Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Vilnius

Vilnius – Monument to Zemach Shabad

This is the Monument to Zemach Shabad (1864-1935), a physician in Vilnius during the first half of the 20th century, famed for both his medical expertise and his tireless dedication to the community. He was known as the doctor of the poor, which seems to me to be just the right balance of noble and tragic. Unfortunately, the sun was so bright and it was so hot, that the photos are a little exposed.

He was born in 1864 in Lithuania (or Russia, or Poland, or the Russian Empire depending on who you ask and what year it was), Dr Shabad became a towering figure in Jewish intellectual and public life. He chaired everything from science societies to humanitarian organisations, helped found schools and somehow still had time to cure people. He is widely considered to be the inspiration behind the character of Doctor Aybolit, the Russian equivalent of Doctor Dolittle, except with slightly fewer singing animals and marginally more existential dread. He was popular at the time and a monument was constructed to honour him in the 1930s, but that got destroyed in the 1930s.

The statue itself is genuinely rather lovely. Created by sculptor Romualdas Kvintas and unveiled in 2007, it shows Dr Shabad in full sage mode, gently leaning down to a small girl who is holding what looks like a cat. The whole scene feels very deliberate as this isn’t one of those ‘man on a horse shouting at the sky’ affairs, instead it’s quiet, tender and just a little melancholic. It’s tucked away in a nice quiet part of the park, all rather understated.

June 25, 2025
Vilnius – Portal with Lublin

There are a few of these portal arrangements around the world as something of an art installation and to make people feel closer to each other. There was one between Dublin and New York which was ultimately scrapped as there were a minority of people on the Irish side trying to spread hate which was all a bit sub-optimal for the country’s reputation. Although the Dublin situation wasn’t exactly the spirit of global harmony they were going for, this one is linked to the rather glorious city of Lublin in Poland and hasn’t had the same issues.

I can’t be doing all that socialising, but there was a lady nearby who was fully engaged in the whole arrangement.

The Vilnius portal is located in front of Vilniaus rotušė, which is the Vilnius City Hall. It’s all rather exciting in many ways, almost like going back to 1998 and the excitement of the earliest webcams. There are plans for more of these to be installed and this seems like something that seems really quite positive in building bridges and all that, perhaps between cities which are already twinned in the more traditional way.

June 25, 2025
Vilnius – Novotel

I was fortunate to get a cheap rate for this hotel as it was a Sunday night, an Accor hotel that I didn’t visit when I was last in Vilnius. It’s a very well reviewed hotel on-line and it’s located in the centre of Vilnius, it was all a little more decadent than what I’m used to.

There was a wait of a few minutes to check-in as they had a little rush of customers, but it all looked quite organised in the lobby. They wanted to see my credit card so that they could take a deposit for the mini-bar that I had no intentions of using, but this became problematic as my cards are from Chase and don’t have the number printed on them. This caused the helpful staff member some confusion as she said she hadn’t seen this, so she decided to trust me not to run off with their Cokes.

The lobby bar and this felt modern and on-trend, but it didn’t ever seem very busy. It’s an interesting space that seems under-used, perhaps they should open a craft beer bar there.

They had two beers available as my welcome drink, one of which was some lager and this was the Penki Mazgai from Brick by Brick Brewery. It was perhaps slightly thin, but it had a tropical flavour, stone fruit and was an agreeable pale ale.

The welcome gift from the hotel, cheese, crisps, olives and red wine. I don’t much drink wine, especially red wine, but I did have this the following evening in Kaunas as they didn’t offer me anything there. A lovely gesture though and I fancied a snack. Although I nearly always fancy a snack, but that’s a different matter. I did take a video of the room, but no photos, but I don’t think it’s exciting enough to share. The room was clean, functional and in the bathroom there was a bath as well as a separate shower with the room design being near identical to the Novotel which I stayed at in Athens a few weeks ago. It was an upgraded room on a higher floor, not the cheap and cheerful room that I actually booked.

The view from the window of my room.

