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.)

Vilnius by Instagram: the Cathedral

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.)

borscht, Lithuanian soup

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.)

former KGB headquarters, Vilnius

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.)

military parade vilnius

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.)

graffiti

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.)

statue of Julija Zemaite

Have you been in Vilnius lately? Seen the talking statues?