What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

Compared to the gulf-facing charming seaport city of Riga, the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius exuded a metropolitan air of commerce and industry with the many high-rises which greeted our arrival with the many billboards covering the familiar brands of Microsoft, Huawei, Barclays and whats-not. But on closer encounter over the next few days, Vilnius turned out to be an extremely friendly, tranquil city with just the right amount and combination of hustle and bustle to keep us entertained without overwhelming us. We followed the gentle slope down from the train station (quaint) towards the River Neris where we rent an apartment facing the river. The owner Paul, turned up outside the Soviet era looking building (not so quaint) and we walked the four flights of stairs to reach an outstandingly furbished and homely apartment with everything that we could have asked for, including a much-missed filter coffee machine ! Not long after we unpacked our bags, we were treated with a spectacle right in front of our windows - over a dozen colorful hot air balloons taking off in turns in the glorious sunset - see for yourself in the photos below. The magical scene was complimented by the wonderfully warm weather where local residents were out and about playing beach volleyball, lazing around on the grass and having an enjoyable chit-chat over a beer or coffee.

The blue sky seemed to have accompanied us along this journey and invited us to explore the many landmarks including the Old Town with the many shops selling the famous amber stones and decorations, the Gate of Dawn, the Gediminas Tower, the Cathedral Square, the Kalnu Park lookout with the picturesque Three Crosses and we spent oodles of time exploring the nooks and crannies of the River Neris. We took an enjoyable bus ride out to the lake side town of Trakai with its famous castle and we ventured to the many hamlets of villages around the lakes; afterwards, we had a tasty salmon lunch that was joined midway by a friendly praying ginger cat (see photo) - the mascot of the restaurant ! After these weeks spent in the Baltics, we gained a good idea about the countries' psyche, beauty and landmarks and we felt rewarded and enriched by the experience of meeting the friendly peoples and having seen these lovely places.