Keturios dienos Vilnyje [Four Days in Vilnius]
Thursday, 4th July - Monday, 8th July 2025
Summary:
Any trip around the world planned by us had to include Lithuania of course. This was my 12th visit since my first back in 1983. That represents a visit more often than once every 3 1/2 years. Unfortunately, thanks to Schengen shenanigans, we were not able to spend as long as we'd originally planned. The original idea was to hire a car and to a big tour around the three Baltic States, visiting lots of places we'd never been to before. But after we realised that days in Schengen countries were at a premium we had to trade a week or more of that idea in for some time in non-Schengen countries, namely Turkey, Cyprus and Montenegro.
Still, we had a very full-on four days in Vilnius which co-incided with the centenary Song and Dance festival for which I'd bought some great tickets the moment they came out. We also saw some friends and relies we hadn't seen for a while. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this time I actually made the effort to pay my respect to the many many victims of the holocaust. This was my first visit since getting to know the Litvak campaigner Grant Gochin who had opened my eyes to the terrible complicity so many local Lithuanians were guilty of in those times before, during and after the Nazi occupation. Some more so than others. People like Jonas Noreika, actually ordered the murder of thousands of Jews before the Germans had even stepped foot in Lithuania. Shame on Lithuania that he is still treated as a national hero. I will never forget our visit to Paneriai, where around 100,000 Litvaks were murdered in 1941 alone, mostly in the last six months of that year.
Back in the Fatherland (Thursday, 4th July.)
The eight hour bus ride from Tallinn went through Riga before heading south towards the land of our fathers. The border crossings, again, were seamless and it was hard to tell one country from another if you didn't see the road signs.
I was sat on the left hand side of the bus and felt quite excited as we passed as near as we would be this time to my Dad's neck of the wood, Vabalninkas.
A storm was threatening as the bus pulled into Vilnius bus station. We walked to our next accomodation near the Old Town.
Our 51st accommodation venue was a very nice place near the Old City Gate. We had problems getting in, but thankfully the owners lived along the corridor so we were able to settle in. The flat was very nice but there were ridiculously large steps leading up to the bed area. It would be scary going for a wee in the midle of the night.
This was my twelfth visit to Lithuania and I was especially looking forward to it because we planned the visit to coincide with the centenary edition of the Lithuanian song and dance festival.
Of course, I was looking forward to good old stodgy Lithuanian food and beer as well as watching the the Euro quarter finals.
Pasivaikščiojimas po Vilnių prieš šimtmečio šokių festivalį -
Strolling around Vilnius before the centenary dance festival (Friday, 5th July.)
Day 119 ~ Lovely day in Vilnius. Strolling around the old town. Popping in to see my second cousin Rasa at her vegetarian restaurant, Radharanė, on Gedimino Prospekt https://maps.app.goo.gl/pc1xxSefTMtYRqa36. Walk past the Presidential palace, through Vilnius University to my usual first restuarant on Pilies gave for cepeliniai. Then onto meet Christine, Felix and Paul Markevičius before seeing the first half of Germany v Spain, half of the Šokiu Švente performance and back to the city for Portugal v France. So it's Spain v France in the semis.
Whenever we go to Vilnius we pop in to see Rasa, my Lithuanian aunt's grand-daughter, or first cousin twice removed. For years now she's been running a very successful chain of vegetarian restuarants. Radharane in Vilnius has a perfectlocation on Gedimino Prospekt.
We stopped for a beer at Busi Trecias a bar I'd frequented on a few of my previous visits.
After visiting Vilniaus Universitetas, we head to the nearby Lithuanian Restuarant on Pilies gatve. Cepeliniai at last! It must have been around this time that we started getting messages from a few old Lithuanian friends who were also here in Vilnius for the festivities.
Christine Harmes (nee Markeviciute) and her two brothers Paul and Felix, had got news that we were in Vilnius via Facebook (it does have its uses) and so we'd arranged to meet for a beer and a chat before the dance festival.
After a ber with Paul, Felix, Christine and some others from London we set off for the dance festival. I can't believe I failed to take a single photo of our meeting.
Although I was enjoying this epic feast of Lithuanian folk dancing, it was getting a little repetitive and as the "professionals" made way for the kids and the oldies I decided it was probably a good time to make a quick exit and head to the pub to catch up with Paul and Felix and the small matter of the Euro Quarter final tie between Spain and hosts, Germany.
Leb stayed until the end and captured the magically happy scenes at the end. Wonderful, if a bit... white.
