tom Clancy. Being a huge submarine fan from my childhood watching ‘Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’, I read the book in one sitting and I’ve seen the movie at least 10 times. Top notch performances from Sean Connery (who apparently was a total prick during filming) and Alec Baldwin (who was just starting out as an actor but who is now a total prick). Why am I writing about this here? Well if you’ve memorized the book/movie, you’ll know that Marko was born not in Russia but in Vilnius, Lithuania. I figured there would be some kind of nod to Ramius in real-life Vilnius but sadly there isn’t. I did a search and found this blog entry showing the same motivation and disappointment as myself:
https://diehardthree.com/2015/10/02/6-vilnius-nastavnic-the-vilnius-schoolmaster/
“The primary motivation behind my decision to visit Vilnius is that it happens to be the real-life birthplace of my fictional hero: legendary submarine captain Marko Ramius. This may seem like an unusual reason to fly halfway across the planet but it most definitely is not.”
Sigh, Vilnius was a highlight on my trip also, but sadly no Ramius. Optimistically, I feel like he’ll be there in spirit.
In Riga, I packed up and got a Bolt taxi to the bus station in the pouring rain. Luckily the Flixbus bus was already there 40 minutes early so I was able to get right on. As we pulled out I realized it’s only about 1/4 full and I had 3 rows to myself. Snoozed a couple of times on the straight shot through the countryside and arrived in Vilnius right on schedule at 4pm.
It turns out the train station and bus station are in the same complex and my hotel, called the Railway Hotel, is right across the street, making it the easiest roll home on the whole trip. This is another non-staffed hotel and they were supposed to give me a keypad code to get into the lobby, then into my room. No code had arrived so I sent an email from the sidewalk and got a reply in 10 minutes, my code is 1111. Wow. I hope all of the rooms aren’t this same dumb code. The room is spacious with a balcony overlooking the train lines which I like, and a forest on the far side.
I walked into the Old Town about 7:30 pm and it was quite chilly in my golf shirt and jeans. I arrived at the Town Hall and found a full-on traditional dance and music festival, the Town Hall Colonnade. I went into a restaurant on the square and had Chicken Kiev, a tip of the hat to the brave people there. My card was declined by both tap and insert so I had to pay cash. I walked to the nearby Rimi grocery store and the card went through, ugh. My bank shows no notice of any issues when I log into my account to check, they just decide not to pay every now and then when I need it. Ugh.
In the morning I jumped on the #2 bus and paid â¬1 right to the driver, nice! Went all the way up to the Gediminas Tower and took the short â¬2 funicular ride to the top of the hill. Nice views of the city from up here, also looking to left to the next mountain over I saw the 3 Crosses monument. Then I walked to the nearby Cathedral Square and looked around until I found the Magic Tile where legend says your dream will now come true. This was the ending point of a 2 million-person human chain called ‘The Baltic Way’ or ‘Chain of Freedom’, spanning 690 kilometers (430 mi) across the three Soviet-occupied Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on August 23, 1989. Seven months later Lithuania became the first of the three to declare independence.
Just off the square there was a large book fair going on, with a tent holding author interviews. As I crossed the street I discovered I was lucky to arrive on the Capital Days weekend celebration, which is the largest cultural event in Lithuania. Its program annually includes some 1000 local and foreign performers of various arts. I followed a crowded pedestrian walkway for 5 city blocks, lined with booths for restaurants, arts & crafts and specialty food. Halfway down was a large stage with a rock band playing great music. One block further led to an open-air park where a sports festival was going on, with everything from a Zumba class to hockey to badminton to wheelchair basketball. I got the idea that sports clubs from around the city were allowed to set up their own section to make connections with interested people. I spotted a booth with ‘Vilnius 700′ written across it, matching slogans I saw in several other places around the city. I walked over and asked about it and was told that next year is Vilnius’ 700th anniversary and the city was getting geared up for a full-year celebration. The kickoff will be on January 25, 2023 which is the actual anniversary, and then another major event on July 25 which is St. Christopher Day, the official saint of the city, but the whole year will be sprinkled with different events.
The next day I wandered far and wide, seeing more of the Old Town, St Anne’s church, the Presidential Palace, the Gate of Dawn / Sharp Gate from 1503 and the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights which is located in the former Gestapo/KGB headquarters where Nazi and Soviet officials did their work upstairs and Lithuanians were tortured and murdered downstairs. Seeing a pattern in the region? Understand why they’re so against Russia and for Ukraine in this war?
As I pulled away from the city on the bus, I thought I heard the distant sound of one ping, one ping only.
Is it worth a visit? Yes, it’s another capital city of a small state on the Baltic Sea, but 2023 is going to be full of celebrations on top of the normal things to see and do.
Next Stop: Warsaw, Poland
