Weekend in Vilnius

Quite a long read as I decided to consolidate the entire trip into one entry. Buckle up.

Saturday

My trip to Lithuania initiated when Sarah, Ariail and I left the dorm at 1:40ish and headed over to the bus station. The bus arrived on time at 2:10 and we were off to Riga in Latvia, our first stop. The bus itself was fairly nice, the seats were comfortable. There was free coffee, free WiFi and multimedia screens on the back of every seat (movies, music etc). When we first got on the bus, the man checked our ticket and IDs and we boarded to find our seats. They were taken, so we picked something in the back. Luckily we all were able to get double seats to ourselves, so sleeping on the bus was much easier.

The bus ride itself was bumpy to say the least. It was akin to riding a plane that constantly had minor turbulence. I wasn't sure if it was the roads, the bus, or a combination of the two. Eventually I got used to it, though it was disconcerting for the first hour or so and gave me a bit of motion sickness.

I woke up about 20 minutes before we were to arrive at the bus stop in Riga. I spent the time observing what I could of the city and its surroundings. I counted at least 3 McDonalds, which was somewhat amusing to me. The city also seemed much more spread out and...low to the ground than the cities back in the US. I found myself comparing it to Atlanta, which has a lot of very tall buildings, close construction and winding roads. Nonetheless what I saw of the city was nice.

When we arrived in Riga it was somewhat odd that there were no signs saying "Hey you're in Riga!". We could've been in any random Latvian country, but we were (thankfully) in the right place. It just struck me as strange, I suppose they assume that people won't get on the wrong bus. Luckily there was an indoor aspect to the bus station, so we were able to stay inside. (Though I can't say it was all that much warmer, I was still freezing and they didn't seem to have any good heat system.)

Got on the second bus at 7:20. Although it said it had free wifi, and there was a connection available, the internet didn't work. So that was a bit of a disappointment. I managed to sleep through the majority of the bus ride, waking up about 10 minutes before we arrived. That was much needed, as I was quite tired during the layover between buses. While we were driving through Vilnius to get to the bus stop I took the time to look around. There were quite a lot of steep hills, and I couldn't help but notice the cut-banks and think to myself "Oh they're just asking for a landslide." It seems that despite my best efforts I did end up learning something in Geology. We also drove through a tunnel, which was unnecessarily exciting for me.

Once we got to the bus station we grabbed our stuff and headed off in the direction of the apartment we were staying at. We spotted a McDonalds, and as I had been craving fast food earlier, I suggested we stop there for lunch/breakfast. Everyone agreed and in we went. I felt almost unpatriotic, as this ended up being the first time I'd ever ordered a Big Mac, and it was in a foreign country. I channeled my inner-Paul and devoured it in under 1 minute; it was quite good.

While we initially intended to grab food and then head to the apartment for a nap, none of us were really tired enough. I had gotten coffee at McDonalds, Ariail made coffee for herself when we got to the apartment and Sarah made some tea later on.

We were staying in an apartment with one bathroom, one bedroom and a full living room and kitchen. It's really quite cozy and I enjoy the trinkets everywhere. Hard to describe the feeling I get from it: I'd have to go with homey, perhaps a bit quaint. Regardless, I really enjoy the atmosphere and believe that I'll be very comfortable here for the weekend. After exploring the apartment for a bit we ended up lounging about on the couch and watching the 7th Harry Potter movie. It was around 3pm when we finally motivated ourselves to get outside and walk around a bit.

The streets here are so charming, all of the buildings possess unique styles that fit together with their surroundings in a sort of old-town puzzle. There is a lot of architectural variety, some streets are Gothic, some are Renaissance, and some are Baroque. It's hard to describe, but that's what photographs are for! We passed by an open market, I stopped to look at some of the amber items. (Amber seems to be one of the main commodities of the Baltic countries, as it's popular in Estonia as well.) I definitely would like to return and maybe purchase something, as there is a better selection of amber here than in Tartu. After passing the market we wandered around the streets for a while, stopping occasionally to take pictures or get a closer look at a particular building.

Though I admired the appearance of the streets, the design was not so great. The sidewalks on the older streets were very very narrow (so much so that two people would be hard pressed to walk side by side), and the actual streets were cobblestone. The drivers here are some of the most impatient I've seen. Almost all of them speed around, and more often than not someone is honking at somebody else. A good amount of the crosswalks don't have lights at them, so you just have to start walking. This is slightly concerning on some of the busier streets, and we were mostly convinced we'd get run over every time we crossed a street.

Eventually we looped around back towards the apartment, stopping in two shops along the way. The first was a second-hand store that we were in for only a minute or two, and the second was a vintage clothing store that had several amusing selections, as well as a few nice ones. There was a particular leather jacket that I was looking at that would have been absolutely perfect if it hadn't been a tad on the short side (it ended up just above my waist, which is normally okay but I prefer my jackets to be a bit longer.) I was rather disappointed, as I've been looking for a nice leather jacket for a while, but I'm determined to find one before I head back to the states.

