All my recommendations are based on my personal taste, the side I woke up that morning, the people I was with, and the amount of birds in the sky at that moment. You won’t have any of these when you travel in the same places. So you can be inspired by the things I did, but when you are there, follow your heart, and not necessarily my recommendations. The goal is to show you how things go on a solo trip, and not to recommend a specific route. By the way, in the first preparation post you can read why I decided to travel Lithuania in the first place. In the second preparation post you can read about everything there is to do in Vilnius, including places I haven’t been.

Historical treasure chests

I love history, but I don’t always like being filled with historical details about places I haven’t been to yet. So I decided to separate. I will give the relevant historical background in separate “historical treasure chests” inside the post for those who are interested in the history. Whoever doesn’t, just skip the chests, and read only about my experiences.

Guided tours

I have something against them. Whenever I see a bunch of tourists dragging their feet after a guide with a Madonna microphone from site to site, my heart cries. I know, I know. There are fascinating guides, and excellent tours, and I have participated in these as well. The disadvantage of not going on guided tours is to miss a lot of information and a lot of tourist sites that I might not discover on my own.

The benefit, for me, is in the joy of self-discovery. Like if you eat a particular dish in a restaurant, you will enjoy it, but what if you make the same dish right at home, and it tastes exactly the same? You will enjoy it much more, just because you made it yourself. So this is how I tend to travel. I discover the city by myself, usually by foot. Unfortunately, the only tour I tried to register for (electric scooter tour) didn’t happen due to a lack of registrants.

OK! Enough clarifications! lets start, cuz i have a lot to share.

Thursday - A message from home - September 12th 2019

My flight is at 12:45 pm. Arriving at Ben Gurion Airport. Staring at the departing flights schedule, all worked up, and my flight is not on board. Oh fuck. Am i so off that I have mistaken my flight date? Rushing to the information post, my heart beat is off charts. “You are now in Terminal 1, your flight leaves Terminal 3”. What idiot doesn’t check what terminal his flight takes off? I catch my breath, and hop on the bus to Terminal 3.

On the way, I decide that I want to fly a hot air balloon on Friday evening, so i book a flight through the Smile Baloons website. I bought the Vilnius Pass in advance, so I get a 20 € discount, and it will cost me only 80 €. 5 minutes go by and I get an email from a guy named Albertas. He writes that tomorrow it’s gonna be windy, so there won’t be any flights. He doesn’t know when. I ask him to keep me posted via whatsapp.

Arriving at Terminal 3, I take advantage of the time I’m waiting for the flight to learn a new app that has just come out called Instagram. Welcome to the world, dad! Follow me, i post there during my travels. The flight leaves on time. Towards the end, I open the book I took with me (“In the garden of beasts” which tells a true story about life in Germany six months after Hitler took power), and i find a message from home hidden between the pages. My eldest daughter made me a bookmark on which she wished me to enjoy my journey. It really warms my heart.

Landing at 17 pm in Vilnius, as planned. Within 10 minutes I’m outside the airport, taking a bus (line 88) to the hostel (1 €). In Vilnius, there is wifi in all buses, so I used Google Maps to figure out where I was supposed to get off.

I get off at the station on Gediminas Avenue, and immediately see in front of me a huge and impressive monument in the form of a statue of a man. Below it, it reads Vincas Kudirka. Who’s he, and what did he do to deserve this honor, I wonder.

Vincas Kudirka - Historical Treasure chest

It turns out that Vincas Kudirka is a national hero in Lithuania.

Is he a bold fighter who fell in battle? Maybe a Prime Minister? or a nobel prize winner?

No. He is a poet and physician. This is the guy who wrote the Lithuanian anthem, Francis Scott Key style.

Vincas started studying philosophy in Warsaw in 1881, but soon regretted it and moved to study medicine. One evening, at dusk, the young student Vincas was arrested on charges of subversion and expelled from the university. What was his crime? Karl Marx’s “Capital” was found in his possession. Very dangerous in poland back then, which was controlled by the Russian czar. However, he did not give up, and later he re-enrolled and completed his studies.

He begins writing poems in 1888 and at the same time connects to the Lithuanian national movement. He even establishes a secret group with the original name “Lithuania”. The group released a nationally insidious pamphlet called “The Bell,” in which they released the poem that would later became the Lithuanian anthem. Vincas contributed greatly to Lithuanian culture, and also wrote satire. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 40, and in 2009 was honored with the statue I saw before my eyes on my first day in Vilnius, right in front of the Novotel Hotel on Gediminas Boulevard.

