24th August, day 13 - Vilnius
So, as expected, sleep didn't happen much at all on the bus from Warsaw. I may have slept an hour, but it could have also been the clocks moving when the country boundary was crossed, not sure 😅. Otherwise the bus journey was fine, and did manage to get some rest even without proper sleep.
Given it is going to be 31C later, I decided to immediately head out for a walk around the hills overlooking the city (obviously after a coffee and breakfast). At 7am the weather was still a nice cool 20C.
“The Republic of Uẑupis” is a fun area. In 1997 the residents declared it an independent state in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek kind of way, with their own constitution.
- 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 need.
- 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.
- 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.
I think this constitution makes sense at least!
The hills east of the city are around 160 metres above sea level and offer a really nice view across the city from the three crosses monument. Very much worth climbing all those steps and getting bitten by insects.
I still had four hours left after this until the hotel could check me in, so I just walked around for a bit and sat at some air conditioned cafes. By 2pm it was already hell outside but it was already my hotel time.
Three hours later after a nap and shower, time for some touristy walking. First food. Vegafé nearby has good Happy Cow reviews, so there. Had a tofu steak with rice, which was very nice. Light, filling and tasty.
Vilnius. Vibrant city with an old heart. Lots of cars though, driving extremely fast on the small narrow roads. Kind of spoils the small historical city atmosphere with the rather frequent massive BMW zooming past along the tiny cobblestone road, windows open blasting some four to the floor.
While there are lots of cars, the city does seem to have a lot of bicycle lanes and there is a bike sharing system too. I'm afraid it's too hot for me to move around on a bike today. Plus today I've focused on the older historical part of the city which is easy to walk around.
Ended the day at the Craft & Draft pub near my hotel. Good selection of local craft beers.
Starting to slowly reach my roaming data limits which I had not prepared for. Have hit the 20GB alert I have, max included in my plan is 23G. Probably mostly due to having video backup uploads enabled on roaming, which I have now switched off. Time to start using more local wifi in cafes and the hotel, also a lesson learnt for future trips.
Total kilometres travel approx: 2700km
