We received a notice that if we did not use the points on one of my hotel accounts soon we would lose them so we are in Vilnius in a nice comfortable hotel. The other reason we are here is the weather continues to be poor. Today it rained most of the day, and the low overnight is supposed to be around 30. So we left François at the campground with the heat set at the lowest setting in case it freezes and headed into Vilnius.
After a short ride on an old train from the day when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union we arrived at our modern hotel. It was before noon so we dropped our bags at the hotel and headed into town for a late breakfast/early lunch. The rain was coming down steadily and the temperatures are in the 50’s so the few people on the streets were just as bundled up and miserable looking as us. When we turned the corner we saw what looked like the town market hall so we headed into there to see if we could find some food.
Ton happily explored the market looking at all of the vegetable stalls, and admiring the various pickled vegetables on offer as this is a specialty in Lithuania. We found an interesting restaurant that offered traditional Lithuanian food and Thai food together. We asked the owner about this unusual combination and she replied that Thai food is easy and I like it. We opted for her traditional Lithuanian food and we enjoyed it.
Our next stop was the Uzupio Republic. It is a section of town across the river from the old town that as a joke on one April fools day declared itself an independent republic from the rest of Lithuania complete with a constitution, and currency that can only be used on April 1st to buy beer. The constitution includes a clause that says “Cats don’t have to like their owners, but they do have to be useful.”
Ton likes quirky stories like this so we spent about an hour in the Republic including a stop for a coffee and a shared piece of cake that looked like a strawberry tort, but was something else completely.
We headed back to claim our room and take a break from the rain. After a couple of hours we headed out for a beer and a dinner. The rain had stopped and the sun came out. Without the rain the walk was fun, and more people were out and about and didn’t look miserable. We found a nice brewery that was packed with locals, we split a dinner which was plenty for the both of us. By now the sky was blue and we took an evening stroll, stopping for one more beer in the Glass Quarter before returning to the hotel at the very late hour (for us) of 9pm.
