01/02 DAY 15: Warsaw -> Vilnius
I woke up and realized that, even though I had got 9 hours of sleep, that I was really worn out. I have been going full throttle for days and I really would have liked to have slept longer.

As they say, there is no place like Vilnius to recharge your batteries. I’m planning on being very lazy tonight. Perhaps watch a movie on my laptop.

AIRPORT & PASSPORT PROBLEMS

I arrived at the airport a couple of hours early. Not because I had to but, since a lot of the stores appeared to be closed, I thought I’d be there a bit early. Just in case.

It was a good thing that I got there early because I had passport problems. No. I didn’t lose my passport. It’s that when I entered Poland from the Czech Republic, via train, they did not stamp my passport.

I was escorted to an office. The late 30s man was pleasant enough. He asked me what papers I had to prove the day I entered Poland. I had in my bag my plane tickets to and from Europe as well as my receipt from my hotel in Kraków.

The uniformed security man flipped through my passport and the procedures manual. He made several calls.

I hope I don’t have to have a strip search, I thought.

I had plenty of time and so I patiently sat. He made photocopies of my passport, tickets, etc. then finally allowed me to go. He apologized for the delay. Apparently effective January 1, they have new procedures and he wasn’t sure what to do. Not a biggy, I thought and went to the gate.

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA

One cool thing about traveling plane, is that, if you’re on the correct side of the plane, you can see some interesting things. At the end of the brief flight from Warsaw to Vlinius, I got a nice overview of the city. Oh, Lot Airlines has wide, leather seats and pleasant stewardesses. Well worth it.

From the air, Vilnius looks like a sprawl of high rises with an area of low setting, two story buildings, which I figured would be the old town. Not ugly, but not pretty and tidy.

The airport was modern and comfortable. The ATM spit out some pretty bills and I jumped into a taxi. The taxi driver spoke broken English, with a fury. Nice man. I just wished that he had spent more time looking at the road then looking back at me and trying to construct sentences in English.

I tipped him generously in front of “Liniterp” accommodations where I had reservations. The taxi driver was on it. He realized that windows to Liniterp were shut. I rang the bell. Nothing. I found the number to the place and attempted to call it. We tried several times from my cell phone. It didn’t work, as I think that I needed the country and city code and the taxi driver didn’t know it.

I eyed another bed & breakfast nearby, down the street. The taxi driver saw this and walked over. He rang the bell. A younger man appeared and they spoke fast paced Lithuanian, which could be Chinese.

The taxi driver shook my hand, smiling and told me to enjoy the city.

The young B&B worker strolled casually into the inner courtyard as we negotiated a price. 100 Litas for a room. $35 USD a night. He showed me the room, which I liked.


My room (note door with rough wood. I would later get a bad splinter from it.)

Vilnius is really unique, individualistic. I have to say.



I grabbed a beer at local pub and had smoked salmon appetizer and a really great cabbage soup. There is nothing better on a cold day.

I was really tired so I retired to my room and took a nap. So quiet. I kid you not when I say that the most noise I could hear was my watch, which I placed on the floor to silence it. It was so dark and uncannily quiet. I slept 3 hours. Like a baby, But a baby who had just had a couple of tall beers.

Upon waking, I told myself that I would spend the night in the room and not out and about. But it was 7:00 pm and I thought I’d like some food.

I walked the streets. I had read someplace that Vilnius is Europe’s best kept secret. Everyone knows that Prague is drop dead gorgeous, but who would have thought that Vilnius would be so nice? Especially when one guidebook practically compared Vilnius to Warsaw’s main train station. Youch.

I splurged and bought a handmade diary. The outside is hand stitched in a rich leather. The woman explained that it was locally made and hand crafted. It was made from environmentally friendly “vegetal” sources. She was kind and I was glad to give her the $20. The book is very individualistic, like Vilnius.

The thing that I like so much about the city is the abundance of small cafés, bars and restaurants, many of which are tastefully, somewhat flamboyantly decorated. A lot of thought went into renovating these places and they are very wild and fun. These joints are classy, rich in style; definitely not cookie cutter European chain restaurant.

Vilnius sparkles. High end shops. At every corner a pretty church. Christmas lights everywhere. There are tiny, winding streets with a new surprise at every corner.

SCENES FROM A LITHUANIAN RESTAURANT

I settled on a touristy restaurant which had an interesting menu. Thank you Mrs. Restaurant owner for translating your menu. I hug you.

First came my herring. Oh dear, it was succulent and I contemplated asking for 3 more plates full. Seriously.

Next course: mushroom stew with beef and carrots with a side of fried potatoes. Deliciouso.

Per my request, she brought a local schnapps. I sipped it as I people watched and took pictures of scene from a Lithuanian restaurant.

A man and woman sat in front of me. They seriously needed a room. PDA to the extreme. So I took a picture of them with my flash. They got the idea and left after just 20 minutes of exchanging saliva.

Verdict: this meal was the best I had had in Europe, besides Maritas/Oma’s cooking, of course.

Later, the waitress picked up my tab, in cash. The bill was like 39 Litas, so I left 50 Litas. A generous tip. Tip included, it was $17 USD. I told her, in English, “It was delicious. Thank you.” She smiled. I don’t think people compliment often.

The group of young people beside me in the restaurant spoke Russian. I knew this as I understood “spasiba” and “pivo” as being Slavic-like—and not the normal gibberish that Lithuanians speak. Understand that a good portion of the Baltic people are bi-lingual. While nothing is written in Russian in public, it’s ok to speak it and it is more comfortable for some people to do so. Well, the Soviets insisted on it for like 50 years.

From this group, one Russian speaking “lady” (term used very loosely) was a bit obnoxious. I knew she was talking about me as I caught her glance and she laughed harder, said something to her uppity group who in turn, laughed.

My whole thing is, if you’re going to laugh about me, at least make it be something that is really funny. Give me a chance. Perhaps a good profane joke or a story of some misadventure or embarrassing situation. Come on, “lady.”

Swallowing the last of my schnapps, I ventured off back into the wet streets, which were empty and still at 8:00 pm.

I retired to my quiet room and listened to music. I turned up the heat and blogged and relaxed. This felt very, very good to rest.
- posted by Matt @ 4:48 AM