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Lithuania

Lithuania

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Lithuania is a developed country with a high income, advanced economy, ranking 37th in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 19th in the World Happiness Report (Australia is ranked 10 on both).

To be honest, I knew almost nothing about Lithuania before arriving here. We hopped a train from Poland and made our way to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. The city lies in the southeastern part of the country at the confluence of the Neres and Vilnius rivers.

Lithuanians , Poles , Jews and Belarusians have historically considered Vilnius as their cultural center. A university has been operating in Vilnius since 1579.

Legend of the Iron Wolf

According to the legend, centuries ago Grand Duke Gediminas, was on a hunting trip in the forests of Šventaragis valley around the mouth of the River Vilnia. When night fell, the party, feeling tired after a long and successful hunt, decided to set up camp and spend the night there. While he was asleep, Gediminas had an unusual dream in which he saw an iron wolf at the top of the mountain standing with its head raised proudly towards the moon, howling as loud as a hundred wolves.

The Duke remembered his dream and consulted the pagan priest about it. He was told that the dream was a direction to found a city among the hills.

The howling of the wolf represented the fame of the future city: that city will be the capital of Lithuanian lands, and its reputation would spread far and wide, as far as the howling of the mysterious wolf…’ So the Grand Duke Gediminas, obeying the will of gods, immediately started to build the future capital which took the name of Vilnius – from the stream of the rapid River Vilnia.

He built a fortress on the hill (Gediminas Tower) and the city of Vilnius grew up around it. You can still climb the hill and visit the Tower which provides one of the best views of this beautiful city. We however chose to pay 3 euros and use the funicular.

Hopping off the train we found ourselves in one of the cleanest and most cared for cities we have ever seen. This place was Japanese level clean and well tended for, certainly cleaner than anywhere we have ever been in Australia. Our hotel was a charming little joint, about 700m from the train station and right on the fringes of Old Town.

The oldest buildings in Vilnius were built in the 13th century. The main attraction is absolutely the Cathedral Square. It is not only the most important location in the city, but is also one of the most significant and widely known symbols of Lithuania.The square regularly hosts events such as: fairs and gatherings of townspeople, military parades, religious and official public events, attractions and large concerts, New Year’s salutes and exhibitions.

The main feature of the square is the Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius. The square was so important that it was the main feature on the 50 litas banknote (pre-euro), the layout included.

1. Vilnius Cathedral 2. Cathedral’s Belfry 3. Gediminas Tower 4. Hill of Three Crosses 5. Monument to Gediminas 6. Royal Palace

The Valdnieku (Grand Dukes) Palace , next to the Cathedral has been converted to house the history museum. Up the hill was Gediminas Castle Tower, which we took the funicular to reach the top. From here we got panoramic views over the city and surrounds.

The Three Crosses memorial consists of three white reinforced concrete crosses.

The hill got its name after Franciscans died as martyrs when pagans tied them to crosses and threw them down the hill. The three crosses were erected to commemorate this event.

At the bottom of the hill and the far (back) end of the Cathedral you find yourself in the Bernadine Gardens. We did the slow meander through here on our way to St. Anne’s Church. By this time the masses of tourists had crawled out of bed and were making seeing the sights unpleasant.

In an attempt to dodge some crowds for a while we found ourselves in a local cafe/bar where Jill found her long awaited steak tartare. She had been wanting one of these since Prague, but for a variety of reasons was unable to have one up until now. So that with some zeppelins (potato/meat dumplings) washed down with an Argentinian specialty (Aperol and fresh orange juice) and a local lager.

The sheer volume of beautiful old buildings and churches to be seen in and around Vilnius is astounding. And they are all (and I mean all) in perfect condition. There is no scaffolding, no graffiti, no shoddy paint. There is a real pride to the standard of the buildings, everywhere you look.

The Gate of Dawn, or Sharp Gate is a city gate that was built between 1503 and 1522 as a part of defensive fortifications for the city.

City gates often contained religious artifacts intended to guard the city from attacks and to bless travelers. The Chapel in the Gate of Dawn contains an icon of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, said to have miraculous powers.

Upon arrival we went hunting (online) about places to eat in the general vicinity of where we were. This is a common search for us on arrival in a town. The magic search phrases are restaurant near me, cheap eats near me, local food near me. We were surprised to find that the results trickled in rather than overwhelmed us.

Not finding anything that rang our bells, we decided to just wander about and see what we could see. What we found was an abundance of places to eat, but they were pop-up restaurants for the summer season. Not permanent fixtures but rather just places that took over open spaces and became an alfresco dining heaven.

The food was good, the prices were reasonable (maybe even cheap) and the setting was stunning. Warm (mid 20’s) summer evenings, cool beverages and great food offerings. This gave us some flashbacks of Spain and the way we lived back then.

To sum it all up, Lithuania was fantastic. We did not spend enough time here and will definitely put it on a list of places to come back to. August really is a spectacular time of year to visit here.