And at night.

Breakfast was included in the room rate and it was very busy, although I took this photo during a brief period of calm, although I found a seat without too much trouble. The space here is insufficient though, they have this large hotel and they’ve got a relatively small counter which is hard to navigate with the number of customers they have. At the back is the coffee area which also isn’t really large enough and there are numerous pinchpoints with this whole arrangement.

The hot food, which I ignored.

The cold food selection at the end, which was reasonable choice although not as good as in Dortmund. I liked the choice there, not least as they had guacamole. I suppose one of the challenges is trying to offer people what they want, so sacrifices are made with the quality to offer this level of quantity. Although I would personally have them ditch all the hot stuff and replace it with guacamole, I accept that this might not be a decision that went down with universal approval.

That’ll do. I’d add I might have had another couple of plates of this and at least two litres of orange juice. They had takeaway containers for the coffee which is a helpful bonus so that I could have one for the room as well.

As mentioned, the on-line reviews are very positive although one guest went to TripAdvisor to leave a 1/5 as there was a small hole in their bed sheet. I do wonder sometimes how people cope with life, but maybe I have lower expectations. And the member of the public who wasn’t allowed to use the toilet even though they’ve stayed at an Accor hotel in another location before, so they felt the need to leave a 1/5. Not only that, but he made sure to mention the staff member to try and cause her issues, which feels rather unfair to me. The vast majority of customers were though content with their stay, I just like having a little read of the negativity.

For the price that I paid, which was around £50 for the room and breakfast, I thought that the value was excellent. I’m not sure that they made much on me given they upgraded my room, gave me a welcome wine, snacks and then a welcome drink, but I’ve left them a positive review and I’m wittering on here in a helpful manner. I’d definitely stay again, although the rack rate for this hotel is usually quite expensive, so I might have to pick a cheaper option unless it’s a cut-price Sunday again…..

June 21, 2025
Vilnius – Alaus Biblioteka

After a few days in Dortmund, which isn’t known for its craft beer (but is known for its fine arrangement of Pilsners) it was a delight to get to Alaus Biblioteka (the Beer Library). This is a highly reviewed craft beer bar and my first impressions were positive as it looked impressive on climbing the steps to the main bar, it wasn’t too hot and there looked like a wide selection of beers were available.

The set-up, a mixture of traditional bookshelves and the shiny new Untappd screen. It’s a fine combination. The draft beer style is well curated with a range of beer types, but there’s also an equally thought through selection of bottles and cans. The team member was engaging and knowledgeable about beer, she thought I’d like the chilli beer I was looking at and she was entirely correct. The prices here are for the higher end for Vilnius, but on an international standard for an on-trend and decadent craft beer bar, I thought they were reasonable.

There are other rooms and also an external area, so it feels like there’s plenty of space. They do some meat and cheese platters for those wanting food, along with some smaller bar snacks. But, it was the beer that I was here for.

They had Lithuanian and international beers, but I tried to stick primarily to the former. I thought I deserved a flight of five beers, which came in at around £12 for the lot, and they were from left to right:

(i) Senoliu Senovinis from Su Puta brewery. A farmhouse ale which I thought was rustic, sweet and had some tastes of honey, decent.

(ii) Keptinis from Sakiskes Brewery. This had an interesting flavour, slightly herbal, a bit of shed (this is probably not an official beer term) and quite robust.

(iii) Pomegranate Lime Gose from Bear & Boar Brewery. This was tart, but balanced, there was a depth of pomegranate and the lime punched through. Very agreeable, rounded and clever.

(iv) Catch Up! Chili from Anderson’s Brewery. This was exceptional and quirky, like a Bloody Mary and something rather different. It’s a sour with a depth of flavour and lots of heat. Slightly salty and I note that the brewery approved of my Untappd check-in.

(v) The Alaus Biblioteka Bourbon Aged from the pub itself. The first couple of sips tasted of the previous chilli beer, but this was a punchy number on its own being a tough bourbon stout that acted as a palate cleanser. Chocolate flavours, slightly boozy, rather nice.