“Lithuania’s love

Burn in our hearts,

And for the benefit of Lithuania

Let Oneness flourish! “

– From the Lithuanian anthem

The eternal question of every solo traveler

Starting to walk down the avenue towards my hostel, and on the way I buy a Sim for € 3 for 8 gigas. Tip: I also printed out the preparation post I did, which has lots of relevant information, such as which stores to look for to buy a Sim. In my case, I bought it at a TELIA store on the boulevard.

I continue on my way down the avenue, and a few minutes later I discover one of the most famous buildings in Vilnius – Vilnius Cathedral, and next to it, the bell tower. These two unfold in front of me in all their glory, and glory they have. I stand there for a few minutes, impressed, snapped, excited. 5 minutes later I arrive at Hostel Pogo, which I booked in advance for one night. The hostel is in a great location. just behind the cathedral square, and very close to the bustling Pilies pedestrian zone. It costs me 15 € a night in a 6-bed dorm room.

I enter the hostel, get a key, a towel and some instructions from the guy at the front desk. I wonder about the chubby guy lying on the couch in front of the TV, acting like he lives here. I walk past him and up to my cute dorm. Nice room, a park view, and I got a bed downstairs, which is a bonus in itself.

I start to wonder about the existential question that will accompany me throughout the trip – what should I do now, if at all? The eternal question of every solo traveler.

My stomach is talking, so I’m looking for where the vegan restaurant I read about is. A minute’s walk from the hostel! I go into the Rosehip Bistro restaurant, and order the cold beet soup, and the jack fruit burger. The soup is nice. I didn’t liked the idea that it was cold, but the burger is simply excellent.

During the meal, I decide to check out the CouchSurfing app.

A golden advice - How to meet new people while traveling solo

For those who are unfamiliar with the CouchSurfing app (and website), it mediates between people who want to host people on their couch for free, and people who want to stay on the couches of locals around the world. Nowadays it’s not very easy to find a host if you’re new to the app, because most hosts want their guest to have good reviews from other hosts. In other words, reputation. And for a reputation, you also have to host yourself, pay for the app’s so-called “authentication,” and find hosts who will accept newbies.

Anyway, I didn’t mean to stay on the couches of locals on this trip, but this app has two more options. One is called Hangouts – say you are in a foreign city, you want to spend time with another local / traveler in the city. You signal that you are free to spend time and what exactly you feel like doing at that moment. have dinner, sit down for a beer, take a walk, go somewhere, etc., and now everyone can contact you and suggest you spend time together. Everyone tells a little about themselves in the app, uploads at least two photos of themselves, and you can read reviews of each, if any. I tried to use this option a bit, but the truth was that it didn’t really work this time. I was never answered.

The other option is to open an event. Anyone in town can announce an event and invite people to it. Like Facebook, only for travelers.

I opened the app and saw that an American guy named Rudy Israel Gutierrez, now traveling in Vilnius, opened a “Travelers in Vilnius” event with a link to a Whatsapp group he opened. The group can be joined by anyone who is currently traveling in Vilnius. So I joined the group, and wrote:

New people and drunk conversations

After about 15 minutes I find myself at the Pablo Pub, meeting Rudy Israel who opened the group, a Mexican-American from Texas, Pepe from Spain and Heather from Vilnius. The pub itself is completely empty. Maybe because of the early hour, and maybe just because it’s bad. So we grab a table and start to get to know each other. The music isn’t loud so you can actually have a conversation.

Heather is a systems analyst, and knew Rudy Israel on another trip. Rudy Israel Gutierrez, 37, worked at a learning center in Texas for 11 years and has been dreaming about a big trip (before getting married and having children) for years. So he finally does it. In Texas, by the way, everyone calls him Israel. He has been traveling for several months, not knowing when he will head back home. As for Pepe – he turns out to be a social worker, like me! But not exactly anymore. After being accepted into a government job that offered temporary work in Moscow, he learned Russian. From there he became a tile seller in the Eastern European region. He lives in Spain, and for two weeks each month, he travels Eastern Europe, selling tiles and hanging around. He hopes to go back to social work someday. tomorrow he returns to Spain.