It was great catching up with Paul and Felix again. I didn't realise how much they were into their football, like I am.
Meanwhile, good news from the UK, as Labour won the Genrral Election there by a landslide.
100th Song Festival at Vingis Park (Saturday, 6th July.)
After a scary incident in the night when I nearly fell and broke something trying to navigate the ridiculously steep staircase in our rented accomodation, we got up and decided to do a bit of exploring around the Jewish part of Vilnius. I am ashamed to admit that in over a dozen previous visits I'd never made any effort to connect with Lithuania's shameful role of Nazi collaboration in the holocaust and I was determined to try to start putting that right with this visit. Thanks to Grant Gochin, a very impressive Litvak activist, and Silvia Foti, granddaughter of the notorious Jonas Noreika, I'd put together an albeit brief sightseeing program for this visit.
Firstly, this morning we'd walk around the old Vilnius ghetto. About 100,000 or so Jews lived there before the second world war but in 1941 90% for them were efficiently murdered by the occupying Nazi forces, imporantantly with a lot of willing local collaboration.
After a heavy few hours, we were ready for some relief - and Leb spotted a cake shop!!
After our walk, we could sense the excitment building, and costumed people gathering, for the big parade today. So we popped into a Ukrainian Cherry Vodka outlet.
Then we went back to the flat to rest and recharge, ready for another big afternoon - the big parade/march from the city center out to Vingis Park for the song festival. I had an important appointment in between all that - I had to watch England play Switzerland in the Euro quarter finals. I wasn't going to miss that!
The parade seem to take an age to get started. But when we saw the size of it, it was a miracle it got going at all.
After the hundredth happy group passed by we finally got to join at the end of the procession and walked across Cathedral Square towards Gedimino Prospekt.
This would be where and I parted company for a few hours again. I had an unmissable appointment with Paul, Felix and the Londoners to watch Eng-ger-land versus Switzerland so Leb was happy to miss that and have a good long walk (over an hour) to Vingis Park where the singing festival concert was due to start. I would catch up with here later.
So, first, here are her photos and videos of the procession...
Meanwhile, back in the Old Town, I was making my way past St Anne's Old Church and getting ready for the big match.
England's win mean they had a semi-final place and it meant I could leave happy and get an Uber to Vingis Park. I ceryainly didn't fancy an hour's walk.
As the taxi got closer though, it seemed there was an ever increasing flood of people coming in the opposite direction - leaving the park. Had I missed it?
Of course not. The crowd was just simply so huge. Even if 5 -10% didn't want to stay to listen to the choirs, there was still tens of thousands gathered around the vast theatre, who did.
I approached the vast auditorium thinking finding Leb in this crowd would be like finding a needle in a haystack - except I had a ticket with a seat number on it which would be right next to her's. So I set off to find her.
I had missed quite a bit, including the national anthem at the beginning...
The "Lithex" (Lithuanian experience) was pretty full on and eventually we both decided that we should start making our way back to the appartment through the massive crowd.
It took about an hour to walk back through the streets of Vilnius back to our room where we enjoyed a very deep night's sleep.
Dark Day in Paneriai (Sunday, 7th July.)
Day 121 ~ 3rd in Lithuania. We woke to a lovely warm day under blue skies but the weather turned very dark later. Fitting really.
I am ashamed to admit that even though I've been to Lithuania many times I'd never taken the trouble to visit any sights dedicated to the 200,000 Litvaks who lived here before the war. A population that was annihated (96% were liquidated) in the holocaust by the Nazis with, let's be clear, A LOT of help from local collaborators. I wanted to put that right this time so we visited sites in the old Jewish Ghetto of Vilnius yesterday. Today we took the very short train ride (it's only one stop... takes just ten minutes) from Vilnius to Paneriai to visit the bland sounding Paneriai Memorial Museum. The 15 minute walk from the station of the tiny town takes you through a beautiful peaceful forest that hides the most horrifying story.
The night before, in Vingis Park, tens of thousands of happy people flocked to attend the incredible finale to the centenary of the song festival. I reckon there must have been at least 100,000 there.Now imagine that same number of people forcibly taken the short distance to the woodlands of Paneriai... to be murdered. That's what happened there between 1941 and 1944. Sickening.