This was a delightful visit and I was pleased I headed out of my way to get here. Informal, laid-back, clean, stylish, traditional and the purveyor of fine craft beers. I’ll very likely pop in again the next time I’m in Vilnius.

June 20, 2025
Vilnius – Meat Lovers Pub

The sun was shining (too much, but I won’t go on about that) and so I decided not to do anything too energetic (well, I did climb Gediminas’s Hill which was probably a little too much in the extreme heat), instead popping to a restaurant for food. I’m careful in the sun like that.

The interior of the restaurant, which felt on-trend and modern.

Look at me sitting outside….. My logic here was that this was where everyone else was and it was a partly covered area so it wouldn’t be too hot and there wouldn’t be any swooping birds or angry wasps to unsettle me. I thought that I’d find the shadiest area of the courtyard to sit in though, just in case. All was well and the service during ordering was efficient rather than anything else, but that suited me.

The drinks were served after around three minutes, but I was getting nervous about my food after 35 minutes but I was inwardly reassured that the team member had brought over the cutlery so I knew that the food element of my order had been taken. I needn’t have worried, it arrived around forty minutes after ordering and looked suitably appetising. The chicken was tender and had a richness of flavour, although it could have been just a little hotter in terms of the temperature. The sauce added flavour and the chips were crisp and delicious. The portion size was more generous than it perhaps looks in the photo and I thought it looked well presented.

The beer was the Grimbergen Dubbel which had a flavour of toffee and was dark and rich, it’s a beer I’ve had before and liked. I had tried numerous local beers the night before, so I felt it was reasonable to go for a Belgian beer on this occasion. When I asked for the bill, the team member pointed towards the QR code on the table to make payment. I was unimpressed to see that they charged for that service as some sort of convenience fee. Anyway, I was happy with the portion size, the quality and the value and it was a rather relaxing lunch. Apologies this is a little shorter than I would have usually written, but I’m struggling with this laptop still.

June 17, 2025
Vilnius to Kaunas Rail Journey – LTG

There weren’t any cheap flights from Vilnius, nor indeed any cheap hotels, so I decided to splash out just over £8 on a first class rail ticket from Vilnius to Kaunas to fly back from there.

Despite ongoing maintenance, this was a clean and organised railway station.

The station hall.

Um, decoration.

Signage says they’re doing something exciting here soon. Perhaps it’ll be a Greggs.

My ticket got me free access into the VIP lounge.

Very smart.

This is a rail network on top of its game…..

There were snacks and drinks available on a self-service basis which were keenly priced.

There was a meeting room and private toilets available in the lounge.

My train was the 18:47.

There’s the rather glorious double decker train.

You could reserve seats for free when booking, so I went for the one with the table on the left. The carriage remained quiet and no-one sat opposite me.

The table on the opposite side to me. There was also wi-fi and a power point for every seat, all clean and comfortable.

An old locomotive at Vilnius.

There was an early ticket check and everyone in First was given a bottle of water which was handy. There was also a buffet downstairs if customers wanted to buy any food or drink.

Stations en route.

And safely in Kaunas.

For the money, this was excellent value and everything worked as it should. The journey took around 75 minutes and was entirely stress-free, it’s made me want to return to Lithuania to visit all of the major cities in the country by train. Very lovely.

June 17, 2025
Wizz Air (Dortmund to Vilnius)

Dortmund’s beautiful airport…. I got the train to the nearby railway station and walked twenty minutes to get to the airport as the direct bus to the city centre was €10. That price is a rip-off, the city knows it’s a rip-off, but this is a city that likes cars and treats them with respect. As a comparison, the bus at the other end of this flight cost €0.70 in Vilnius to get from the airport to the city centre. There’s also no way of paying by card on the bus in Dortmund, but of course there is in Vilnius. The reviews of the airport bus service, which is run as a monopoly by the airport, in Dortmund are very poor, I was pleased not to go near it.