Brazil

Recife, Brazil

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Recife (The Reef) is a major (just under 2 million) Brazilian city on the Atlantic coast, at the estuary of three rivers (Capibaribe, Beberibe and Jordão). Due to the abundance of waterways in the area, it has become known as the Venice of Brazil (Veneza Brasileira). Having been to both, I think that the Venice reference is a bit of a stretch.

Brazil has a terrible reputation when it comes to violent crime. The US Department of State claims that violent crimes, such as murder, armed robbery, and carjacking, are common in urban areas, day and night. Gang activity and organised crime is widespread. Assaults, including with sedatives and drugs placed in drinks, are common.

Our experience after the first two cities has been quite different. It must be noted however that the military and police presence on every street corner has been extreme. Whether they put on a blitz when a boat arrives or if it is standard is unclear. But we have walked around freely and un-harassed and at no point even felt insecure or uneasy.

We do tend to be alert and aware travellers, we watch our surroundings and do not take unnecessary risks. But so far there has been no point where we have felt threatened or uncomfortable. For those who have been reading along the feeling that we got in the Canary Islands was much more troubling than anything in Brazil so far.

But Recife is a major city. It is famous for its beaches, history, Carnival, arts, the cuisine and of course the cheeky bikinis.

Boa Viagem is by far the most famous of the beaches, stretching for 8 kilometers it is the longest urbanised seafront in Brazil. The nearby coastal reef calms the waves and helps keep the water at 25 °C.

While the beach is amazing, since the mid 1990’s it has been plagued by bull and tiger shark attacks. This started after the building of a new port facility (about 50kms away) that changed the sharks pattern. Between 1992 and 2021, there were 62 shark attacks with 25 fatalities. Some were attacked while swimming in water barely up to their waist. Boa Viagem is so dangerous that lifeguards no longer train on the beach itself.

National Geographic photographer Daniel Botelho managed to get a split-level image that showed the shark beneath the surface and the nearby skyline above the surface.

The photo was taken only 50 meters from the shore.

Having read all of this, we chose not to swim. So instead we wandered the streets of town and took in the colonial architecture that was on offer. There were police and military everywhere you looked but at no point was it uncomfortable.

We wandered along the waterfront and broke right, to take in some of the waterways and parks near the ports. We found bridges, statues and a massively cheap way of living. All of the restaurants that we passed had menus showing that the major price was about 22 Brazilian real (about $7).

Not really sure why, but we kept coming across a bunch of 3 meter tall chickens.

Our wander about was possibly not reflective of the others on the boat. We told a group from the boat where we had been and what we had seen and when they tried to replicate, they were turned around and sent back by the police who told them that it was unsafe. My ability to look like a local almost everywhere I go coupled with my size allows me to walk virtually anywhere I want without being approached. Jill just kind of tags along and is also left alone.

Our meanderings saw us running into the Basílica e Convento de Nossa Senhora do Carmo. This is a church and a convent.

The Basilica started in 1580 by Carmelite friars and in 1654 the Our Lady of Mount Carmel nuns arrived.

The Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue doesn’t look like much from the outside but is OK once you pop your head in.

It is the oldest Synagogue in South America (established in 1636).

We found the local markets and got to experience life in real neighbourhoods. There were large American Style shopping malls that others on the ship had gone to, but ours was more like the local neighbourhood shops and even included a wet market.

While we never felt threatened or in peril, there was a great deal of overt poverty all through the place. There were lots of people sleeping on the streets, bathing in fountains and using the local parks as their own private laundries.

Recife had a really nice feel to it and we look forward to coming back when time is not so much a factor.

Hungary

Hungary

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Hungary is one of Europe’s oldest countries having been founded in 896. There is evidence of occupation in the area since 800BC.

Budapest

Budapest only became a city about 150 years ago when three cities (Buda, Pest, and Obuda) came together in 1873. Buda occupies the western bank of the Danube, while Pest is on the eastern bank (Obuda is a lump in the midst of all this). Once they came together there was a rapid advancement in both modernity and technology, however these were done under stringent town planning rules. 

Once again, we were blessed with perfect weather. Upon arrival, we headed out for dinner to a funky little restaurant that had converted an old railway car into the restaurant. It was a traditional Hungarian restaurant, unlike the abundance of pizza and kebab restaurants that seem to have overrun Europe.

Our hotel was at the bottom of the hill on the West Bank of the Danube (broadly) underneath the Fisherman’s Bastion which is one of the must-see attractions. The current version was built in the 19th century as a lookout tower for the best panoramic views in Budapest. On the bastion are seven turrets to represent the seven Hungarian tribes who founded the present day country in 896. There did used to be real castle walls but the present day structure has never served as an actual fortification.

From the Bastion, you get amazing views over the city and down to the Chain Bridge and the Hungarian Parliament Building. Which were both lit up nicely late in the evening after our meal. This is actually a little odd for us. We tend to do all of our sightseeing through the day and then bathe and head out for dinner, crashing or zoning out soon afterwards.

