The Passenger ⋆ Page 138 of 308 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

July 5, 2019April 19, 2022

The wolf

Vilnius is with more than 570.000 inhabitants the biggest city and the capital city of Lithuania. It is beautifully located on different hills and next to two rivers (Neris, Vilnia – giving the city its name). The city contains many baroque style buildings of Italian original and it contains more than 50 churches. That’s why it is sometimes called the ‘Rome of the East‘. A legend says that Grand Duke Gediminas dreamt of an iron wolf that howled extremely loud while he was sleeping on a hill next to the confluence of rivers Neris and Vilnia.

July 5, 2019July 23, 2019

Skybar

If you like good cocktails and modern Asian cuisine combined with wonderful views on Vilnius, Lithuania than the Skybar at the hotel Lietuva (belonging to the Radisson hotel chain) might be your place to be. They take classic cocktails and insert the flavour of the Baltics – the Aperol Spritz there doesn’t contain the Italian liqueur, but local spirits and herbs.

July 5, 2019July 24, 2019

The Road of Freedom

In 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet union signed the Hitler-Stalin Pact also called Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact because it was in fact signed by the two foreign ministers at Москва́. As part of this treaty of non-aggression the Baltic states were declared to be part of the Soviet union in the future. 50 years later the people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared their desire for independence by creating a 650 kilometers long humain chain – the longest human chain in history.

July 5, 2019July 23, 2019

Televizijos bokštas

TV towers are always a good option to get another view on the city. The one at Vilnius, Lithuania (Televizijos bokštas) is a bit special as it doesn’t have an outdoor platform. Instead you’ll find a restaurant inside with seats at the windows – and these seats continuously rotate around the tower. Therefore you can sit back, relax and see all of the surroundings of the tower while sipping a coffee or having dinner.

July 5, 2019July 23, 2019

Trolley busses

Like in all three Baltic states trolley busses (which have become pretty rare throughout the western Europe) belong to the city of Vilnius, Lithuania. In addition there is a large fleet of normal busses that you can use to travel around. Since 2001 the construction of a metro system with three lines connecting the busiest spots is discussed – but work hasn’t started yet.

July 5, 2019July 24, 2019

Contemporary art centre

The Šiuolaikinio meno centras (ŠMC) or Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) at Vilnius, Lithuania is just a small exhibition hall for contemporary art (but not the smallest in the world, that one I found in Tirana, Albania). It was founded in 1992 by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture and it shows artworks in five exhibition rooms.

July 5, 2019July 23, 2019

Museum of illusions

The museum of illusions (iliuzijų muziejus) is a funny place to be and for playing with optical and physical effects. It is not very big and not cheap (11 Euro per adult) but there are numerous experiments you can do and a lot of photo opportunities (like standing on a non-existing giant chair, being duplicated in different colours of light or creating the appearance that you can walk top-down on the ceiling of a room).

July 5, 2019July 24, 2019

MO muziejus

It is a brand new museum for modern art: the MO museum (MO muziejus) at Vilnius, Lithuania. This museum was just opened in 2018 and already the architecture of the building – designed by Polnisch-American architect Daniel Libeskind – would be worth a visit. It was created by the initiative of two private art collectors.

July 5, 2019July 24, 2019

Platforma

The railway station (stotis) of Vilnius, Lithuania is a little bit outside the city centre and it is quite special. It doesn’t have a modern station building but it feels for me like a more human-friendly station then most ones in western Europe. Inside the building which was once used to unload and store goods there is a bar with sunbeds on the platform – and a giant statue of a men in bathrobe and briefs.

July 5, 2019July 23, 2019

Purrfect

It is the cosiest place in Vilnius, Lithuania: the cat café (Kačių Kavinė). Fifteen cats live in the coffee bar located at the gedimino prospektas, a street full of bars and restaurants. But this place is very simple to find – most time lots of people are standing in front of the café to have a look at the cats sleeping, playing or getting petted by guests.