At some point Heather retires to sleep, and I continue with Israel and Pepe to the “Plus Plus Plus” pub, which is on Gedinimo Boulevard. The pub attracts mainly locals, and the beer is much cheaper (1.80 € compared to 3 € in most places), but the music is terrible (in my opinion) and too loud. So one beer and get out of there to Bix Baras Pub.

Bix Baras

The Bix Baras is an alternative pub I’ve read about beforehand. We take Uber because it’s a bit far (20 minutes walk), and arrive at a crowded and cool metal pub. We order beer and go upstairs to play Pool. Another beer, and then one more, and at this point I’m pretty drunk. It seems they are too, and i’m having a really good time. We play a few games, and then go on to a fusball game downstairs. Pepe retires to sleep at some point, and me and Israel decide to look for a club that also sells food, because he is hungry.

Israel leads us to the Salento Club which is 2 minutes away, but somehow I walk in, and Israel goes upstairs to eat. I text him, and texts me back that they don’t sell food there and that he goes looking for another place. I update him that i’m having fun, and that I’m gonna stay. The magic of solo travel and the lack of commitment to your partners.

The club mainly houses young people, nice dance music. I dance a little, but I get exhausted pretty quickly and go back to the Bix Baras. There I sit outside and get into a conversation with Alexander, a computer science student, studying in the city. We talk a little bit about music and life in Israel. In the background, the bar starts to close, and at 3 am we decide to call it a night. He accompanies me on foot to the hostel while having a drunken conversation that I don’t remember what it was about anymore.

At 3:30 AM, I’m in the hostel after a night of new beers, bars, and great people. I go to sleep with a big smile on my face.

In the photos: Vilnius at night, Alexander the rocker and I, Israel and I, and some pictures from the Bix Baras.

Friday - The dawn of a new hangover

I wake up and immediately sense a light hangover floating in my head. I welcome it lovingly. Nothing that a good breakfast couldn’t fix. Then I say good morning to a girl who wakes her up in another bed in the room. At some point, the chubby guy from yesterday also got in, and went straight to bed. What’s his story?

I decide to go and pick up the Vilnius pass I bought online in advance (see explanation in the trip preparation post), and have a light breakfast at Cat Cafe. I’m not a huge fan of cats, but Adi, my wife, is, so the main goal is to go there in her name and tell her about it 🙂 But it is 9 o’clock and it only opens at 10. So I head to the artist district, Uzupis, hoping to find something to eat on the way. In the mean While I call the hostel and announce that I want to stay there for another 3 nights. They inform me that there is no problem, only that tomorrow I will have to move to another room because a group comes to the room where I stay.

I start walking, and the first interesting building I notice is an impressive gothic, red-painted church – St. Anne’s Church, and right next to it I see another monument of a mysterious figure. Apparently, it is a statue in the image of Adam Mickiewicz. But of course! From there I walk towards the Uzopis district, and on the way I notice Tibetan flags and a pagoda. What Tibet had to do with Vilnius?

Adam, Anne & Tibet - Historical Treasure chest

Adam Mickiewicz

“The nectar of life is sweet only when shared with others” wrote Adam Mickiewicz, and certainly intended that i should start this blog. Mickiewicz is considered a national poet, in not one, but three countries. Lithuania, Poland, and Belarus – they all want him for themselves. He was that good. He actually recognized himself as a Lithuanian, and you can also find his sculptures in Warsaw, Krakow, Belarus and Ukraine. Born in 1798, he was active in the struggle for Lithuanian independence. He studied education at the University of Vilnius and in 1819 began teaching in junior high in Kaunas.

Two years earlier, when he was a student, he founded a secret organization, the Philomath, which focused on self-study and strived for Polish independence. This work eventually led him get exiled to central Russia. From there he wandered between different cities such as Paris and Rome. He probably died of cholera in Constantinople, but some believe his death was more interesting.

According to one study, he was poisoned by an immigrant and a Polish doctor, Dr. Druzdowski, since it was believed that Mickievich was at that time engaged in organizing a Jewish Legion to fight against the Russian Empire in the Crimean War. Something Druzdowski thought might be a grave disgrace to Poland. The statue I Looked at was put ther in 1987, and in 1996 6 bas-reliefs were placed around the monument, depicting scenes from his most famous work, Dziady.

