Rocking Riga

Again... I like alliteration.

My time in Lithuania passed quickly since there was no room in any hostel for Friday night, I decided to move on. Apparently I wasnt the only one since I met a guy on the bus to Riga who said that he was turned away everywhere he went too. Who knew Vilnus was so busy?

I spent a day exploring the city. So far Vilnus has been the one city where I have seen a very clear cultural difference from the rest of Europe. Vienna is special, Poland is great, but they are fundamentally western countries (Poland less so, but still). Lithuania is clealy still a bit stuck in the old communist ways. For the vast majority of people in the country their second language is Russian, for a few it is German, but almost no one speaks English. That is fair enough, but there is just something in the air that is not...friendly? welcoming? I can't put my finger on it. As you walk around the city you can still see where the hand of communism left its mark. Many buildings remain unoccupied and have clearly been like that for a while. Apparently it is getting better, but there is still an odd feeling in the air. Good to experience, but not somewhere I would want to spend a lot of time.

I was probably the only backpacker in the whole city. Well maybe not, but I didnt see any other travellers. Vilnus is actually quite small with a population of only 600 000 people, making it smaller than Mississauga. There are more chuches per square kilometer than anywhere I have ever been. Many are still in disrepair from neglect under communism and most are very simple on the inside. There is a big hill in the middle of the city that has the reminants of the city castle, which was very interesting and gave a great view of the city.

By far the most interesting aspect of the city was the Genocide Victims Museum. I wish that everyone could go and see it. Too often we forget the horrors that so many people endured under the repressive Soviet regime, especially in Eastern Europe. Lithuania had it especially bad as it was occupied by the Soviets, then the Nazis, then the Soviets again (a familar pattern in Eastern Europe). Hundreds of thousands of people were killed or deported from their homeland. While number like that are hard to grasp, this museum makes you feel every one of them. With indepth stories of people who were moved to Siberia or worse, pictures and personal effects, it was hard to read about some of the atrocities committed. Even today there are 35 suspected mass graves around Vilnus. The most authentic part of the museum is the basement, which was used as a place of interogation by the KGB and has been kept as it was. I walked through it completely alone, into the rooms that held prisioners. I sat on the beds they used and was horrified by the solitary confinement room. There was even a room that was half filled with ice-cold water. The prisoner was stipped down and had to stand on a single pole in the middle of the room for hours. It was stunning to see such a place and really brought to life the horrors of what the Soviets did to so many people. Without seeing a place like that the number have no real meaning. Seeing the faces of those who suffered brings it to life.

I should point out that in fact I did not stay in Vilnus...well not if you ask the locals of the area that I stayed in. I stayed in a place called The Republic of Uzupis, which is an unofficial republic of artists and drunks that declared indepndence from the rest of Vilnus. The area had long been poor and undeveloped and as often happens the artists moved in. They have their own constitution with rules like "Everyone has the right to feed the cat" and "Everyone has the right to be happy". It is very interesting part of the city to say the least.

So that ends my story of Vilnus. I am in Riga now and will give you a full account of the city in a couple of days and will post some pictures as soon as I can. In the meantime, best wishes to all back home!