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Arrived in the Baltics
Entry 18 of 41 | show all | print this entry |
Taking an airBaltic flight at 8:40 am, I left for the Baltics.
This time, I left from Berlin Tegel Airport, instead of the usual Shoenefeld Airport I used (which is easyJet's hub in Berlin). Tegel is in the (former) West Berlin and fairly easy to get to (a S-Bahn then a bus ride, which took me amazingly less than 30 minutes). The airport also does not have the scruffy impression the Shoenefeld Airport gives. However, I do think this airport also needs some upgrade. I found selection of restaurants are few and expensive (so I could only settle for Burger King). Both Delta and Continental flights to Berlin end up in Tegel (I identified them by finding the gates with the longest security lines!).
Arriving at Vilnius shortly after noon, I immediately found my way to the bus stop. This is a very small airport, with only one terminal and two baggage claim belts. Even so,I still had a little hard time to find the bus stop (which is at the left of arrival hall entrance, not at the right, thanks for not telling me, "Let's Go East Europe"!).
To save time and money, I stayed at Old Town Hostel, a hostel very near the Vilnius bus/train station. It is also just a few hundred meters south of Vilnius old town's 'Gate of Dawn'. Though location is great, however, this hostel is a little crappy looking, hidden in a courtyard of an old building. "Let's Go" does warn about it is quite cramped and no lockers are offered. However, Vilnius seems not to have good selection of budget accommodation so this may be the best I could find. I decided to just pay for one night...
Before even eating anything,I started my sightseeing right away. Walking through 'Gate of Dawn,' I was immediately in the old town. The Gate is more than 400 years old and the only surviving portal of the city wall. It has been a pilgrimage site for Eastern European Catholics. Above the Gate, a gold-laced portrait of the Virgin Mary is located on the second floor. This portrait is said to have miraculous power. The late Pope John Paul II visited here in 1993 and there is a plaque commemorate his visit.
Walking deeper into the old town, I found more nice churches and old houses (many of them now are turned into jewelry shop selling amber). Not particularly looking for some specifuic attraction, I was just happy to walk in streets of a new city I visited for the first time. Maybe too happy I later found I forgot to eat lunch that day!
Vilnius' sights are relatively spread out, so it takes a while to see most of places that interest me (including the only Frank Zappa bust statue in the world, but it turns out to be overrated). I did not finish sightseeing until around 7pm.
Finding a vegetarian place called "White Elephant," in which some interesting Indian food is on the menu. With some Indian trance music playing in the background, this is actually quite nice meal. I found Vilnius is more sophisticated than I expected. I started to think about staying longer here.
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