LITHUANIA!!!

Completing the trio of 'Baltic' nations, Lithuania was to be our last proper stop prior to making our way 'back west' to Germany. Having been a little rattled post-Latvia, we were unsure what to expect of Vilnius, our little slice of Lithuania. What I did know was its reputation for being a bolder, brasher and cheekier take on the Baltic, and the proliferation of Amber, which is used in jewellery and souvenirs.

As immediately as the roads deteriorated upon entry to Latvia, they were back to their old selves upon crossing the border which, due a Nav Man 'incident', proved difficult to locate. When we finally had located it, we steered the Blue Bolt on its way for the remaining hour of driving to Vilnius.

But before arriving in Vilnius, we had a side trip planned for the 'Hill of Crosses', an area which boldly typifies the emotion and personality of Lithuania as an entirety. This area (now a monument) is essentially a hill where crosses were placed by the Lithuanian people as remembrance to lost loved ones. During communist occupation and the USSR days (where Lithuania was forced to join as a member), the crosses were removed by Soviet soldiers as one of their many acts of religious and (more broadly) social oppression.

However, during night times, Lithuanians snuck back to the hill and replaced the crosses, and added even more. Frustrated and engorged at these acts, soldiers once again removed them, and constructed a barbed wire fence to prevent entry (and even posted guards to watch over the area). Not to be outdone, the Lithuanians continued to raid the hill at night, crawling through barbed wire and building the number of crosses ever more.

Now, the hill features literally millions of crosses, as visitors have added their own to the pile. Literally the entire hill is covered by a mass of crosses large and small, and representing all sorts of beliefs (including Paganism).

Vilnius itself again featured a lovely old town, but unlike Riga and even Tallinn, had much more of a splash of artistic influence, with a suburb named 'Uzupis'. This suburb was the area in which its poor but artistic and bohemian residents once proclaimed its independence from Vilnius and from all of Lithuania, and even drew up a constitution for their new 'republic' (which turned out to be short lived). This constitution now takes pride of place on the wall where the initial break away leader stood to read them out. Upon review, I couldn't help but believe that the rights were drawn whilst sitting around a table of rather heavy Absinthe.

As hinted at previously, like its Northern neighbours, Lithuania was also a part of the USSR, but has a more outward tradition of being resistant to the presence of Soviet politics.

On the way out of Vilnius towards Poland, we called into a relatively recently established park in Southern Lithuania (Gruso Park), in which all of the statues of Soviet figures from USSR days were re-located after being torn down in the 1990's. It was eery to walk around the park, which is set up to be representative of a Soviet concentration camp with propaganda material, representative 'voting booths' which explained how voting was rigged and the statues

themselves. With big names like Stalin, Marx and Lenin peeking out with stony faces from behind concentration camp barbed wire, we were somewhat glad (but also enlightened) when we decided to move onto our large drive through Poland.

The people...

Lithuanians are certainly a bolder and brasher Baltic personality, but that is of course in relation to the much more reserved and conservative Estonians and the passive aggressive Latvians. They are still not too open with a smile, and can seem quite dour on first appearances.

However, there is something more to the LIthuanians than just introversion; there is a pervasive sense of cheekiness and proudness. They have fought a lot, and fought quite well against what was a heavy and oppressive Communist regime. Grosu Park (mentioned above) showed the many ways that Lithuanians were defiant and fought during the occupation, and painted a picture of a brave and stoic nation which still exists in reality today.

They have picked themselves up and brushed themselves off well post Communism. Unlike Estonia, Lithuanians don't want to polish themselves TOO much, but instead it feels as though they wish to be left to be 'themselves' again. Importantly, unlike the Latvians, they are not angry at what happened, but instead proud of how they came through the other side.

Key activities...

• Seeing Cathedral Square in Old Town of Vilnius (including St. John's Church, Gates of Dawn, St. Teresa's Church and St. Catherine's Church).
• Visiting Grosu Park
• Walking through and around the 'Hill of Crosses'
• Beating off the beggars with a stick around our restaurant

Highlights...

• Grosu Park - this turned out to be a real eye opener for me.
• The Hill of Crosses - such a proud national monument for the LIthuanians, and something appreciated and admired by thousands of tourists each year.
• Vilnius Old Town - huge and beautifully Baroque.

Lowlights...

• The fat, well fed beggars in Lithuania owe something to all beggars around the world. I now have developed strategies of avoiding all sorts of beggar advances, and have established a code of beggar conduct that I will rigorously review upon approach. I will not be giving lightly.

In summary...

A refreshing change after Latvia, Lithuania surprised me in a positive way. I loved the sense of identity which you could just feel among the people, and also the nationalistic pride evident in the way Vilnius is maintained and presented.

Without being a nation 'over-polished', it seems as though it has picked itself up and brushed itself off after Communist rule, ready to be simply Lithuania again long into the future.

I would liken it to…

If you read Latvia above, this may well be our Dennis the Menace...