Baltic birthday blowout
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2005
1
20
35
Trip End
Aug 22, 2005
Vilnius,
Lithuania
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Picking up where Sarah left off in Poland.....
Though Krakow and Auschwitz were our main reasons for coming to Poland, Warsaw ended up being a really interesting stopover en route to Lithuania. A very, very cold stopover. We spent our one day there touring the Old town (or somewhat Old town--after WWII most of the buildings were destroyed and have since been restored), and the Jewish Ghetto. We saw Umschlagplatz (see Warsaw pics for explanation), Nozyk Synagogue (the only one to survive WWII), and we attempted to see a part of the Ghetto wall that remains in the couryard of an apartment building, but the gates were locked. After our Polish St. Patty's Day festivities we kept our nights in Warsaw pretty low key, and met up with two guys from our hostel in Budapest, Dave and Max, for favoritos and pierogis.
Which brings us to Vilnius. I don't think Sarah ever thought she would spend her 24th birthday in Lithuania, but it ended up being quite the party locale. During the day we walked through the Gates of Dawn into Vilnius' Old town, the largest one in Europe. We saw the University, the cathedral, and the ever-popular Frank Zappa memorial. Unfortunately for poor Frank, his memorial is located smack dab in the middle of a parking lot. Sorry bud.
My travel book describes the Lithuanian cuisine as waist-widening, and seeing as it was a special occasion, we felt no guilt in fully taking advantage and loosening our belts. We had a delicious lunch of potato pancakes and mozarella crepes, which we topped off with a full birthday cake for dessert. We had intended on sharing the cake with the other people in the hostel, but unfortunately this hostel seemed to be the meeting place for the Creepy Old Men's Club; Its members were a little too focused on drinking and clubbing with the local youth. So we just had to eat that cake all by ourselves.Shucks
Not quite sure of what to expect from the Vilnius nightlife, we hit up "The Pub" for dinner and drinks, and then a club called Brodvejus. And boy did we ever find some great new moves there. The Lithuanians certainly know how to let loose!....and feel no need to stop the dance party even whilst in line for the bathroom. Personally I don't like to jostle around when I already have to pee, but when it comes to boogiing, these guys throw all logic out the door. It was a funny night and who knows, maybe Sarah will opt to celebrate her b-day Lithuanian style from now on. Count me in!
Ok off to Latvia....talk to you from there
Besos!
