On a chilly November day last year, I spent a brief twenty-four hours in the Lithuanian capital. Here’s a quick look at wintry Vilnius by Instagram.
1. A night-time shot of the pretty Vilnius Cathedral. (See the photo on Instagram here.)
2. Borscht, a Lithuanian soup. More summery than wintry this cold beet soup, but I don’t care. Love the flavour – and the colour. (See the photo on instagram here.)
3. A house of horrors – the former KGB headquarters on main street, Gediminas Avenue, seemed even more chilling on a cold winter night. I’ve written about my impression of this disturbing museum here. (See the photo on Instagram here.)
4. I was here on the morning of 23 November, which happened to be the Lithuanian Armed Forces Day. A military parade marched from the cathedral down Gediminas Avenue at noon – with soldiers from various other NATO countries here as well, including Latvia, the UK, Poland and the USA. Not sure where these were from – they do look quaintly Prussian, don’t they – with their pointy Pickelhaube helmets? (See the photo on Instagram here.)
5. Graffiti or street art? Whatever you choose to call it, it does bring a spot of colour to an otherwise grey wintry Gediminas avenue. (See the photo on Instagram here.)
6. Vilnius has a new innovative attraction: this sculpture is one of 15 talking statues in Vilnius, a project by the city’s Modern Art Centre. Whether it’s Frank Zappa, the Angel of Užupis, or 19th century Lithuanian author Žemaitė (whose real name was Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė) as shown here, just swipe the QR-code with your mobile phone and the statue will ring you up and tell you a story. (See the photo on Instagram here.)
I am quite curious about that soup. It’s clear that it’s borsch, but what make it pink ? Did you had a chance to ask the waiter ?
The main ingredient in Borscht is beets.
Well, that explains some things. Wasn’t it sweet after all ? (I know the normal borsch is sour, that’s why I’m asking).
Hm… more sweet than sour, I suppose: Beets, yogurt, cucumbers, eggs, leek, and probably more. Delicious 🙂
I bet. 😀
How that you’ve only spend 24 hours ? Not so many things to see or just passing by ?
It appears that you were able to see and do a fair bit in just 24 hours! I have not been to Vilnius but those talking statues would be quite interesting to see!
Can cover a lot in 24 hours in such a compact city. And, I’ve been there a few times before 🙂
Oh wow, had no idea about the talking statues. What a great idea! I just remember we were really determined to find the Frank Zappa statue when we were there and looked everywhere before finally spotting it on our last day. We’d walked past it loads of times! 🙂 A great set of Instagram photos. 🙂
Julia