Highs and Lows and Highs

I actually had to think hard about what I did my last day in Riga- all these Baltic old towns look and are pretty similar. I got up early to ensure that I had the whole day to explore, but when I got to old town I realized everything was closed until 10 and it was really really cold. So I bought some coffee and sat in a cafe for a while, until it was warm enough to wander around. Riga had a really pretty old town, with lots of cafes and restaurants around, and a few gorgeous churches. The town square too is full of incredible buildings, so once it warmed up a bit the wandering was excellent. I even got to listen in on an oratorio concert in one of the cathedrals, so that was fun. For my Riga lunch, I was looking for something fun but not too touristy or expensive. Another guest at the hostel had suggested a place called Lido a few days earlier, so when I happened upon it, I decided to check it out. It was all cafeteria style, and the inside was completely decorated like you might imagine a medieval pub (think Harry Potter's "Three Broomsticks"). All the servers were dressed up too... It was a little silly, but fun, and very in keeping with Old Town. Now I have heard about mushrooms in the Baltics, and mushrooms have in the last years or so become, hands down, one of my favorite foods, but I hadn't had the opportunity to sample them here yet, so I was thrilled to find some mushroom salad (essentially a delicious plate of different kinds of mushrooms, a spot of lettuce, and one or two cherry tomatoes) and chicken drenched in mushroom sauce. All was delicious, and the atmosphere of the place was very cool. Highly recommended. After lunch I thought I'd see if I could spend my last few Lats on a boat ride down the river. I could. It was a fun way to see all of the city, but the boat was weirdly empty... I think I was one of 5 people on the ferry. Also once we turned around and I was no longer sitting in the sun, it was extremely cold and I couldn't wait to get off. Oh well. After the boat ride, I decided to head out of Old Town and the city center and see some of the "real Riga" away from the wealthy and the tourists. I'm glad I went over there but... Yikes. I walked for about an hour around the Russian area (Russians in all the Baltics are treated pretty poorly, so it's hard for them to find good jobs) and didn't really feel unsafe, but wouldn't have wanted to linger there after dark. There were a few pretty orthodox churches and also this building:

... which has been called "Stalin's Birthday Cake". After getting out of Little Moscow, I returned to the hostel for dinner. I saw advertised on the wall a festival that was going on that night in a park just a block or so away, so I thought I'd check it out. I figured it would be a concert or something. When I got there, a juggling act was finishing, and after that, some people dressed all in white did some kind of... I don't know like marching band but in place, with coordinated dancing... It was bizarre, but cool. I guess it was part of the European White Night festival, designed to keep people in St. Petersburg awake all night when it's light all night, but actually Latvia, you do not have white nights, especially in September, and really it is dark and cold. I did enjoy myself, but I left after the second performance because I couldn't feel my fingers.

The next day, I headed to Kaunas, a small town in Lithuania. The bus ride was 6 hours, and I didn't arrive until 5, so I did laundry (they charged me 12 dollars for one load! But I really needed clean clothes so...) and then wandered around the city. I saw a pretty sunset from a hill by the river, and some war memorials.

Back at the hostel, it was weird. After Riga, a big city where lots of people were staying at the hostel, Kaunas was small and there were only 2 other people there, who were both there long term and didn't have much interest in seeing the city. The next day, I went into Old Town, which, unlike most old cities which are circular, was a straight line down one street. Highly convenient for tourists, but not too too interesting. The castle sits right where two rivers come together, but it wasn't nearly as pretty as I'd expected: the water was pretty smelly. Also, the castle was... Eh. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with Kaunas. I'm glad I got to see more of Lithuania than just the capital, but, like Tartu, there just wasn't a whole lot going on, and I was glad to leave for Vilnius the next day.

