VILNIUS! Reached Vilnius late in the evening at some ulu bus station and we all thought it seems abit too undeveloped. The fact that some random guy asked me for cigarettes along the way didn't help. Walked past all the rundown houses with the same Chinese girl slightly ahead of us; I must say she's really brave. Reached our hostel and realize she's in the same one (except we booked it with a hostel of different names... Sleezy huh); there was this party going on with people seemingly on drugs and are generally just high and randomly waving, getting touchy with each other and stuff. Nonetheless, we found the hostel (upstairs of the bar/pub in a quieter setting) to be really cool. It's called Hostel Jamaika and it didn't disappoint on its Reggae theme. What's nicer is they the beds are not bunk-beds! And they don't have a bed frame per se, just a thick mattress on top of beer bottle crates. The beds are separated by linens and quoting Ms Blur, it looks kinda like a hospital setting (except it's only so thorough the photos and is actually not so when you are physically there). There was even private cupboards! Anyway, went out for beer cos Songen was hungry and while he had his pizza, Sho stayed in the hostel for his wifi. Oh, the hostel also had some combination locks that was cool, cos you had to depress some numbers together to get in; took us awhile to get it. Did I mention that the beds were €1.70 per night per person? Well, turns out there were some technical errors and it was supposed to be more expensive but they were nice and only charged us what was agreed on the paper (we were nice too, cos we mentioned that we were willing to pay what it actually cost; that made them even nicer isn't it?)
Breakfast next morning was disappointing cos it was just bread (they didn't even say they will provide breakfast anyway). But the morning shift receptionist was nice too! He checked that the system only recorded one night stay for us after I told him to do a double check (somehow intuitively I doubted te system, after what's happened the night before). So he added another night, told us how to get to where we want to go, and even checked the train/bus timing for us! They don't even look the part: sleeve tattoos; nose piercings; and punk-style dressing... Never judge a book by its cover. And it's only when we come back from the next city that we'll know that that also applies to this capital...
KAUNAS. So we went away from the city centre (we were staying at the fringe) once again towards the bus/train station (which was 500m away from the fringe of the city centre, aka our hostel; so we haven't actually stepped into Vilnius' main area even up till this point). Brought a train ticket after much confusion and took a 1hr train to the previous capital, Kaunas. It's actually quite a recent "ex" considering the fact that they changed the capital from Vilnius over to this place only during the post-WWI era when Poland claimed the current capital (shifted back after the Russians returned, this time as the Soviet Union instead of the previous Tsarist Russia). This place was... boring, but pretty in the rustic way, especially the old town portion. This city also changed our Japanese's perspective of a UNESCO heritage site for its failure to impress (that says a lot isn't it? Considering how Japanese are famous for visiting sites for their fame on the allusive UNESCO list - according to Songen, at least, that's the case). Went to the castle and we all thought it was really rundown and whichever king that stayed in it probably isn't much of a "royalty". We walked another 20min towards the famous Seventh Fort (cos we were too lazy to take a bus to the further-away Ninth Fort), but we were still too lazy in the end and gave up somewhere near a supermarket; the pull of 95cents Magnum was too strong. Alas, we realize things aren't that cheap here and Magnum isn't 95cents anymore. Brought some random stuff and drank some beer before we headed back to the train station, where I would proceed to get a surprisingly good caramel latte from a vending machine, before we train back to Vilnius...