Once we were done browsing the shops we went back to the apartment to check if we had a brownie pan. One of our goals while here was to bake brownies. Don't question it, we've just all been craving home-made brownies and don't have access to an oven back in Tartu. After finding one we waited around for about half an hour before heading back out to get dinner.

We went to a German restaurant called Bunte Gans that was only a few minutes away from the apartment. It was absolutely amazing. The food was delicious, and we got a lot for the price. I ended up ordering Wiener Schnitzel (veal) with pan-fried potatoes and red cabbage. Ariail had ordered a draft beer that I tried, and liked, so I ended up ordering one for myself. It was a Zoller-Hof Hefe Weizen (not that the name means anything to most people). I enjoyed the taste and it was a fairly smooth beer, but I wasn't able to finish the entire glass. The food was so delicious, and the portion was perfect. We also ordered creme-brule for desert that was incredibly good.

Due to the inflation rate here the prices are obviously much higher than what I'm used to, but it ends up being about the same. Still, I have moments when I see a high price tag on something and I'm completely taken aback before I realize that's normal.

After dinner we walked back to the apartment, watched a movie (the 8th Harry Potter) and went to bed around 11/12ish.

Sunday

We all got up around 10:50, groggily making our way out of bed. Ariail ended up making chocolate pancakes and coffee, so we were all very happy and well-fed. We lazed around for about an hour before motivating ourselves to get dressed and go outside.

We started by walking through the market we had passed the previous day. Most of the same stalls were there, with the addition of a lot of art (paintings and drawings). There were an odd number of stylized cat pictures, but otherwise the display was dominated by some beautiful landscapes and cityscapes. I ended up purchasing an ink and watercolor drawing that I thought was quite lovely. I also stopped by the amber stalls again and got a few things.

After this we headed towards The Vilnius Cathedral, or in Lithuanian: Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika (Vilnius Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Vladislav). It's the main Roman Catholic Cathedral of Lithuania and it's located right in the Old Town. The outside of the building is very large, with many statues and details. It's quite impressive to look at, but the inside is what really struck me. I did not take pictures of the interior, but it was quite breathtaking, I assure you. The intricate details in the carvings on the walls and the ceiling, the subtle gold accents, the paintings, the statues; everything was beautiful. And there was a sort of hushed feeling inside, it was very peaceful and quiet. I felt a reverence towards the people that were able to construct something like this. I've always enjoyed churches for this reason, and some of the structures that are created are incredible; this one being no exception.

After we explored the cathedral we headed down a sort of main street. There were many shops and restaurants lining this walk, and it was fun to compare it to something like King Street back in Charleston. As we were walking we passed a man playing an accordion, quite well I might add. It was a very simple thing that made me very happy for no particular reason. As we continued to walk we stopped in a small grocery store to look around.

I've discovered that it is extremely interesting, and almost educational, to visit grocery stores in different places. There's always a variety of familiar and unfamiliar foods. For example, in Tartu I've been unable to find canned soup. However, in the store we stopped at they had a whole shelf of it, and I couldn't help but to buy a can. They also had a most curious collection of items: canned alcoholic drinks. Pre-mixed alcohol such as gin and tonic, rum and coke, and several others. It struck me as somewhat odd, and also amusing. I can't imagine they taste fantastic, but perhaps it's the convenience of it all.

After we left the store we decided to climb up to the Three Crosses on Bleak Hill. The first few minutes of the walk there were very nice. It was a dirt pathway bordered by a river on the right side and the forested hillside on the left. The sound of the river running over stones, the smell of the wet dirt and leaves and the quiet murmur of conversation from passer-bys was all very peaceful. This peace ended quite abruptly when I spotted the intimidatingly high stairs we'd need to walk. Not only were they steep and numerous, but they were...sketchy to say the least. Wooden stairs that looked well worn with several spots where one of the treads had broken off, so you had to skip a few steps. Going up wasn't too bad, it was just a bit of a work out. The view at the top was well worth it though. The Three Crosses were nice to look at, but the real treasure was being able to look out over Vilnius. It also helped that it was a gorgeous day: 45°F and sunny. After resting and taking a few pictures we started our track back down. Now although going up was more physically strenuous, I hated going down. I'm not scared of heights, but walking down those stairs was mildly terrifying. Nevertheless I soldiered through and made it to solid ground without incident.

