Having married a Lithuanian, you may call me biased but I can honestly say that Lithuania is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited. We travelled in September on this occasion, which is the start of Autumn and when the country is filled with the most amazing colours.
Stop 1 – Kvietkine
We flew into the country’s second largest city, Kaunus, and hired a car which we drove to our first stop – a small village called Kvietkine, just 15km from the Polish border. Simply put, Kvietkine is a short lane with houses on either side of the road. No shops, bars or restaurants; just houses, allotments and a small community of people living the simple life.
You might be thinking, what on earth are you going to do there? We relished the thought of spending a couple of days cut off from the world we knew with limited phone signal, no traffic noise and only the outdoors to keep us occupied. On the first night of our stay there was a thunderstorm, now I love thunderstorms but this was something else! In the UK there are always other noises alongside a thunderstorm, traffic noise, people etc. but here there was nothing but silence and the storm. It was beautiful, if not a little terrifying when my husband pointed out that three people were struck by lightning in the village when he was a child!
Lithuanian culture is different to that of the UK, we ask if a guest would like a cup of tea whereas in Lithuania, your host would offer you something to eat and would likely proceed to cook you a full meal of meat, potatoes and a variety of salads. I love this tradition! Mantas’ Mociute (Grandma) made sure we never went hungry for our first couple of days in the country before we packed up the car and headed east to the capital city, Vilnius.
Stop 2 – Vilnius
I wasn’t sure what to expect of Vilnius but the drive there was spectacular. Long roads and nothing but beautiful countryside views accompanied our 2 hour road trip. When we finally got into the city centre, the first thing I noticed were the towering apartment blocks that clearly showed the impact of the Soviet Union and how much influence it had on the country’s building practices.
We were visiting more family in Vilnius but decided to spend our first night in a hotel to really try to experience what the capital city had to offer. We hadn’t booked anywhere in advance so it was a case of trying a few hotels to see if they could squeeze us in for the night. We ended up in the Crowne Plaza which was really quite lovely, just a little further out from the centre but still a walkable distance.
We went out for the evening to grab some dinner and have a few drinks but we tend to do this thing where we walk past loads of restaurants, say “hmm let’s see what else we can find” and then get irritable and hungry so we end up eating in any old place! We settled for food at a quaint little place in a park, not quite the Lithuanian experience we were after but it turns out that eating out is not really their style anyway.
The next day we strolled around the city, visiting the famous Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius. What a building! The crisp white colour of the outside, teamed with the magnificent architectural structure of the building and beautiful paintings of the inside meant we were in awe the whole time.
Over the road we came across a street market where we were spoilt for choice with the vast array of street food vendors. We were also stunned at the sheer number of stalls selling Baltic amber which came in many forms from jewellery and sculptures to paintings and even chopping boards!
The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights
Our afternoon in Vilnius continued with more history in the form of the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights, also known as the KGB Museum. When we visit new places we do love to visit old prisons and historically famous buildings, but this was something else and perhaps one of the most harrowing places I have ever been.
The former gymnasium was once the headquarters of the Gestapo during the Nazi occupation of Lithuania and later became re-occupied by the Soviet Secret Police – the KGB –who stayed until 1991 when Lithuania became an independent nation. The museum’s upper floor was fairly inspirational, focussing on the Lithuanian resistance to the Soviet occupiers, deportations to Serbia and everyday life in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. However, the basement showed us the other side of this era with prison cells and execution/torture chambers which are chillingly, exactly how the KGB officers left them.
Once downstairs, you’ll walk past the prison cells, one of which is a torture chamber with only enough room to stand! There’s also a water torture chamber where prisoners would be forced to stand on a pyramid whilst the room was filled with water, ultimately the prisoners would need to step down into the water but often ended up falling due to the loss of strength from standing so long.
After this, you are taken towards an interrogation room and on the way you’ll walk along a glass floor, underneath are hundreds of bullet shells, shoes and other belongings lost by prisoners on their way to interrogation. Once inside the interrogation room there is a TV playing, a re-enactment of a prisoner being questioned and sadly meeting an unfortunate end. This was one of the most chilling experiences I have ever had as you are standing in the very room where this would have happened and looking around, we could see a number of dents which were made with the bullets.
City Limits
After our visit to the museum we were in need of something a little lighter so we took the trek up to Gediminas Tower to take in the sky views of the city. You have the option to take a lift up to the tower but we opted to walk as it was a beautiful day and exercise is good for the soul.
Following this, we headed to the outskirts of the city where we stayed with family for a couple of days. During this time we experienced the quieter side of city life where you’re close to the city but not too close and can still enjoy the peace and serenity the country has to offer – as well as the copious amounts of food that was cooked for us every day!
Trakai
Just half an hour’s drive from Vilnius is a beautiful island castle called Trakai Island Castle which is situated on Lake Galve. If you take one thing away from reading this it’s that Lithuania has some of the most stunning lakes in the world and they are really a part of life over there. We spent the day in Trakai, walking around the castle and learning about the history and heritage of the country.
The stone castle started its life in the 14th century but was also developed throughout the 15th century, with the comings and goings of new leaders. The castle was burned down with the invasion of the Muscovy troops in the 17th century, only to be reconstructed in the 19th century.
For lunch we ate chebureki which is my favourite Lithuanian food. If you don’t know what that is, it’s essentially Lithuania’s version of fast food – deep fried stuffed patties. They’re usually stuffed with meat such as beef or lamb along with pork, onions and spices but vegetable variants are available. There’s just something super homely and comforting about them.
Our time in Vilnius was over and we headed back to Kaunas, you can read about this in the next blog.