Back in Vilnius and we finally had the chance to walk into the Old Town. But before that, food (of course, what else)!!! Went to this local food chain that's recommended on the map ("map made by locals" as they call themselves, and we've been using the same thing throughout the Baltic states) and it was pretty awesome in my opinion. Dumpling was, I guess, of polish influence; but difference is: they deep-dry the whole thing here and it comes in a bite-size instead of the normal-sized ones I had before in Warsaw/Krakow. Definitely goes well with the local-brewed beers we had and nicer on the palates without the strong cheese. Then, it's time to explore cos it's too early for the technology slaves to go back to their masters (if there's one thing I know for sure of our generation, it's that we are all slaves to technology; guilty as charged). And if you think I walk fast, you haven't walked with Songen and Sho. According to Songen, "I only have two modes: either I'm walking damn fast, or I'm in front sitting down waiting for the rest." I mean I walk fast too... But after much complain from the long-legged Huihan (the rest of us are just longer-legged), I try to slow down when I'm traveling (and also because I don't wanna sweat beneath my thick layers of clothes). But that's besides the point. The main point is: I'm impressed by the city centre; we all are. It actually has a very European-feel, the developed yet old-fashioned feel; though less of a London, it's kind of like a Brussels or Antwerp, or a posh Warsaw or Prague. The Town Hall square was even lined with high-end shops like Burberry and expensive cars like Rolls Royce. Streets were littered with beggars but even more so by street artists; and the university actually looked pretty grand. There's a lot of white "formal" feeling buildings that gave it the developed feel, but they all weren't tall; in fact, the taller buildings are the colorful religious ones: Russian Orthodox Churches in their fanciful colors and Catholic/Christian Churches in the usual red-bricked façade; and there's so many of them (a staggering 40 actually). We ventured even further, to the Cathedral Square which has more space and less expensive-looking stuff (it's BMW and Mercedes instead of RR and Porsches kind of "less expensive") but we gave up on going to the Three Crosses Hill cos it was a little too creepy with the meandering, dark roads leading up the hill. So we went back to the hostel, and it's time to serve our masters...
Next morning, same old routine: breakfast (I skipped cos strawberry jam just isn't my thing); wash up; pack up; check out. Got a free postcard from the receptionist and said our goodbyes to the nice people there. Walked around the same place to see the city centre with daylight before settling down for brunch... at KFC! After the unhealthy food, we went for a walk, a quick one, up a hill, with some steps. But we were rewarded with the city's view from a vantage point; and I also realize that that's the view on the postcard. Only had a few minutes up there before we strolled down to the Town Hall for the free city tour. I was initially afraid that we'd be the only ones, seeing the yellow suitcase was sitting with a lonely self at the entrance of the townhall. But it wasn't long before a crowd started to form and it soon reached a number I thought I'll only see in the summer (we also recognized a French couple from our Riga tour, and had the chance to speak to them later on in the tour; the guy's Asian that's why lol).
This tour was different cos I've remembered a lot of the stuff said and things saw, mostly because it's a really amazing city and I'm genuinely impressed and positively surprised. Vilnius was once Polish (as mentioned); Basketball is often referred to as the second religion (or first, for the atheist) for Lithuanians; the locals first got baptised for free shirt (sounds familiar isn't it? Doing things for free shirts); and they even have an "independent state" within the city! The guide also told us things like how the Russian blocks are so similar that there's a movie on it (Irony of Fate); there's a Project Siberia going on every year to visit graves of deported Lithuanians in Siberia during the Soviet era; and for the soon-to-vanish national currency, the Litas (they are switching to Euros next year, just as Latvia had done earlier this year), they have a movement called the Crying Litas, where people are drawing tears on the figurine on their notes. And the free "independent state"! A little like Christiana in Copenhagen, it's also has its rules; mainly, be open-minded (it's even got its own constitution drawn up in 3 hours and translated - and displayed - in 23 different languages on a wall). But this place is much less serious, much less official, and is, for the most part, just for laughs. Quite literally, actually, since entering it requires visas in the form of smiles. The Užupio Res Publika ("Užupis" as it should be pronounced), is a "republic" conceptualized by a group of artists, with a restaurant as its "parliament" and a "national day" on the 1st of April. It's little wonder the current Vilnius mayor who came up with the "don't make me get my tank" campaign lived in this district (google it).
The tour then crossed the "border" back into Vilnius and we headed to the Literature Street where there were many artsy stuff on display, as you might have guessed. What's most interesting is this piece with a person's two thumbs sticking out between the index and middle fingers of a clenched fist: apparently in some culture, it means "Goodluck" but here, it kinda translates to "fuck off" (or "you won't get anything from me," and it's a representation of what the government is telling the locals, in a overly critical sense, IMO). Such cultural differences is quite interesting isn't it? Anyway, along the way towards the end of the tour, I chanced upon a sticker on a random wall that says "it is important to see what is invisible to others" and it really sums up my impression of this city...
Dinner at Būsi Trečias (a local restaurant recommended by our guide), cabbing to the airport (they drive like Southeast Asians), and now, sitting on a propeller plane, physically sums up this trip.
(It took me the whole plane ride to type this out... Really a lot to say bout this place, surprisingly... Still surprised. Lol)
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Three days of reality before heading out to Spain!
