Only since vailian asked--although the areas outside of Vilnius deserve separate posts in their own right, someday when I have spare time.
So when visiting Vilnius, in addition to picking up a guidebook and seeing the usual sites like Gediminas Tower, St. Anne's Church, and the Jewish Vilnius sites, I would recommend the following:
1. Definitely go to old town and take an afternoon to walk around. It's a little touristed, but interesting to see with its cobbled streets and old churches. It's around a 15 min walk from the central train station.
2. Try the local beer: Svyturys. My particular favorite is the Ekstra unpasteurized. While having a beer, it's good to have a beer snack. I suggest kepta duona which is fried dark bread with garlic. Even better, get it with suris (cheese).
3. Look for a local food place or cafeteria selling cepelinai or zeppelins. It's an starchy oval shaped potato meal filled in the center with either meat or cheese, and with a meat or cheese sauce. Sometimes they are a little difficult to find as they are labor intensive to make. They are heavy, have them for lunch on a day when you went without breakfast, or take only one instead of two. A popular Lithuanian chain where they are always available is Forto Dvaras and their menu is in English.
4. Take a walk through the Užupis district of Vilnius. It is an 'independent district' in Vilnius at the bottom of old town. It was a former artist colony and still interesting to some of the recent creations.
5. If you have time for a day trip from Vilnius, go to Trakai castle.
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2 comments:
Thanks for the tips... unfortunately we are doing 3 Baltic countries in 3 days so exploration outside Vilnius won't be possible, at least this time!
I will definitely report on the trip on my blog (I leave on Sunday) but first I have to sort out mentally the experiences I have just had in Budapest and Vienna....
In the end (he admits guiltily), I forgot to write down your suggestions, and we just followed our instincts... but ended up doing almost precisely what you suggested!
We went into the old town, had lunch in a fantastic restaurant in a vast cellar, ordered--quite by chance-- Svyturys beer and zeppelins. (I admit that I couldn't eat more than one, they are incredibly heavy!-- but the beer was extraordinary).
St Anns is a fabulous example of late "Brick gothic" architecture (sadly, it wasn't open when I was there).
We found ourselves in the Republic of Uzupis, and loved it! All the quirky artsy aspects and defiantly unrenovated charm made my Ossie feel right at home, and we had coffee at an outside table with a splendid view across the city.
We are hoping to go back sometime.
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