Vilnius – from minus to plus 25 degrees centigrade. Be prepared for a Siberian Feeling or go in summer…
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| Destination | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| How and when I got there | February 2018: Lufthansa, return flight Duesseldorf via Frankfurt to Vilnius April 2018: Lufthansa, return flight Duesseldorf via Frankfurt to Vilnius June 2018: Ryanair; one way flight from Cologne/Bonn, 48,95 Euro (no checked bags or meals); Air Baltic/Lufthansa; one way flight from Vilnius via Munich to Cologne/Bonn |
| Where I stayed | February 2018: Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva (https://www.radissonblu.com/en/lietuvahotel-vilnius)
April: Novotel Vilnius Centre (https://www.accorhotels.com/de/hotel-5209-novotel-vilnius-centre/index.shtml ) June 2018: Hotel Tilto (http://www.hoteltilto.com/ ) |
| Restaurants | Riverside Restaurant, Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva (https://www.radissonblu.com/en/lietuvahotel-vilnius/restaurants) Restaurant Sventaragio Sodas (https://sventaragio-sodas.business.site/#gallery) Restaurant Pilialaukis, near Trakai (https://www.tripadvisor.de/Restaurant_Review-g277802-d8612466-Reviews-Pilialaukis-Trakai_Vilnius_County.html) |
| Things to do | See the Old Town of Vilnius, including the “Independent Republic of Uzupis” Vilnius Shopping Specialties: Amber Explore the surroundings of Vilnius, e.g. Trakai |
| Recommendations in a nutshell | Better go at plus 25 degrees! Vilnius is not really a Metropolis – an extended weekend might be enough to get a first Impression. |
| Recipe | Kepta Duona – fried dark Bread (see recipe at the bottom of the post) |
This year, I went to Vilnius three times and under very different circumstances in terms of temperature:
Vilnius at minus 25 degrees, February 2018
My first journey to Lithuania, and it was freezing cold! Officially minus 25 degrees, but with the strong wind it really felt like minus 50. Fortunately, I had checked the temperatures before and was prepared. At least I thought so.The hotel and the meeting place were approx. 1,5 km apart, and as I had an extra hour, I decided to make a small detour to the city center.
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Bad idea! I barely managed to get to the main shopping street, the Gedimino Prospekt (that was pretty empty, see the Picture)…
…and went straight into the first open shop, just to defrost. There I spent the next 30 minutes and then went as fast as possible to the place where my meeting took place. Took one picture of the St. Apostles Philip and Jacob Church on my way…
…and almost froze to death again. For the way back to the hotel we took a taxi…And the dinner was fortunately in the Sventaragio Sodas Restaurant, so we didn’t have to leave the hotel again on that day. Sventaragio Sodas Restaurant is the rooftop Restaurant of the Radisson Blu, offering a very nice view over the entire Vilnius region.
Vilnius at plus 10 degrees, April 2018
My second journey to Lithuania took place in April, and is was a lot more comfortable in terms of temperature. Overall, I didn’t see much of the city due to permanent drizzling rain. But I managed to get a glimpse at the Old Town (a UNESCO World Heritage Site!), which is really worth seeing. Many cute little houses, shops and restaurants. And a quite strange place, a state within the state of Lithuania: Uzupis. This means “the other side of the river”. It is a neighborhood in Vilnius and located in Vilnius’ old town. The district has been a popular urban, kind of bohemian “Montmartre” quarter for artists for some time. In 1997, the district declared itself an independent republic (“The Republic of Uzupis”) – therefore the street sign.
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Vilnius at plus 25 degrees, June 2018
My third journey to Lithuania took place at the end of June. And I’d say: this is a perfect time to go there. Cosy 25 degrees centrigrade, blue sky. Our Lithuanian hosts organized a trip into the countryside. We went to the lovely town of Trakai and visited “Pilis sala”, the spectacular Trakai Island Castle:
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On the way back to Vilnius we stopped at the Restaurant Pilialaukis for a dinner, which can truly be called “unequaled”. Just look at the table:
…and that was just the starter!
My favorite Recipe from Lithuania: Kepta Duona – fried dark BreadIngredients:
Cut the bread into inch wide strips. Heat oil in a coated pan, put the pieces of bread in the pan and fry it on both sides until crispy, add butter when almost done. Rub garlic slices onto the bread and salt it. Serve with freshly prepared mayonnaise to dip the bread in. |
Greetings from Vilnius!
*According to a German Court decision, all texts containing links to commercial pages (e.g. links to Tripadvisor, Airline, hotel or restaurant websites) have to be identified as “commercial” (in German “Anzeige”). As my texts do contain links like that, I therefore identify each post and page containing a link as “Anzeige”. However (and referring to the “About Me” page) I would like to point out that I do NOT post any sponsored content in my texts; I pay for all my trips myself.
