10 | July | 2024 | Tales from the Hutt

Sunday, 16-June-2024

My exploration of Vilnius started in Cathedral Square – which shouldn’t be a surprise, since I was staying at the Cathedral Square hotel. Efficient, right? Past-me really did do a great job at picking out places to stay, and detailing all the info for traveling… Definitely thankful to that guy. Great dude.

Anyways.

I headed out from my hotel, crossed the street, and sort of just stopped to stare for a little bit.

Cathedral Square is gorgeous. Seriously – it’s straight out of Rome, or Florence, or some ancient Greco-Roman saga. A huge marble square stretched out ahead of me, with a massive belltower and equally massive cathedral dominating the space… but still leaving room for a ton of open area for the slowly gathering people, and the slightly-weird statue off to the far side.

Behind, Gedimino Castle stood on a massive hill, overlooking it all.

I was still feeling a little weak on my feet, only a few days recovered from the ill-advised takeout, but I’ve always held that getting some good physical activity helps my body throw off the lethargy and miasma of being sick. Looking up, past the marble expanse and toward the castle up on the huge hill, I saw a great opportunity to get that physical activity going.

I… made it up. I did, in fact, make it up to to the top. It wasn’t quick, and it wasn’t easy, but it was successful. We’ll stick to that.

From the top, I not only got a chance to catch my breath… but also amazing views of the city. I stared out across the stunning landscape, picked out a few interesting places that I wanted to see closer up, and even spent a few moments watching some reenactors fencing down in the nearby square.

And then?

Back down the way I came, off to continued exploration!

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday – 16, 17, and 18-June-2024

Vilnius is staggeringly beautiful.

I only had two days to explore, thanks to an ill-advised dinner choice in Riga taking me out of commission for a few days… and I can’t say that I was at nearly 100% for either of those two days.

In those two days, though, I was able to see some small part of an incredibly ornamented and decorated city. From beautiful storefronts, to the sculptures abounding, to the castle and riverside walk, I adored every bit of exploration I was able to drive my poor recovering body to.

The city felt like a really interesting blend of the Baltic style that I’d seen in Riga and Tallinn, and the Mediterranean stylings that I recalled from my previous visit to Rome and Florence. As I explored, I learned that this wasn’t coincidental – that Vilnius had been a centerpoint for Catholic learning, a place where the Vatican (and later the Eastern Orthodox church) would send people to learn, and then spread the word to neighboring countries.

As such, there were quite a few churches and universities for me to check out… all of which were beautifully explained by my reccurring love interest through this trip – Informational placards. Seriously – they were everywhere in Vilnius; including descriptions in both Lithuanian (I assume it was Lithuanian) and English (I’m confident it’s English). They were beautiful burnished gold with black lettering, set intermittently around the city by the points of interest.

And there were points of interest. Tons of them – churches, universities, squares and cathedrals. Monuments, palaces, and a castle too. I wandered around as many as I could, in my two days of recovery-fugue, and I’ll say that even through the haze, they were absolutely glorious.

Another fun little extra that I ran into – there was some sort of event happening in the main square near where I was staying! There were booths, music, all the fun things one could want! Even fried food vendors! I stayed for the music. I didn’t stay for the fried food 🙁

And now, finally, we come to the key part: What did I eat, and where did I eat it?

Hotel Amberton – I ate here thrice (I’m writing this in Vienna, it’s fancy-words-time, okay?), and all three were exactly what I needed. Mild, inoffensive, and safe meals after being sick. They were well seasoned, well cooked, and simply good. Adored them.
Pizza Marinara – Another good spot. Delicious pizza, nice and tasty and simple.
Augustas & Barbora love story café – This place was ridiculous and amazing. Absolutely beautifully decorated, with approximately infinite roses and flowers everywhere. Good food, great latte (pink!), and a very fun place to sit and relax.