Tuesday 21st January 2020 Although we had a flight to catch we wanted to pay a visit to see some of the places which had been closed the day before. We therefore walked to Halės Turgus, the oldest market in Vilnius. The exterior of the building is picturesque but the stalls were not as universally interesting as some of the markets we have visited recently. It seemed to be in the process of redevelopment as a tourist attraction, with interesting displays of local foodstuffs rubbing shoulders with people who looked as though they were selling homemade jams, woollens and second hand goods off makeshift tables. Curiously, although both Lithuania and Latvia have flourishing wool and knitting stores, we did not see any sheep in the fields during our train and coach journeys. Perhaps they are kept indoors at this time of year as the weather is expected to be much colder. From here we went to the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania which offers visitors several different colour-coded tour routes: History, Archaeology, Architecture; Reconstructed Historical Interiors; Weaponry, Everyday Life and Music as well as an exhibition centre. The Palace was originally built within the lower castle of Vilnius during the 15th […]
Lithuania
Sunday 19th and Monday 20th January 2020 There is currently no direct train service between Riga and Vilnius and to travel to the Lithuanian capital by train involves leaving at 07:40 and going via Daugavpils with a four and a half hour wait for the connection on to Vilnius. We would therefore expect to spend about ten hours travelling and arrive at 18:24. In a rare departure from our usual preference for train travel, Matilda persuaded Robert that the executive coach service would be a better option as it would take us direct to Vilnius in less time than we would otherwise have been waiting for our connection. She felt entirely vindicated as, after a lie in, a trip to the hotel gym and a leisurely breakfast, she settled in to the spacious, comfortable, reclining seat which was to be hers for a mere four hours. On arrival, Robert obviously felt the need to sample the local ale in a new country and we went to Variokas. The bar is located in the cellars and has a steampunk theme as well as a good selection of local craft beers and some weird bits of tat as ornamentation [see the Video […]