The Széchenyi Chain Bridge was built in 1849 and was the first permanent bridge that connected Buda and Pest.

The Hungarian Parliament building is home to Hungary’s legislative body and the Holy Crown, as well as serving as the workplace of 199 MPs and their support staff of 741 people.

The building took 17 years (1885–1902) to build and has become the symbol of Hungary and its capital.

The dome height is 96 metres.

The Parliament House is amazing if only for its sheer size, the width at its broadest point is 123 metres and the wing that runs parallel to the Danube is 271 metres long. The period when it was built coincided with an major economic boom that also saw the building of the Heroes’ Square, Andrássy Avenue, Nyugati Railway Station and several bridges over the Danube. During this time Hungary also opened Europe’s first underground railway (metro). 

A major attraction in Hungary is the existence of thermal baths. Budapest has the most thermal water springs of any other capital city in the world. 

Some of the more famous and well-known ones in the city are the Szechenyi, Gellert, and Kiraly Baths. Across the country, there are more than 1,500 thermal spas. 

High on the hill the Buda Castle can be found. The castle zone is huge and technically includes the Fisherman’s Bastion that we had explored the day before. It is home to the history museum, the National Gallery, Matthias church and much more.

Underneath the castle is an 800 year old labyrinth that is more like an underground city with narrow streets winding confusingly underneath the Buda Castle District.

The Great Dohány Street Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest in the world.

The Children’s railway was set up in the 1940s as a way to train communist children and still operates today. It is a train that is almost entirely run by children ages 10 to 14.

The children must complete a four-month training course to learn how to be conductors, inspectors, and workers. The only adults working there are the station master and the train drivers. The railway takes you on a 45-minute journey to the Buda Hills.

Heroes Square was closed when we were here. We could see it high on the hill from a distance but were unable to make the trek to see it up close.

Construction of St. Stephen’s Basilica began in 1851, in 1868 the cupola collapsed due to defects in materials and craftsmanship, after which works paused for more than a year. Issues and problems plagued its construction but in 1905 the church was finally dedicated. The height of the building is 96 meters.

The Hungarian State Opera House is in the centre of town. Construction began in 1875, funded by the city of Budapest and by the Emperor (Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary) it was opened to the public in 1884.

Shoes on the Danube is a memorial art installation that was installed in 2005.

Wiki tells me that it was done “to honour the Jews who were massacred by fascist Hungarian militia belonging to the Arrow Cross Party in Budapest during the Second World War.

They were ordered to take off their shoes (shoes were valuable and could be stolen and resold by the militia after the massacre), and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away”.

As is our way, we got chatting with the dude at the next table when we had dinner the first night in town.

His name was Akira (from Japan) and he had moved to Budapest, having studied in Prague and now worked in the tourism industry.

He offered to show us around (if we were interested) which of course we were.

So after we had done our day of sight seeing, we met Akira back at Parliament House and did a different version with an informed commentary. We saw some of the same things, but learned some important facts about them, we also saw things that we had obliviously walked past earlier that day.

As an example, after having coffee (well beer for us but coffee for Akira) at one of the two oldest cafe’s in town we wend down a rather unobtrusive and unremarkable set of stairs that we had ambled past. This was the metro line One, the first underground in Europe. It still ran and was heritage listed. While I knew that Budapest had the earliest underground, we had ridden them several times over the earlier days I just expected that it had kept up with the modern technology and did not expect the remnants to still be there let alone still functioning.

In doing my research I had also read about the stringent town planning rules but just accepted that they were and did not question why. Akira explained the importance of the dates. The city was founded in 896 (by the Magyars) and in 1896 Hungary celebrated the millennial anniversary of the Settlement with festivities held across the nation. As such 96 is an important number for the nation. If you think back to my earlier ramblings in this post, 96 is the height of the dome on Parliament House. It is also the height of St Stephen’s Basilica. The rules were set in place so that no building in the newly formed Budapest would be taller than these two buildings.

He also introduced us to the world of Hungarian porcelain, not a ususal pastime of mine but still interesting. We went to a smallish park near the middle of town that were the homes of the two most famous Hungarian porcelain makers (Zsolnay and Herend). Both of which had shops near the park and a fountain in the park highlighting their works.

We also meandered the streets and got the back story behind many of the buildings. But mostly, we got to chat to Akira about his life in Budapest and were able to get a real sense of what life was like living here and (previously) in Prague.

And in between all of the sights, there were the usual mix of very cool old buildings, statues, gargoyles and carvings that we randomly stumble across in our rambling.

We tried to offer Akira some money for his time and effort, but he would not hear of it. The enjoyment that we got from having a private tour cannot be underestimated and our gratitude was real. Let’s hope that he stays as one of our regular travel contacts an that at some point in the future, we may get to reciprocate.