Vilnius, Lithuania: Christmas in the Baltics

One of our favourite European trips has been a weekend we spent in Riga, Latvia.  It struck us as an under appreciated gem in Europe.  We also spent a day in Tallinn, Estonia while on a cruise and loved it.  We needed to round out our tour of the Baltics and what better time to do it than Christmas?  After completing my last exam at Le Cordon Bleu, we boarded a plane and headed to Vilnius.

We stayed at the beautiful Kempinski Hotel in the Cathedral Square.  It was all dressed up for Christmas which made it even more gorgeous!

After a lovely breakfast, we headed out to the square to explore the Cathedral.  The bell tower is not attached and, therefore, provides some lovely views of the cathedral itself and Christmas market below.  Of course, we had to climb to the top!

As we were walking around the top of the bell tower, we were discussing how interesting it was they let tourists up in the tower around midday and therefore they must not ring the bells anymore.  About one minute later, it was noon.  I think I felt my first hard baby kick at this point!

Then we had a wander through the streets.  The sun set quite early, this was still the middle of the afternoon!

After a walk around the city, we stopped in a local restaurant for some traditional Lithuanian cuisine.

We then went back to the Christmas Market across from our hotel and enjoyed the lights!

The next morning we awoke to a Lithuanian Christmas fairy tale–snow on the ground!  It made the Cathedral and Christmas Market even more charming.

Our flight back to London was late in the evening, so we took in a few more Vilnius sights!  First stop:  The Museum of Genocide Victims.  We learned that compared to industrial Latvia which attracted many Russian immigrants, Lithuania was more agrarian and more actively resistant to Soviet rule.  Several freedom movements began in the forests of Lithuania.  Interestingly, even today there a noticeably less Russian influence in Vilnius than in Riga.

Every time we are in a city that has a museum like this, we try to visit and we always learn something.  It serves as a good reminder of a very recent past that none of us want to relive.  Perhaps most haunting room on the entire tour was the execution room.

After our sobering tour of the museum, we headed to Užupis, a neighborhood of Vilnius that declared itself an independent republic in 1997.  It is very popular with artists and has its own constitution.  I found the constitution so interesting I decided post it here (from Wikipedia):

Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnelė, and the River Vilnelė has the right to flow by everyone.
Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.
Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
Everyone has the right to make mistakes.
Everyone has the right to be unique.
Everyone has the right to love.
Everyone has the right not to be loved, but not necessarily.
Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.
Everyone has the right to idle.
Everyone has the right to love and take care of the cat.
Everyone has the right to look after the dog until one of them dies.
A dog has the right to be a dog.
A cat is not obliged to love its owner, but must help in time of nee[d].
Sometimes everyone has the right to be unaware of their duties.
Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation.
Everyone has the right to be happy.
Everyone has the right to be unhappy.
Everyone has the right to be silent.
Everyone has the right to have faith.
No one has the right to violence.
Everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance. [In Lithuanian this reads Everyone has the right to realize his negligibility and magnificence.]
No one has the right to have a design on eternity.
Everyone has the right to understand.
Everyone has the right to understand nothing.
Everyone has the right to be of any nationality.
Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.
Everyone shall remember their name.
Everyone may share what they possess.
No one can share what they do not possess.
Everyone has the right to have brothers, sisters and parents.
Everyone may be independent.
Everyone is responsible for their freedom.
Everyone has the right to cry.
Everyone has the right to be misunderstood.
No one has the right to make another person guilty.
Everyone has the right to be individual.
Everyone has the right to have no rights.
Everyone has the right to not to be afraid.
Do not defeat.
Do not fight back.
Do not surrender

After returning to Vilnius proper, we walked around a bit more and enjoyed the snow covered city before retreating to our hotel for some afternoon tea before our taxi to the airport.

We enjoyed our whirlwind weekend in Vilnius and found we had plenty of time to see the major sights and relax a bit as well.  It certainly confirmed our love for the Baltics!