Archives for “Vilnius” tag

Recently I was thinking what would correctly represent the spirit of Vilnius Old Town. And the first thing that came to my mind was ‘courtyards’. In the courtyards I feel the vibes of Old Vilnius the best. And here you can run away and pass through centuries.

Alumnatas courtyard is my favorite one. Alumnatas was a pontifical missionary seminary during 1582 – 1798. In the 17th century Alumnatas was remodeled in an Italian Renaissance style with magnificent arcades. Going further into the courtyard you can find a sculpture of elephants holding a chess board. I love this sculpture! Also from this point you can see the Courtyard of the Presidential Palace.

Renaissance is not only thing that links Alumnatas Courtyard with Italy. The Italian restaurant Fiorentino is also here.

Recently The New York Times announced the list of 46 places to go in 2013. And there they recommend go to Lithuania to taste beer. One of the best places to do it is Šnekutis and Bambalynė. Šnekutis is the place to try our Lithuanian rustic beer. They have many things on offer, including 14 kinds of beer and 4 kinds of gira (kvass). You can also taste various traditional snacks and dishes here. Šnekutis is very popular among people of many different ages.

Mister Šnekutis, the owner of the bar and barman, may look strange, may look funny, but he will always sincerely suggest beers for you. And do not be afraid to take a photo with him, he will kindly pose for you with an occasional hat!

I’d call the interior of the bar a “cozy mess”. Just like in the countryside. While trying our rustic beer you can also play chess or look at the various rustic antiques, placed throughout the bar.

Žvėrynas is a district in town where most people would like to live – houses with yards and gardens line its streets, it’s clean and very peaceful for a part of town that’s so close to the centre. The building on Vykinto Street 17A looks like an ordinary house but it’s much more than that. This is ‘Jalta’. The place is about good food, great music to match and, overall, a good time.

Just like in any house, the space inside is divided into rooms and all have furniture that is at least twenty years old. You feel as though you’re in your cottage out of town, or, more precisely, your dacha. There’s even a greenhouse: you can have drinks or food inside, I’ve heard of movies being screened here and they also grow mint which you can pick to have it steeped into a tea.

As part of their pledge to good food Jalta will only use seasonally available ingredients that have been bought locally. If you’ve ever tried to cook meat or pancakes you will know these things take time, the same is true for this place: they will only start preparing your dish once you order it, they do not have it half-frozen and waiting.

Lastly, make sure your smartphone has an app that recognizes music, as this has always been my place for musical discoveries. All of the above plus the overall feel of this place is why I like it so much. Enjoy!

Vilnius has so many churches that it’s useless to keep them all open. This is why some of them serve other purposes: one is the Church Heritage Museum, another is a book depository of the National Library (photos) and they even turned one into a concert hall. But if you’re anything like me and are reluctant to see more than three churches in a city you visit, St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church should definitely make your list.

Come here when the church is open as there is nothing special about its façade. What you’ll find inside will be a treat to the eye: dating back to the 17th century, the ornaments are the work of Italian baroque artists whose names along with other historical facts are to be found on the information boards.

Notice how the altar is rather small and modest for a church like this. That’s because the original, which was just as magnificent as the church is, was made by Dutch craftsmen but sank together with the ship it was on and making a copy was too expensive.

Take a look up at the arch just over the entrance. The faces on it look scary – they’re sinners. Back in the day, if one could buy indulgence he would go inside the church. If someone couldn’t afford it, though, this arch was the furthest he was allowed to go. But with that order no longer in place, go in and enjoy the most beautiful church in Vilnius.

I am not kidding, so consider yourself warned – if you have a sweet tooth this is the kind of place you’ll be bargaining with yourself about: “Just one more piece”. But, truth be told, ‘Senolių kepyklėlė’ is just too good to pass up and not all things sold inside are sweet.

The try to make their pastries as natural as possible and avoid artificial flavors and food coloring, this is also why the things sold here aren’t really the cheapest in town. But just grab a bite of a pie with cherries and chocolate or apples and poppy seeds and you’ll be hooked. There are a few tables inside, so you can also choose to have coffee or eat something that is less of a dessert: a pie with cheese, spinach or something else that is offered on the day you’re there.

Expect queues on a weekday as this is also a favorite spot of children from the nearby schools and the earlier you get here, the more different kinds of pastries you can expect to find – they are baked each morning and sold throughout the day. By closing time there is usually barely anything left, so you probably can’t go wrong with stopping by here right after lunch.