Marc and I finally arrived in Vilnius after a four hour bus ride from Riga, Latvia. Lithuania is the last of the Baltic states we are visiting on this trip. Just like on our trip from Tallinn to Riga, we traveled to Vilnius by the Luxe Bus. I had a big fright when we had the obligatory stop at a certain Panorama Mall outside the city center of Vilnius. Some passengers had to get off. One by one I could see them claim their luggage from the bus's trunk from my window seat. Just as the bus was about to leave, I saw our huge black HEYS suitcase sitting on the sidewalk in front of some passengers that had gotten off. I wondered why it was not in the trunk. I panicked. I went to speak to the two Russian/Lithuanian bus drivers and told them that they had gotten my suitcase out of the trunk and that they had forgotten to place it back in. They just looked at me and wanted to drive away. I became so nervous. I told them again what was happening in a calm but firm voice. Since neither could understand English, they did not want to pay me any mind. Increasingly frustrated. I asked any of the remaining passengers aboard the bus if they could help interpret. Thank God the driver behind the wheel decided to open the bus front door and I went out the bus with the second driver. I pointed to the suitcase on the curb and told him it was mine. The second driver apologized and he asked his colleague to open the trunk so he could put it back in. It was such a close call. All our clothes were in there and we had 10 more days of vacation here in Europe. I don't exactly know if any of the passengers asked to have our suitcase taken down from the trunk so they could take it away with them or if it was really carelessness on the part of the bus driver. At any rate, it was not a pleasant experience.

That was the first problem we encountered here in Vilnius. As soon as we arrived at the Vilnius Bus Station, it was pouring down rain. We looked for an Information Office to get directions to our hotel, the Rinno, which was supposed to be close to both the Bus and Railway stations. As soon as we went to an information booth, a surly young Russian female employee answered us in a very snippy manner and told us that her booth was not the tourist information. I asked if she knew where there was one and she sarcastically answered, "I don't know. In the city center." Where it was or if it was walking distance from where we were, she did not want to say. By this time, Marc had suggested that we just ditch visiting Vilnius altogether and that we just look for the train that was going to take us to the airport and fly to Oslo, our next destination after Lithuania straight away.

To cut a long story short, a kind young Lithuanian employee inside a cell phone store advised us to go to the train station which turned out to be just across the street. There we eventually found a tourist information office and a kind elderly Russian/Lithuanian lady very readily gave us directions to our hotel. She took out a city map and drew marks on the streets we needed to walk on. What Marc thought was going to be a two mile walk to our hotel through some scary housing projects turned out to be a quick 15-20 walk from the train station. Had it been sunny and dry, the walk would have been even easier.

Marc had read about the weather today and he had mentioned earlier that it was going to rain heavily. Boy did it rain cats and dogs. From the looks of it it rained dragons and dinosaurs given the amount of rain that fell all throughout the afternoon since our arrival. Rain or shine, we were decided to make the most of our short two day stay in Vilnius and we set off to see the city. Pilies Street was the first of the city attractions we saw. My first impressions of the city center and Old Town? Fantastic. I personally think Vilnius is more developed, more elegant, cleaner, and richer than Tallinn and Riga which we had just visited.

Since the rain did not shhow any signs of let up, we decided to just call it a day and return to our hotel and rest. Fortunately, it did stop and we decided to check out the Republic of Uzupis, a bohemian section of Vilnius replete with art galleries, artists, and restaurants. Some travelers likened it to Paris' Montmartre area.

How I wished this place was a real independent country so I could increase the number of countries I have visited thus far.

Since the sun came out, we returned to Cathedral Square. Along the way, we saw other city sights.

From there we saw an even more intricate looking building which we later found out was the St. Anne's Roman Catholc Church.