The airport was appalling in nearly every way. There is no care here from management, the toilets had no working hand dryers or paper towels, not just one of them, but all of them. The floor was dirty, surfaces were grubby, it’s a dismal airport. The managing director is Ludger van Bebber, who has led this airport for five years, and the Board are so pleased with him that they’ve extended his tenure by another five years. I’ve seen people mock Luton Airport, but at least they keep the place clean. I had a little rummage around on the airport’s website for anything about customer satisfaction and that transpired to be a fool’s errand. The only document I could find was from 2011, congratulating themselves on being above average. That was also the last time they updated their awards page. Possibly because no one has given them one since.

That middle screen does give a reflection on what this airport is like. However, the security staff were very friendly and engaging, although they had to work quickly as there’s so little space for customers given the small size of the airport.

The airport apron and it’s mostly Wizz Air who are using the terminal at the moment.

One oddly charming touch is that the airside area is so close to the pavement that people were waving goodbye to their loved ones through the glass. I don’t think that’s a feature though, more of a planning oversight that they’ve leaned into.

Most airports have a photo of, well, the airport when they have “Welcome to” their city signs. This image is of Messe Dortmund, which is nowhere near the airport, but is an attractive building.

The gate area had a certain mystery to it, since the screen that should have told passengers what flight they were queuing for was broken. As a result, everyone was sort of milling about asking each other what destination they hoped they were off to. It was a communal guessing game with mild existential dread.

The aircraft was 9H-WAF, an Airbus A321 which has been in the Wizz Air fleet which had been loyally trundling passengers around since November 2022. It was the most competent thing I saw all day (well, until I got to Vilnius).

Frankly, I was quite keen to leave Dortmund Airport, not least because I wasn’t entirely convinced it wasn’t held together by hope and old glue. In fairness, it’s a regional airport trying to stay afloat despite airlines abandoning it like a sinking ship. Wizz Air is doing most of the heavy lifting now but it does feel that the airport has gone by the number that they can easily cope with. There is a cafe that doesn’t have enough seats and that’s pretty much it, although I did find a seat to sit at near the gate and there was working wi-fi.

Boarding was efficient and the member of staff at the gate was friendly and engaging.

And off we go, the seat Gods gave me an aisle seat and there was also no-one next to me, so it was a very comfortable flight. I was going to, for the first time, buy a drink from the trolley as it came down the aisle, but I fell asleep so that moment passed. I’ve realised I don’t take many photos on the aircraft, so here’s a little treat. I’m not sure what it adds to this blog post, but there we go, it’s the thought of the content that counts. Once again, the crew were helpful, personably, well presented and worked hard, with the pilots making informative announcements. Nothing went wrong and that’s a very good thing.

A guy with a bag (it’s actually the guy in the photo, but I can’t imagine he’ll ever read this blog) pushed past me and two others on the aircraft to get off, using some force. All three of us walked around him by the time we reached the terminal (which as is visible in the above photo really isn’t very far away), so he made no time up on that little expedition. Every time though, there’s this huge rush from a few passengers and they then meander about like a drunk snail at the bottom of the steps.

My seat on the aircraft was about four rows from the back, so I deplaned (I know, it’s an American term, but I like it) quickly and I was through the airport quickly. To be precise, I got off at 18:40 and was on the bus at 18:45. I’d say that’s pretty good from Vilnius Airport and thanks to the lovely bus driver who saw me rushing to his bus and waved to signal he was waiting. The bus was clean, the contactless payment worked and it was everything that Dortmund wasn’t.

June 16, 2025
Vilnius – Literatai Street

Literatai Street is where Adam Mickiewicz once lived, considered to be one of the greatest Polish poets. The street then gained rather a reputation for literature and took its current name towards the end of the nineteenth century.

In 2009, there was an idea to stick lots of things on the walls of the street. It’s an interesting idea, and it has become one of the tourist sites in Vilnius, with the items being placed there in honour of those who have worked in the fields of art and literature. Artists who had a connection to Lithuanian culture attached things to the wall that meant something to them and then boards were put up explaining what these objects were.

