Sunday, August 29, 2004
Vilnius
After a 8 hours night trip on the bus, we got to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. We found a great large private roof appartment in the old town, which compensated for the mostly overcast and rainy weather. But we can't complain as it was only the first time on our journey we had not so good weather conditions.
As a city, Vilnius can be described as excentric and cosy. Most cafes bear bizarre decoration even though the food is classically Middle European, i.e kraut, potato and sausages. Some streets have declared themselves an independent artist's republic, not to mention the weird Frank Zappa memorial. Besides these oddities, the usual stunning churches and old city (which, unlike Prag, Warsaw and Krakow, is not so touristy and displays some "normal" Lithuanian lifestyle).
Finally, we did a day trip to Trakai (30km from Vilnius), the ancient capital, built on a maze of ponds and canals. There are still some nice wooden houses and 2 "lake" castles, one of which totally renovated.
As a city, Vilnius can be described as excentric and cosy. Most cafes bear bizarre decoration even though the food is classically Middle European, i.e kraut, potato and sausages. Some streets have declared themselves an independent artist's republic, not to mention the weird Frank Zappa memorial. Besides these oddities, the usual stunning churches and old city (which, unlike Prag, Warsaw and Krakow, is not so touristy and displays some "normal" Lithuanian lifestyle).
Finally, we did a day trip to Trakai (30km from Vilnius), the ancient capital, built on a maze of ponds and canals. There are still some nice wooden houses and 2 "lake" castles, one of which totally renovated.