We headed towards the market area again, cutting through a park on our way. We gave a cursory look over some of the stalls again before deciding to get lunch. There was a kiosk of sorts called Kebob that we chose. We all got beef wraps that ended up being quite delicious. It consisted of beef (obviously), tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos and two kinds of sauce. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Once we all finished eating we headed back to the apartment. We ended up just relaxing for a few hours, before Ariail headed to the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner. Once she got back to the apartment she started cooking. She's probably the main reason Sara and I didn't starve. She made sausage (well, really hot dogs because she couldn't find any bratwurst) cooked with red peppers and tomatoes with a side of pan-fried potatoes. It was very delicious.

After about half an hour, Ariail got back up and started baking brownies. (I really am getting spoiled here.) We ate them with some vanilla ice cream we purchased yesterday. They were excellent. We decided to watch another movie; Pirates of the Caribbean 3 was the film of choice. Honestly, none of us were paying a whole lot of attention, but it was something to do. After it was over we all shambled off to bed. The plan for tomorrow is to get up around 10 and visit a few shops that were closed for Sunday. After that it's to the bus stop where we'll leave at 12 and be back in Tartu by 10.

Monday

Our last day in Vilnius. Though our intention was to get up around 10, none of us really joined the world of the living until 11. Ariail made pancakes again so that we could use up the ingredients we purchased. After we'd eaten we all packed up our stuff and made one last venture outside. We wanted to check out a boutique that hadn't been open on Sunday. However, even though it said that it opened at 11, it was still closed when we arrived. Instead, we went to the vintage boutique that we'd visited on Saturday. There Ariail purchased a shirt and Sarah got a bracelet.

We headed back to the apartment to grab our stuff and make our way to the bus stop. It was around a 15 minute walk so we thought it best to leave early. Made it there with plenty of time to spare, found our platform and the bus was already there (since it was the first stop). Once we were on the bus I intended to work on some homework with my computer. I was hoping that since the bus has sockets for you to charge things, and say they have 220v power, that it would be, oh I don't know, actually functioning. But no such luck. Apparently the power doesn't work, as not even the lights would turn on.

That's what laptops are for I guess. Still, I don't particularly like reading while in moving vehicles, so I didn't get much done. I messed around for a bit until the internet cut out, then napped for about an hour. The rest of the time was spent zoning out while listening to music.

Once we arrived in Riga, Latvia we checked our bags at the bus station and headed outside to find some food. Sarah and I went to McDonalds while Ariail went to check out an old church before sunset. I wanted to go but I was too hungry. After Ariail met up with us and we all finished eating we decided to explore the city for a while. The architectural styles on some of the older streets are similar to Vilnius, but there was more of a city-atmosphere to Riga. This is probably because we spent the majority of our time in the Old Town while visiting Vilnius, while we were in the heart of Riga. It's really quite a large city, and it was fun to explore. There were the always-glorious bendy buses, as well as a new kind of bus (for me). I shall dub it the train bus. They ran on tracks in the ground and were attached to wires above the streets. Pretty interesting to watch them go around. Also, mind-blowingly enough, there were BENDY TRAIN BUSES. Crazy stuff.

After walking around for a bit we stopped in a small bakery. The smell was absolutely delicious. I was full from eating earlier, but Ariail ordered a latte and pecan pie, while Sarah just ordered a latte. I was content to just sit there and enjoy the atmosphere. Once they'd finished and we'd all relaxed enough we headed back out. At this point we just wandered the streets for a while. We ended up stopping in one boutique for several minutes before deciding to head back to the bus station.

Another 10 minute wait and we retrieved our luggage and headed over to our bus platform to board the bus. Unfortunately we no longer had the luxury of two seats to ourselves, as this bus was absolutely full. The bus ride was, for the most part uneventful. The woman next to Sarah kept talking in her sleep and there were a lot of times when the bus pulled over (I assume so the driver could take a break, but I don't know). Oh, he also pulled over a few times to talk on the phone. I guess that's preferable to driving and talking, but aren't bus drivers not supposed to do that?

Well apparently we lost some lady at one of the bus stops. We ended up turning around to get to a town 30 minutes behind us to...pick her up? I'm really unclear on what was going on; people were asking questions but speaking a different language, so I couldn't follow. Ariail asked the person sitting behind us and she said that we'd lost a woman. So I guess that's what happened. Still, all this detouring was extremely frustrating, as I just wanted to get back to Tartu in order to finish my homework and go to bed. One saving grace was the fact that the WiFi worked for the majority of the bus ride, only cutting out a few times.

Ended up arriving an hour and 15 minutes later than we were supposed to. That was probably the most frustrating/stressful thing about the whole trip.

That was really the only snag for the entire weekend. I had a great time, and it was fantastic to experience a new place. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to do this, and with good friends. I probably would've been lost without Sarah and Ariail, since this was really my first time travelling around a foreign place, and they both had a bit more experience. Bottom line: I had fun and I'm looking forward to plan another weekend trip!