Today was dedicated to Vilnius with a full day of exploration of town and its many, many churches. We kicked it of at the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, a catholic church in Baroque style. From here we continued to the viewpoint at the Three Crosses Monument for a view over town.

Our next stop was at the Gates of Dawn, where we entered the historic part of town, making our way past the St. Theresa church, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit to Vilnius University with its Church of St. Johns. The guided tour finished with a final group lunch in restaurant in the old town for a round of traditional Lithuanian food. While I was delighted about the cold beetroot soup, the cepelinai – often dubbed as the national dish of Lithuania – were (to me) the lowlight of the day (but – well – at least I have tried).

After lunch we (now in a smaller group) crossed the Vilnia river over to the Užupis quarter (or Republic of Užupis). Užupis feels kind of like the alternative quarter in town, with plenty of artist studios, boutiques of local designers, in-bars and plenty of art installations and murals – and made a welcome change to the church- and potato -heavy main part of town.

We eventually made it back into old town again, checking out the exterior of the MO museum, to then make our way back towards the hotel, passing by Vilnius Cathedral on the way and a stop for a mussel-heavy dinner.

I decided for another walk after dinner and made my way back to the Neris river for a night walks along the river, passing by the Krantinės arka sculpture and with some good views of town.