“Bizarre, beautiful and bewitching, Lithuania's capital seduces visitors with its astonishing Old Town charm. Its chocolate-box baroque skyline littered with the spires of Orthodox and Catholic churches are intoxicating, decadent and fragile – so much so that Unesco has declared this, Europe's largest baroque old town, a World Heritage site. But there's more to this devilishly attractive capital than meets the eye. There is an underlying oddness that creates its soul. Where else could there be the world's only statue of psychedelic musician and composer Frank Zappa? “
Lonely Planet Vilnius
Nick at the Frank Zappa memorial. This one is for you Chuck!
We knew we were going to have a great start to our Baltic Bonanza with two nights in Vilnius when we landed at the airport to the sound of 'Call to the Post' followed by the announcement that our Ryan air flight had landed on time!
Vilnius old town lived up to its world heritage listing and we spent many hour just wandering around admiring the views on offer.
The autumn leaves were everywhere.
Some of our favourite street art!
Yes it is all about the food! A great bakery practically next to where we stayed had the most amazing pastries.
We also visited The Genocide Victim's Museum, something we found both moving and upsetting.
The museum is housed in a building that was occupied from 1940 and 1991 by the NKVD and the KGB, with the exception of 1941 and 1944. During these years it was controlled by the Gestapo, whose role was to murder a majority of the city's Jewish population.
We used 'Vilnius in your pocket ' and found it to be a great guide to everything on offer in Vilnius. The writers also have a great sense of humor. Two of our favourite quotes are shown below.
“Crime is rampant in Lithuania, a great deal of it taking place inside the clandestine world of business and politics and consequently having little if no effect on the average visitor. “
“If it's Lithuanian and its got a lung then it probably smokes. “
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