The Narutis Hotel Vilnius

... carriages. In one part there were lots of soldiers and a man giving a speech next to someone who Tom thought looked like the pope but we knew it wasn't. There was also a building next to it that did have a big picture of the Pope spread across the front which Tom said it looked like he was winking in ..lol. We also went to see a building designed by Norman Foster of gherkin fame, and we were amazed by the fountain in the middle that made loads of different patterns ...

... am from Japan. Very funny. Mext I returned to Vilnius and visited the Gediminas castle top, Applied art museum, SS Peter and Paul cathedral as well as the KGB museum. The Gediminas castle top has very breathtaking view of the city from the old town ot the new town. The SS Peter and Paul Cathedral is probably the most beautifully decorated cathedral there is in Vilnius, at least for its interior. All the walls are covered with ...

... monday night, and even in Brisbane you are struggling to find a good crowd in any of the pubs and clubs, but we were just about the only people on the street. We once again headed back to the hostel and found that the Polish mob, (who were a bit embarrased about sending us off to look for pubs), were having a noisy drunken party in thier dorm room. Once again we were entertained by the shameless Polish morals on show. There was a New Zealander ...

... sort of a roller door, opening the museum. We tried to ask could we see the documentary film we'd seen mentioned downstairs. Took a few attempts - she spoke no English, French or German and we spoke no Lithuanian or Russian, but eventually the message was conveyed. We were taken off to the side to a little room & a TV with a video player. She went off & got a video marked "Vilnius - English". In fact the video was made in German but there were English subtitles. It was an ...

... souvenir in Vilnius or have a coffee at the right spot, Pilies gatvė was the place to come. If your name is a foreigner, of course. I'm not entirely sure the locals would think the same. I'm talking about the coffee, of course. Whoever buys souvenirs in their hometown? Generally speaking, Vilniaus senamiestis, or Old Town of Vilnius, as we would say, is one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in Northern Europe. As such, and in recognition of its historical and cultural ...

... we saw some film posters. Of course, it got me immediately interested, all the more so when I realised they were about "History of Violence", a film some friends back home had told me was surprisingly good. After all, Viggo Mortensen, William Hurt and Ed Harris were all actors with the name. It turned out we had stumbled upon "Skalvija", one of only two remaining Vilnius movie theatres which had survived the transformation into the modern age and transition onto market economy ...

... didn't feel like going out. Besides, I couldn't go with Ruta anyway. So I had all the reasons to stay put. "I'll try to rush it," she said. "So we can go out somewhere this evening." "Don't worry," I said. "Just take your time." And take it she did. When she returned home, it was dark. Of course, it didn't mean it was way too late. On these latitudes it gets dark in winter sooner ...

... du centre de la capitale lithuanienne !! Donc nous voila entre dans les pays baltes avec un 1er changement de fuseau horaire ! Bref on se pose dans une cite universitaire ouverte au gens de passage genre celle de Gdantsk et hop un petit reperage en ville, visite en touriste puis apres une biere ou 2 dans la rue on va se poser dans un bar qui retransmet un match de la coupe d'europe de basket : Lithuanie-France !!! Bon la france s'est ...

... than the ones we saw in Gdansk or Krynica Morska. In our 2+ days in Vilnius, we usually got back to our dormitory between 2 and 3 AM, and even though we had a 40 minute walk to the Old Town, we felt completely safe and secure walking the streets late at night. We stayed out late and ate late. Some bars were open until 5 AM and still serving food. There seems to be a big push to bring a big tourist boom to Vilnius and all of Lithuania for 2009. Come see it before the crowds get here.

Vilnius (population 600K), the capital city of Lithuania, is a 5-hour bus ride from Riga. The hostel is conveniently located some 300 yards from the bus station. I spent a whole day exploring the sights of the old town with a Japanese guy (that I previously met on the Tallinn to Riga bus), the Japanese way - a lot of sights to cover, a lot of photos ...