Welcome to my blog! I dedicated my previous articles to Turkey, but in this article I would like to explore with you the land of Lithuania.
Lithuania is a small country (population – less than 3 million people) in the northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic countries together with Latvia and Estonia. Its neighbours are Latvia in the north, Poland, Belarus and a tiny part of Russia (Kaliningrad) in the south. It is a relatively new country as it got independence in 1990 after it officially separated from the Soviet Union. Its official language is Lithuanian, which comes from the Baltic branch of languages and is only similar to the Latvian language.
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Vilnius is the capital and the most densely populated city in Lithuania (more than 500,000 people). It is one of the most important educational cities in this country as there are loads of universities (e.g. Vilnius University, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University) and therefore a lot of students, including foreign ones (Turkish, Spanish, Italian, South Korean, etc.), who follow the Erasmus exchange programme. As Vilnius is a student-like city, you can feel a special and lively atmosphere there. What is more, it is also one of the most touristic ones. Here is the list of some of the tourist attractions in Vilnius:
- The Old Town: it is full of restaurants, cafes and cosy souvenir shops. It is a great place if you want to go for a walk and immerse yourself in the authenticity of the city.
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- Cathedral: it lies in the heart of the centre and is said to be one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world. It is an example of the Baroque architecture with frescoes, precious paintings and sculptures inside.
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- Gediminas Castle: it is a symbol of Vilnius and stands right on the top of the hill, from which you can see a panorama of the city. According to the legend, this castle was built when the Duke of Lithuania had a prophetic dream.
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- Vingis Park: it is situated on a bend of the Neris River and is a nice place to go for a stroll and enjoy being surrounded by nature.
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It is said that the second religion (after Christianity) in Lithuania is basketball as Lithuanians are extremely keen on it and play it very well. Lithuania’s national team won a bronze medal in the Olympic Games in 1992, 1996 and 2000 as well as a bronze medal in the FIBA World Cup in 2010. One of the most important Lithuanian basketball players of all times is Arvydas Sabonis.
There are four seasons in Lithuania: summer, autumn, winter and spring. Summers are usually warm and dry: daytime temperatures reach 20-25°C and sometimes more than 30°C. Winters, on the other hand, are often severe and freezing: daytime temperatures are usually around -5°C, but they might get lower than -20°C!
Due to the weather conditions, I would recommend visiting Lithuania in spring or summer.
Lithuanian cuisine consists of a large number of vegetables (especially potatoes and beetroot), meat and dairy products.
Some of the traditional dishes are: cepelinai (huge dumplings made of a potato and filled with meat or curd), beetroot soup, šaltibarščiai (cold beetroot and kefir soup), potato pancakes and others.
*in the image šaltibarščiai source
As Lithuania is not a very well-known country, I hope this article was useful in getting to know this small but surely interesting Baltic country. Have you been there? Would you like to visit it? Let me know in your comments below!