St. Anne’s Church

Some say that after Napoleon envisioned her beauty, he expressed his wish to take the church home, to Paris, on the palm of his hand. About 32 years before I envisioned her beauty, the Lithuanian League of Freedom held a rally in the square next to the church, protesting the ongoing Soviet occupation. The protest was severely suppressed by the militia – the Soviet police. would you have had the courage to join such a demonstration if you bumped into it at that time?

As for the church itself, it is a Roman Catholic church built in the Gothic style on the banks of the River Vilnia in the late 15th century. But the truth is that in the exact same place another church, made of wood, was previously built for the Duchess of Lithuania, Anne, hence her name. This church was destroyed in a fire in 1419, and the church in front of me that morning was built by the King of Poland and the Duke of Lithuania in 1495. It has undergone several renovations over the years, but externally it has remained virtually unchanged since. 500 years. How many events did she witness in her day?

Tibet Square

What Tibet had to do with Vilnius? The truth is…nothing. Tibet Square was established in 2010 but received official signage just two years ago, in 2017. Although there is no Tibetan community in Vilnius, although Lithuania does not recognize the Chinese invasion of Tibet, but the square was established by the community of Tibetan Friends of Vilnius, signifying the acceptance of various languages, religions, and nationalities in Vilnius.

In the photos: St Anne’s Church in the background is the statue of Adam Mitzvich, and Tibet Square

כיכר טיבט, וילנה

st. ann vilnius

Uzupis Angel

As I stand at Tibet Square, I notice a slightly surreal sight – a giant zebra swing standing on the riverbank. I am contemplating whether to approach, but give up when I see other tourists getting on it and taking pictures. I go on and suddenly come across the Uzupis Angel statue on a pillar, and I realize that I have entered the Republic of Uzupis, also known as the Artists Quarter, or the Anarchist Quarter. The angel blows the trumpet, announcing the resurrection of artistic freedom in Lithuania, following the Soviet occupation.

Uzupis Republic - Historical Treasure chest

The district was formerly part of the Jewish ghetto during the Holocaust (most of its Jewish residents were killed during the war), and later a difficult slum. Over time, more and more artists began to move in, and two of them declared the area an independent republic in 1998. The republic has its flag (a handheld that changes its color each season), informal currency, president, cabinet minister, constitution, anthem, and army of 11 people. The army no longer exists, but the residents celebrate the independence of the Republic on “Uzupis Day” – April 1st.

Of course, the Republic is not officially recognized by anybody, but the area attracts quite a few tourists, so the authorities don’t really care. A few minutes later I continue without a definite direction and reach Paupio Street where I see a wall with 23 panels – the Constitution of Uzupis written in various languages. Here are some of my favorite sections:

Everyone has the right to live near the Vilnius River, and the Vilnius River has the right to live near everyone.

Everyone has the right to make mistakes.

Everyone has the right to be happy.

Everyone has the right to be unhappy.

Everyone is responsible for their freedom.

Everyone has the right to cry.

The motto: Do not defeat, do not fight back, do not surrender.

From there I continue to take a rest on the river bank, then wander further into the neighborhood. At first I don’t understand where is all the art in this artist district, but at some point I see a bridge with a white swing with hippie rainbow-colored paintings, hanging over the river. I set myself a goal for this trip – to get to it, rest on it, and take a good photo of me on it, but not now.

I cross the bridge and see an alley full of spectacular murals, strange sculptures, and suddenly I see the zebra I noticed earlier, this time without people. I gotta take photos of myself swinging on it and send it to the kids! I use the tripod I took with me (recommended for any solo traveler), and do it (see video below). After it, I wander among the pieces of art scattered on the banks of the river. At some point I get a message from Albertas from the hot air balloon. He announces that due to the wind conditions, this weekend’s flight will only take place tomorrow morning in Tarkai.

Uzupis street art (click to enlarge)

Riding the zebra

Siesta and the non-museum

At some point I get hungry, and I choose the vegetarian restaurant Vieta. I ate soup and a nice Indian dish, but unfortunately I wasn’t very enthusiastic about the food. After lunch I feel tired of all the walking, and decide to go back to take a nap in the hostel.