Two of the items attached to the wall….. The whole thing does look artistic rather than a load of old rubbish glued up on a wall, and it has made the street a little bit of a tourist attraction.

October 21, 2018
Vilnius – Ibis

This Ibis hotel only opened a few weeks ago, and the official opening was during my stay. As it was a new opening, and not necessarily very well known about when I booked, the prices seemed quite reasonable at around £45 per night including breakfast. It’s around a ten-minute walk to the centre of the city and it’s in an area which is being modernised and improved.

I upload these for Richard to monitor how Ibis deal with dual occupancy. I was on my own, so I just got one.

The room was clean and comfortable, with a modern feel to it. I still don’t really get those lights that hang down though, they periodically have those in Ibis hotels so they must think they’re useful. I like the multi power square they have, which could be moved about to most points of the room and let me charge multiple devices. There were a generous amount of power points around the whole room though, such are the needs of the modern traveller.

I didn’t turn the TV on during my stay and it felt quite hidden given the decoration on the wall.

The view from my hotel room, which will likely be quite lovely in a year or two. In fairness, I didn’t have any noise issues from either outside or inside the hotel.

That’s the free glass of wine from my Le Club Accor status…

The bar area, I like the generous provision of power points.

The bar and lobby area. There is a restaurant on site although I didn’t order from it as it looked a little expensive and slightly generic. They had a good idea though of putting QR codes on tables and in the room, if customers scanned it then they were sent to a web-site with the current menu on. They had proper menus as well, but this is a great idea if a customer can’t find the menu in the restaurant for any reason.

The main breakfast counter, there was a choice of breads, cold meats, cheeses and fish. There were also some hot items, which I studiously avoided. This was four breakfasts of cold meats, breads and cheeses for me. And cake. And cornflakes.

The coffee machine and the fruit juice machine, which produced perfectly good quality fruit juices, although they weren’t of course freshly squeezed. Although, this is Ibis, not Raffles, which is interestingly an Accor brand…

I’m a creature of habit, this was the breakfast on two different mornings. It looks rather similar…

I really enjoyed this stay, the staff went out of their way to be friendly, and it did feel like a training hotel at some points. That’s a good thing…. The room was clean, the housekeeping was efficient, there were no noise problems and the room prices were reasonable.

October 20, 2018
Vilnius – IDW Esperanza Resort Airport Business Lounge

I know that Priority Pass gets a lot of complaints, but I’m entirely happy with my card so far this year. This is the lounge at Vilnius Airport and I’ve had more than four hours in here, which has enabled me to get a lot of things done (including several more posts on this blog).

There aren’t many other visitors in the lounge at the moment, which has created a rather peaceful environment. There’s a choice of different seating areas, including high tables and more comfortable seating. There are also a lot of power points, which is particularly useful, and it’s all clean and organised.

There’s a selection of sandwiches and salads in the fridge, and I went through a couple of the Greek salads. The quality is fine and it’s quite a big portion. Although I say that and then promptly went through two of them.

Coffee is available, as are chocolate bars.

All of the alcohol, and everything else, is self-service. There was a small selection of three beers, but I tried a couple and they were entirely acceptable. There’s also wine and spirits in an area just to the left of the fridges. There are also fruit juices, Pepsi, Fanta and other soft drinks, as well as still and sparkling bottled water.

The Greek salad, beer and water.

The selection of magazines and newspapers, a range of different publications including in both Lithuanian and English.

I liked this lounge, being quiet and spacious always helps, but the food is fine and there’s a wide enough selection of drinks. The toilets are also inside the lounge and they’re not half a mile away, something which airports sometimes seem to do, perhaps learning from Wetherspoons.

The price to enter as a one-off is I think €27, which is a bit expensive, but not entirely unreasonable. There aren’t a huge number of flights departing from the airport, which means that they announce when customers need to depart for their aircraft.

October 20, 2018