Trip to the Baltics & Poland - Part 1&2: Vilnius and Riga

Part 1: Vilnius

My trip to the Baltics and Poland started on 27 May. On that day I would fly to Vilnius, where I would stay with Andrius, who I met via CouchSurfing. On the bus from the airport I already met the first new people. First I was talking with a middle-aged woman who was travelling alone with her (obviously single) 35-year old son. Then the guy sitting next to me overheard us speaking Dutch and started talking to me about the political situation in the Netherlands. However, I will mostly remember this guy for the quote he told me before I had to transfer the bus. He literally said to me: "You know, girls are actually just like buses. You get on them, you ride them for a while and then you get off again to transfer to another." And the worst thing is that he was actually not even joking. Luckily this guy was not my first impression of Lithuanian people.

So after riding the second bus for a while I arrived at the bus stop where I would meet Andrius. He welcomed me to his home with a smile and made me feel like at home immediately. After having dropped off my backpack we went out for dinner in a traditional Lithuanian restaurant. I really enjoyed the food there, much better than what I'm used to in Czech Republic. :)

On Saturday we walked around in Vilnius (and the unofficial republic Uzupis) for a while, before going to a CouchSurfing-meeting in a park on the riverside. I met some very nice people there and when the evening arrived most of us went to a bar to watch the Champions League final. It was kinda funny, because some people had never really watched a soccer game before, as basketball is the national sport (or as some people say: religion) in Lithuania. All of us enjoyed the good game though.

At the end of the evening, Andrius and I shared a taxi with Paul: a 50 years old American who is currently travelling through the Baltics using Couchsurfing and Interpals; the same websites as I used to get in touch with the people I will meet on my trip. His host was living in a brand new house just outside of Vilnius. In that area, the roads were not paved yet. It was a real experience to be in a taxi on a dirtroad in the middle of nowhere at around 1:30 am. Once again an experience that a typical tourist would never get during a trip to a European capital!

The next morning I experienced why Lithuania is called Lietuva (literally: "rain country") in Lithuanian. It was raining as if the clouds had just burst open and it looked like the rain would not end soon. Therefore we played pool in a nearby shopping center in the morning and went to Trakai, a national park in Lithuania, in the afternoon. When we arrived there the rain had miraculously stopped. Near the castle of Trakai we met Paul again, who was visiting the place together with the two teenage sons of his host. Together we enjoyed the traditional food Kibininė in a restaurant with a great view over the lake. Even though the castle itself was a bit disappointing to me, I can really recommend people to go to Trakai, because it is a very quiet, relaxing place.


Part 2: Riga

On Monday I had to leave Andrius, who had actually become like a real friend during the 3 days that I spent with him, again and made my way to Riga. In this city I would also be Couchsurfing. My host would be Lelde, a very experienced CS-er. She had to work until 6, so I had to enjoy myself in Riga for a few hours, but that was no problem, as I got a map with all the highlights of the city at the bus station. In the evening I was kinda tired (had to get up at 6:30 in the morning), so I just stayed in and had a nice conversation with Lelde while enjoying a good glass of wine.

The next day I would finally meet my first penpal: Kristine. We would meet only in the afternoon, so I had all morning for myself, but that was still not a problem, as I could just visit all highlights that I hadn't seen the day before and because the weather was just perfect I could spend the rest of my free time in beautiful Kronvalda park. In the afternoon I met Kristine and her friend Lolita. Together we went to the roof of a shopping center to get a view on the skyline of Riga. After that we had some drinks in a bar and we went for a walk in the old city, but it was just too hot for that, so we ended up sitting in a park most of the time, which is not really a punishment when the weather is like that, I can tell you.

After just one day in Riga I left Latvia again for Kaunas, where I am now. I will already share with you that I'm having the time of my life here, but you will read more about that later.

I will post my photos online as soon as I get back to Prague.