Asia/Europe Travels 2008: Kuala Lumpur Thailand Laos Vietnam Germany Austria Prague (Czech Republic)
Poland Vilnius (Lithuania) Riga (Latvia) Berlin London (UK) Amsterdam (Holland) Dublin (Ireland) Hamburg

Vilnius (Lithuania)

25th October (Cont) - Arrive in Vilnius

Arriving at our hostel after a short walk from the train station, we headed out into the town to try and find somewhere to eat. We had been advised that the place just around the corner was pretty good so went there. We filled up on beers, cocktails, salads and main meals which for once were all reasonably priced. Afterwards we took a bit of a night tour around the town. It was interesting watching the various drunks wandering around chanting and generally making noise. Sally and I felt like checking out the night life, so went to the recommended bar called Broadways (but spelt differently). They had a live blues band playing and was set up like a pub. At first we tried to sit down at a table occupied mostly by older Italian people, so moved quickly and sat next to a couple of students who spoke English. It was good to chat and hear about their studies, and we told them about Australia. Shortly after the band finished and the gear was packed away, the strobes and laser lights started up and the dance floor was alive, and we basically danced and drank with our new friends for a few hours and had a great time. We also met this guy who looked like he was in the mafia, who insisted on buying us drinks. We stumbled back at about 3am, after another great night out. I would highly recommend the nightlife here based on that experience. Good people, good music and good times.

26th October - Vilnius

I had a good sleep in after the late night clubbing, and it is probably a good thing in a way as it was freezing. We had planned to meet up at 1.30pm, however confusion with the daylight saving which had switched back the night before as well as the fact that I went to the town hall instead of the cathedral meant that we didn't meet up, oops. I headed back to the hostel to get warmer clothes and went to check out the Frank Zappa statue. What was probably more impressive than the statue was this kid who must have been about 12 years old, stood on the edge of the meter high brick wall and did back flips onto the grass. I visited the castle next which was worthwhile. You could read about the history of the town and how the castle played a role in various eras. There were models and suits of armour as well as a great view over the town from the top of the tower. At only a few dollars, I would recommend it.

My next destination was the three crosses. Standing on top of the hill opposite the castle, they faced the town. I watched as the sun set and then we headed back to meet the others for dinner. There is a bunch of other things to do in the town, however with such a short amount of time this was all I saw. I did like the vibe of the town however and it wasn't too expensive either. This is a place I could definitely come back to some day for a longer period of time.

That evening we went out to the same restaurant as the previous night. I was feeling daring so thought I would try the beef tongue salad for a change. I must admit it was actually quite tasty, and apart from the slightly squishy texture and the fact that you could see the taste buds on the tongue still, it was quite an enjoyable meal. I think it was the only meal I have ever had that could taste me back. Well at least it was the source of some terrible jokes, although it was mostly tongue and cheek humour =) I also tried a leg of pork with sour croute and spent the rest of the night digesting the unusually large meal. We all had pear cider too which was a bit of a local flavour and quite cheap.

27th October - Vilnius to Riga

Leaving our awesome hostel in Vilnius, we headed on a short train to a small town not far from the Hill of Crosses. Our plan was to take the bus out to the popular tourist attraction and see the sights for about half an hour before catching our bus to Riga. Unfortunately there was just one hiccup in our water tight plan which put a real spanner in the works. We had to store our luggage at the bus station, and at the time we arrived, the luggage storage office was closed for another 45minutes. Unfortunately this meant that either none of us went to the hill of crosses or we split the group and someone stays behind to look after the bags until the office opened again. Sally and I were happy to go and do some shopping and eat so looked after the bags while Geoffrey, Dain and Siobhan checked out the hill of crosses. I will put a few photos here of what they saw, as it is quite an amazing view apparently with a seemingly never-ending walk through rows and rows of crosses.

Sally and I went in search of a couple of things before meeting up for lunch. I bought a hip flask for Berlin, a bottle opener and a blue jumper or hoodie for about $25 which was awesome. For lunch we had a very cheap meal which included a chicken Caesar salad, lasagne, milkshake and two long island iced teas (this was Sally's first one ever!). Well we were bouncing off walls after that meal which I should point out only cost us about $15 AU each - and half of that was the drinks. It was nice to eat a proper meal at a reasonable price for once! We grabbed some chocolates, an ice cream and a bottle of beckarovka (I'm not sure how you spell that) for the road and we met up with the others. We were all pretty coin free now!

We grabbed our bags back and jumped on the bus to Riga. It was kind of different not being in a train for once, and I quite enjoyed looking out the window at the country side in a sleepy daze. We arrived in Riga at about 6pm and headed off in search of our hostel. We had made it to Riga!.