My most recent journey took me to the Baltic republic of Lithuania. It's great having friends living all accross Europe, as you can travel by just visiting :)
After an early start and a warm welcome at the airport, I was on the road to Vilnius, with four girls in a van, ready to discover the capital ( ok, that was just me, the girls were mainly excited about the party): The countryside was not necessarily the most exciting panorama you could imagine, as the country is very flat, but once we arrived in the city, I was charmed by the old buildings.
Vilnius might not be the biggest city, but it makes visiting it by foot a really enjoyable experience. The historical heritage is varied and I didn't find as many communist vestiges as I expected. The orthodox churches, built for the Russian minority, add some colour to the picture.
According to my guides, on each hill in Lithuania, you can find a castle. And indeed, they spoke the truth. (as I mentioned the country is flat...) Also every castle is made of red bricks, the brought-up hypothesis explained it by the fact that this material had been the cheapest at the time. Probably we weren't far from the truth. The most beautiful location we visited was Trakai, where a castle was built on an island in the middle of a lake. Another great place is the confluence of the Nemunas and the Neris in Kaunas, and surprise! there is a castle as well...
As for Lithuanians, they have the reputation of being a rather rude population; if that's true? I wouldn't put it that way. I think that people, that are strangers to each other or people who only deal at a punctual interchange, are not very warm, don't necessarily smile, but that's just current practice. However, as soon as you enter a home, Lithuanians have shown to be the most welcoming hosts, always preoccupied with the guest's wellbeing and needs. So I think that the apparent rudeness you might encounter in shops is just not comparable of the polite but fake smile you find in Western European countries.
Lithuania is very nice to be discovered on a weekend, but I think it is far nicer if you know people there!
But short were my goodbyes, as I have miles to go before I sleep...
After an early start and a warm welcome at the airport, I was on the road to Vilnius, with four girls in a van, ready to discover the capital ( ok, that was just me, the girls were mainly excited about the party): The countryside was not necessarily the most exciting panorama you could imagine, as the country is very flat, but once we arrived in the city, I was charmed by the old buildings.
Vilnius might not be the biggest city, but it makes visiting it by foot a really enjoyable experience. The historical heritage is varied and I didn't find as many communist vestiges as I expected. The orthodox churches, built for the Russian minority, add some colour to the picture.
According to my guides, on each hill in Lithuania, you can find a castle. And indeed, they spoke the truth. (as I mentioned the country is flat...) Also every castle is made of red bricks, the brought-up hypothesis explained it by the fact that this material had been the cheapest at the time. Probably we weren't far from the truth. The most beautiful location we visited was Trakai, where a castle was built on an island in the middle of a lake. Another great place is the confluence of the Nemunas and the Neris in Kaunas, and surprise! there is a castle as well...
As for Lithuanians, they have the reputation of being a rather rude population; if that's true? I wouldn't put it that way. I think that people, that are strangers to each other or people who only deal at a punctual interchange, are not very warm, don't necessarily smile, but that's just current practice. However, as soon as you enter a home, Lithuanians have shown to be the most welcoming hosts, always preoccupied with the guest's wellbeing and needs. So I think that the apparent rudeness you might encounter in shops is just not comparable of the polite but fake smile you find in Western European countries.
Lithuania is very nice to be discovered on a weekend, but I think it is far nicer if you know people there!
But short were my goodbyes, as I have miles to go before I sleep...
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