Vilnius, on the other hand, I loved. I arrived early in the morning from Kaunas, and immediately went out to explore the Old Town. It was so pretty, and green, and charming. After getting lost (on purpose because I had nowhere to go) there for a while, I made my way back to Town Square to meet a free walking tour. They have them in just about every city, but I've been avoiding them, for some reason. I loved the tour though, and a lot of people did it so I had some people to walk around with, which was nice. That evening, the owner of the hostel (a wonderful woman who runs more of a bed and breakfast than a hostel- she lives there and she loves meeting and hanging out with guests) asked if we wanted to get a beer, so she and a a couple other people and I all went out to a bar, drank Lithuanian beer and ate Lithuanian beer snacks (like toasted bread dipped in garlic butter) and had a great time. We went back to the hostel a little later for a Lithuanian wine tasting, which was... Interesting. No grapes grow here so the wine is made with black currants, raspberries, chokeberries (I'm still not really sure what those are) etc.

The next day, I went to Trakai, a town about a half hour from Vilnius where there are a lot of lakes and a castle on an island. The weather was pretty gloomy, but it never rained, so no complaints. The lack of sun kept the crowds down too: It's a lakeside getaway for foreigners and Lithuanians alike.

I spent a whole just walking along the lake, then went through the town where there were all these cute and colorful wooden houses and shops.

When I came to the bridge to the castle, I decided to have lunch first. I had a kibinai, the pastry famous in Trakai, filled with (usually) meat or (in my case) veggies. It was very good, and nice and hot on such a dreary day. The castle was great too; really well restored and with lots of exhibits on the history of the castle and the town, and also on its restoration, and one small room dedicated to the smoking habits of Native Americans. You know, typical Lithuanian castle stuff. When I got home, the host invited us to go to a Lithuanian restaurant for dinner, which was excellent- mushroom risotto! I also ate next to a car who had wandered in and jumped onto the sofa, so that was nice.

Yesterday was my last day in Lithuania, before getting on a bus around 10:30 pm to head to Warsaw. I wanted to see anything and everything I hadn't, so around 9 am I set off to climb a tower from where there are supposed to be amazing views. You could see all the roofs of the city. It was a little misty, but that actually just made it prettier.

I love how much forest there is, not too far from the center. I bet it's unbelievable in the fall, once the leaves really start changing. After admiring that for a while, I hiked a bit to the Hill of Three Crosses, a hill, at the top of which there are (you guessed it) three crosses. Then I strolled by the river for a bit, and ended up in Uzupis. In Vilnius there is a district called Uzupis. It is full of artists and hipsters, who have declared their independence from Lithuania. No one has recognized Uzupis' independence, but Vilnius kind of plays along. It's very strange. They have posted their constitution on the wall in a number of languages:

Other rights include a dog's right to be a dog and the occasional right of every person to be unaware of his duties. Uzupis also has a flag, a president, a grand duke, and an army of 13 people. Leaving Uzupis, I went up the river to a few famous bridges (mostly famous for burning down on more than one occasion). I had debated visiting the KGB museum, but had almost decided against it: heading to Auschwitz in just a couple days I wanted to keep things cheerful, but everyone has told me it was incredible, so in the end, I went. The museum is located in an old KGB building, right in the middle of the city. There are two parts: the first was a lot like the Museum of Occupation in Riga, with a lot of information on the history of Soviet then Nazi then Soviet rule. The second part was in the prison downstairs. Visitors can look into cells, including regular cells, solitary confinement cells, solitary confinement in water cells (where prisoners were forced to stand ankle deep in ice cold water) and a torture room, with a straightjacket hanging on the wall. It was all horrible to see, but when we went into the killing chamber, where prisoners were brought in one after another, restrained, shot, and dragged out another door, I had to leave. I cheered myself up with a walk in the park and some Lithuanian potato pancakes, but I was pretty shaken for a while. I got back to the hostel in time to chat with the other guests for a while, and then headed to the station for a loooong bus ride, arriving in Warsaw close to 6 this morning. I wish I had had one more day in Vilnius - it was by far my favorite Baltic city - but I am excited to explore Warsaw (once I've had some breakfast and coffee)!