That, too, is one of the advantages of a solo trip – the freedom of napping whenever you need it. When I wake up, the hangover suddenly comes back. I realize I’ve barely been drinking all day, and I decide to go out on the street, buy some water and go eat a little something. The street is full of life all the time, a surreal march of Harry Krishna devotees pass me by, street artists show up and ask for a few pennies, and people walk back and forth. What a great atmosphere!

This time I eat at the vegafa vegetarian restaurant and order pumpkin gnocchi which was quite tasty. When I go out, I realize it’s raining! I walk down the street and get under a building on Gedimino Avenue. I use this breakto make a video call to Adi and the kids. It’s great talking to them.

The Non-Museum

Right next to me I realize there is a stage of live performances on Gedinimo Avenue. I recall that earlier Israel wrote in the group that he was there, inviting anyone who wants to join him. I don’t see him, and decide to go to the “non-museum”, which is actually a virtual reality experience about Lithuania’s history. Everything is about 10 minutes to 20 minutes walk, so I walk there, and I don’t let the weak rainfall stop me.

I arrive at the museum. The visit starts in a small hall in which you watch a likable and slightly over-dramatic animated film about the history of Lithuania over the centuries. Then you go to a room with a screen-made floor, and a mirror-mounted ceiling, so you can make a nice photo with the mirror (see below). Around 6 positions of virtual reality glasses, each on a different subject – nature, culture, sports, etc. I try every one of them, and the experience is really cool. For a moment I feel like this is enough for me, as if this experience is so realistic that I have already traveled in Lithuania, and I can actually catch a flight back home. But only for a moment.

Blind date

Going out of the museum to the avenue, checking on the whatsapp group if anyone wants to join me for dinner. At first, no one answers, so I grab a falafel at the Zaatar restaurant. Not bad for Lithuanian falafel. While waiting for the falafel, a guy named Terance from Singapore writes that he would love to join me for dinner. So all of a sudden I have a blind date with a guy from Singapore.

I arrive at the restaurant, and he is already waiting. He tells me he worked as a Realestate agent in Singapore and didn’t like his life, so he decided to go on a big trip. He was already in China, Mongolia, Indonesia, and he plans to continue to Iceland, and even to South America. He really wants to go to a carnival in Brazil.

I’m interested in the regime in Singapore. He tells me it’s a democracy, but without protests. No one dares. A combination of obedient character and strict anti-protest laws. Once he was in Amsterdam, he smoked a joint and uploaded it to Facebook. A friend of his warned him and told him he should delete the photo. There have been cases that the authorties have done drug tests at Singapore airport to Singaporeans who uploaded such pictures. Since marijuana stays in the blood for about a month, they were sent to jail for that. Interesting conversation.

In the background, there are correspondences in the group about a Couchsurfing meeting of travelers and locals taking place right now in one of the bars. Terance wants to go back to his hostel, so we part (but we will meet again). I pass on the meeting when i realize that there are about 30 people there. Too crowded for me.

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?How did I become a rockstar in Vilnius

It’s 9 pm already, and I see that on Gedimino Boulevard there are still live shows, so I decide to sit in the audience and watch. The show right now is a kind of a silent comic theater. From time to time they put people from the audience up in the stage for all kinds of funny skits, and at some point they bring up people who function as a band.

A boy goes on stage and acts as if he is drumming, one girl goes on stage and acts as if she is playing the harmonica, and another boy playing air guitar. Then one of the actors comes down to the audience, and takes me by the hand to the stage.

Cool! On stage he gives me a kind of microphone – apperantly I’m the band’s vocalist! They put on the song “Crazy” by Aerosmith and I’m supposed to lip sync the song with the band. At first I was a little hesitant. NOT! Are you kidding me?! It’s a fucking dream come true, and I’m going at it with all my might! Not every day do I have the opportunity to be a rockstar in front of dozens of people in central Vilnius, and with such a timeless song that I grew up on. How surreal! And I had so much fun doing it!

Look at the videos below! I asked a women who was sitting in the front row and filming it to send them to me. What a great evening. After the show I decide to go to the hostel to sleep. Anyway, tomorrow I get up at 5 am for an experience I will never forget – a hot air balloon flight!

For Part 2, click here.

Other Bloggers tell about Vilnius

Fun things to do in Vilnius by Tal bright from the blog Bright Nomad

Vilnius Solo Travel

Vilnius by Walking - Part 1

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