Unlike Trakai, Gedimino pilis, the many Catholic churches etc. there were no throngs of tourists milling around taking selfies. When we were there it was just Leb and me and a couple from Venezuela. It is hardly signposted and when you go by train you have to carefully navigate a set of dangerously busy train tracks to get across to the station and the quiet road that leads to where the death pits were.
 |
| The shop where I lost my wallet |
It was a hot day and so we popped into the one shop on the road back tothe station and bought something to drink. We spent a few minutes looking at the different products available to Lithuanians these days.
It is trivial to mention, in this context, that somehow I contrived to lose my wallet there, I think, in that shop. I still don't know how, but I only realised it had gone once we got on the train back to Vilnius. I do have a suspicion that it was two cheeky little lads who either picked it up off the floor or else pick pocketed it from my trousers. My Lithuanian isn't very good but I think they were showing off to eachother about how much money they had. One said he had 20 euros and the other said he had 50. It only occurred to me later that the wallet had two notes in it to that value.
Anyway, having arrived back in Vilnius I quickly returned back to Paneriai a second time and went back to the shop to ask if anyone had handed it in. No luck there. And when I asked at the station about lost property the lady just shook her head.
How stupid I feel but it could have been worse. As well as the €70, it contained a credit card (immediately blocked) and my driving licence. As they say, a first world problem - but this would cause problems later in the trip.
When I arrived back in Vilnius the second time the weather had turned very ugly. Thunder and lightning and a heavy downpour meant I got soaked through.
The only silver lining was meeting the ever bubbly Belyssa Radzivanas who is also over here from Perth for the tautos Švente. We had a delicious traditional Lithuanian meal (koldunai for me this time) at Etno Dvaras in the Old Town and tried to put the world to rights.
We did a bit of shopping for chocs and fruit before heading back.
We had time for one last cherry vodka snifter at the Ukrainian bar before heading back.
Back at our apartment the internet was down again. It's amazing how much we rely on it these days, especially on holidays, to plan ahead, to check into flights etc. So, having woke up to see we were connected I got up to catch up in the middle of the night.
Iki Pasimatymo, Lietuva! (Monday, 8th July.)
Day 122 ~ Iki pasimatymo, Lietuva, Witaj Polsko! We left our Vilnius apartment. It was a very nice stay overall and perfectly located, but it did have very unreliable internet and scarily dangerous stairs up to the bed area.
We then walked back up to the railway station and caught a train to the airport for the short (1hr 20m) flight that lifted off with a spectacular view over Vilnius and then thankfully went through the Suwalkai corridor and not over Belarus.
Soon we were over Poalnd and closing in on our next stay. And so ended our all-too-brief, but packed and sensational, time in Lithuanian and the Baltic States. Next stop Poland and the beautiful city of Krakow.
Finansinė santrauka (Financial Summary.)
Our four days in Vilnius were quite expensive, mainly I think because of the accomodation which was quite pricey. We wanted to stay somewhere nice and central though, so it was worth it.
Nuotaikos santrauka (Mood Summary.)
This stay was somewhat patchy when it came to my mood score. Two of the days were almost "off the charts" fabulous - the first full day pottering around Vilnius, meeting Paul Markevicius et al for the first time in years, the dance festival and finally beers watch football with Paul and his brother, Felix, received a score of 20-0. This was one of the top twenty days so far but even this was surpassed the next day by a walk around the Jewish quarter, watching, and then participating in the end of festival parade followed by watching England beat Switzerland on penalties to reach the Euro semi finals, acpped off with the magical Song festival at Vingis Park reached 24-0 - joint eigth best day so far.
Howwever because we arrived late after a long tiring bus journey, the first evening was a bit flat and although the final full day we spent a Paneriai was very memorable and capped off with a lovely meal with Balyssa, there were enough frustrations and depressions visiting the site where 100,000 Jews were killed to make anyone gloomy. Add to that the fact I lost my wallet and got soaked by a huge downpour and it should be no surprise that this comprised the biggest "negative" score for a single day so far. Leaving for the airport on the final day was pretty uneventful so the overall average mood score per day, which was excellent for the two days in the middle, ended up being pretty average in the end.
Alkoholio santrauka (Booze Summary.)
Even the boozing was a bit flatter than I expected, with 54 g / day being one of the most modest of the trip so far. Stll, the first night in the flat was a bit of a session, polishing off the Vana Tallin we'd accumulated.
Bendra santrauka iki šiol (Overall Summary.)
So, 120 days into the trip and still not even half way. Lithuania was the 12th country visited and for reasons stated above it didn't score as highly as I'd hoped or expected but still those two days were easily among the best so far.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment