Vilnius

I managed to get a ticket to Vilnius for next to nothing. With Baltic Air. On a Fokker 50 propeller driven, duct tape enhanced peace of nostalgia.
No worries though. There where only 10 passengers on the flight so it must have been light work for the machine.
On the airport I had some very friendly assistance from a local who was also taking the bus to the old town, he even paid my bus ticket. Nice!
From the bus stop i had a pleasant walk through most of the old town part of Vilnius which looked nice enough. The hostel was located on a small alley just off one of the main streets, tricky to find but a very cozy hostel.

I was feeling brave that night so I decided to go ahead and try the local special dish, "Zeppelins".  As all Lithuanian food, the main contents are potato and meat. Zeppelins are like small meatballs, covered in a 2 cm thick layer of potato dough, liberally sprinkled with cream and other artery clogging stuff.  I can’t say it is the most refined meal but it certainly helps you regain your strength.

Monday I spent most of the day running around old town Vilnius, which really is beautiful. Aside from the churches, which are nice, there are the most amazing views to be found when you just wander around.
Feeling rather chilly after this, I decided to visit a museum. Something warm and cozy …. well, maybe not. The local KGB museum is quite impressive, so I went there. It certainly was impressive, documenting the Russian oppression on the first floor and in the cellar, the original KGB prison could be viewed. People tend to think of the Germans as nasty to oppressed peoples, but the russians were quite capable as well.

Back in the hostel I happend to meet two dutch girls and a guy, Carla, Jacqueline and Merijn if I remember correctly. We had a little dutch night out in a pub, broadeway, just around the corner from the hostel.  The pub featured a number of live perfomances by local musicians. Some were very good, others weren’t

Then came the time to leave.. unfortunately there where no direct busses to Lviv.
 Which explains how I ended up in Krakow, which I’ll post about later.

The photos I made in Vilnius are here, including some bonus comments