Staying in a hostel and you find yourself with the room to yourself?? First thing I did was sleep in knowing nobody was going to rustle a plastic bag or have an alarm go off again and again and again….
Alas my sleep in was interrupted by an old Russian lady telling me to get out and by the time I’d explained I had paid for the room I was too awake to go back to sleep. Staying up, I got directions to my attractions for the day before grabbing a quick shower and running out the door to escape the drunk guy sitting in the kitchen/common area of the hostel.
First port of call was the Frank Zappa statue. I posted this guy a little while back as one of my featured photos, and look its just such a random statue that you have to seek him out and have a look. If only to get a look at some of the streets hidden away from the Old Town part of Vilnius. I guarantee you’ll get at least a little lost trying to find him but thats just part of the fun.
Leaving Frank to watch over the car park I made my way down to the Natural History Museum and passed this guy who really was tackling a job with the wrong tool, don’t you agree?
While wandering the museum and avoiding the horde of school children that seemed to have followed me in the door I found some interesting traditional clothing along with a lot of other rather boring old stuff. Can you tell my love for museums was waining with each country I pass through.
My final stop of the day was back at Uzupis to get my passport stamped at what they call their post Office (don’t deny your all stamp collectors I know) after not having my passport with me to get it done on the tour yesterday. Even as Uzupis is not a recognised country/republic I wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity to get a stamp that was going to be a little different from everyone else.
Snapping a few photos along the little streets between Uzupis and Old Town I spied a rather cool little bit of art on the steps to a house. There were other pieces scattered around but this one was by far the coolest in my opinion.
Walking back to Old Town I also made the decision that I was going to catch the night bus to Warsaw tonight instead of spending another day here. I had planned to use the following day as a rest day but with my hostel driving me crazy with its terrible internet and just overall poor conditions, I figured I’d try and catch my friends up in Warsaw and rest up in Krakow a few days later.
In Old Town for one last look I was greeted by a quaint little festival. Stopping just long enough to take in a traditional Estonian dance and check out the stalls for a possible souvenir and a bite to eat. I considered staying longer to see what else the festival had planned but I was concious that I might not get a seat on the bus to Warsaw if I was late.
Packing my gear and departing the hostel early meant I had wasted money on a bed for the night, so my night bus to Warsaw didn’t save me at all like I had planned originally. To be honest though I was glad to be done with the hostel and was looking forward to making it to Poland and catching up with the two dutch girls I had met just a day earlier.
Boarding the bus I found I was out of luck with the comfy bus’s as there was no coffee machine or free wifi this time around. Settling for having a seat to myself, unlike the girls the night before who had a packed bus I attempted to sleep through the 9 hour bus trip ahead of me.
Free wifi on a bus? I’d be in heaven!
The bus I got from Estonia to Latvia and Latvia to Lithuania all had free wifi, it was perfect. Alas they were the only two points I managed to get it.
Reason enough for me to travel back there and explore some more if you ask me.
I feel like everywhere you went it rained you poor thing!!!
haha Andi. It didn’t rain everywhere I went and when it did there wasn’t a lot just enough to force me inside. I think Amsterdam and Berlin were the worst for rain. After that is was fairly smooth sailing.
Free wifi and coffee had you spoiled!
haha Kyle for a bus ride I’m going to say hell yes I was. Its the only time in my life I’ve seen it though and the last place I expected it was travelling around the baltic.
Bus WiFi? What a futuristic wonderland we live in.
haha Chris, you got that right mate. I’ve not even seen that kinda setup back home ever.