Latest / Wander the World with Pippa Hudson / Wander the World: Explore Vilnius and Lithuania

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Wander the World: Explore Vilnius and Lithuania · Wander the World with Pippa Hudson

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  Speaker 1: Believe to talk WhatsApp seven to two five six seven
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  Speaker 1: one five six seven. That is the number to use
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: if you would like to share with us your experiences
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: of travel to Lithuania, because in wonder the world today,
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  Speaker 1: that is where we are heading. Something a little bit different,
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  Speaker 1: not yet on everybody's travel radar, but perhaps by the
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  Speaker 1: end of this interview it might be on yours, because
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  Speaker 1: it really is one of Europe's hidden gems, talking about
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  Speaker 1: one of the Baltic states. Here at its heart is
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  Speaker 1: the capital city of Vilnius, known for its beautiful old town,
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  Speaker 1: its creative energy, and its rich, rich history. And if
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  Speaker 1: you are looking for a European trip that still feels authentic,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps not as crowded as some of the major destinations,
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  Speaker 1: certainly full of history and of stories, this might just
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  Speaker 1: be a place to add to your travel bucket list.
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  Speaker 1: If you've already been, we would love to hear from
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  Speaker 1: you about where you stayed and what you ate, and
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  Speaker 1: who you met, and your favorite highlights of the trip,
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  Speaker 1: observations that you think would be useful to share with
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: other travelers who might be following in your footsteps. Please
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  Speaker 1: pop through a WhatsApp, voice note or text to seven
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  Speaker 1: two five six seven one five six seven and to
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  Speaker 1: help us get to know this fascinating destination. We are
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  Speaker 1: so delighted to have with us via zoom this afternoon.
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  Speaker 1: Jintare Kavalondia, who is from go Vilnius, the city's official
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  Speaker 1: tourism board. Jintaro, Welcome to Cape Talk. It's wonderful to
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  Speaker 1: have you with us this afternoon.
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  Speaker 2: Hello, it's great to be here. Thanks for having us.
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  Speaker 1: It's a huge, huge pleasure for listeners who may never
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  Speaker 1: have considered Lithuania before. How do you usually describe the
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  Speaker 1: country and where it sits in Europe?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's Lithuania is one of the three Baltic countries
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  Speaker 3: which lie next.
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  Speaker 2: To the Baltic Sea.
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  Speaker 3: So we are in the similar region as Scandinavia, so
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  Speaker 3: north northern Europe and the Yeah, the atmosphere and the
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  Speaker 3: nature has some Scandinavian feeling because we have a lot
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  Speaker 3: of greenery forests, while the beaches and a little bits
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  Speaker 3: called sea, yeah a bit. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So it's a small one of.
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  Speaker 3: The three, small and nice country is full of nature.
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  Speaker 1: Looking forward to hearing more about that. So for those
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  Speaker 1: who I mean, I hope that's helped everybody position it.
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  Speaker 1: But you're talking bordered to the south by Poland and Belarus,
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  Speaker 1: boarded to the west by the little exclave of Russia
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  Speaker 1: that sits on that part of the Baltic Seas, and
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  Speaker 1: then to the east and north by Latvia. That's where
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  Speaker 1: it's positioned geographically. Jintana. Do South Africans need a visa
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  Speaker 1: to visit Lithuania? Would it be a Shanghan visa or
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  Speaker 1: another kind?
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  Speaker 4: If any it's it's a Shangan visa, Okay, So you
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  Speaker 4: can visit like all the other European Union countries because
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  Speaker 4: Lithuania is part of the European Union.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, So Shane and visa required for us? And how
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  Speaker 1: do we reach Lithuania? Are there direct flights from many
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  Speaker 1: centers into Vilnius or typically for a visita coming from
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  Speaker 1: Africa where they need to connect via one of the
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  Speaker 1: sort of big travel hubs.
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  Speaker 3: At the moment, we don't have direct flights, so but
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  Speaker 3: we have flights from the big hubs such as London, Frankfurt,
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  Speaker 3: Istanbul and Helsinki.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that's the convenient ways to go.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, so several different ways to get there, and
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  Speaker 1: it will be a sort of a hop and a
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  Speaker 1: skip of a flight, but I'm sure worth it once
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  Speaker 1: you arrive, Jinari. Let's talk about what we'll find on arrival,
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  Speaker 1: and let's start in your capital city, Vilnius, which I
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  Speaker 1: understand is just absolutely rich in history and beautiful old buildings, etc.
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  Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit more about Vilnius and what
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  Speaker 1: makes it special.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so, Illness is quite an old European city. It's
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  Speaker 3: more than seven hundred years old. It has a nicely
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  Speaker 3: preserved old town in which is Baroque architecture, and the
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  Speaker 3: old town is included in the unschool list, so.
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  Speaker 2: Something really worth to see.
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  Speaker 3: It's the biggest city in the Baldy countries and the
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  Speaker 3: capital city of Lithuania. We have, but we have a
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  Speaker 3: population of about six thousand people, so it's not, you know,
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  Speaker 3: a big metropolis. It's quite relaxed and the spacious and
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  Speaker 3: the cozy city.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, all right, the old town you've mentioned. Besides
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  Speaker 1: the beautiful architecture, all the museums, castles, exhibitions, what are
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  Speaker 1: a the highlights that a visitor will enjoy while exploring
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  Speaker 1: the old time?
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  Speaker 2: Sure?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so one of the kind of the top things
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  Speaker 3: to see is the oldest castle that is there since
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  Speaker 3: the foundation of the city. That is called Geminas Castle,
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  Speaker 3: which was built by the great knights get the Minas
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  Speaker 3: who founded the city. So you can have a nice
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  Speaker 3: panorama of the old town when you climb the.
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  Speaker 2: Rather small hill in the old town.
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  Speaker 3: And other than that, of course, you can visit museums
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  Speaker 3: to learn about the history of Villnus as well as Lithuania.
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  Speaker 2: We have.
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  Speaker 3: Quite a few art museums and galleries, including for example,
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  Speaker 3: a modern art museum which is called More Museum with
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  Speaker 3: very interactive exhibitions. Yeah, and Villness offers also a rich
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  Speaker 3: cultural life, so depending on when you're visiting, you can
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  Speaker 3: you will you know, you can run into like this weekend,
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  Speaker 3: for example, we will have a Villinus Light Festival, which
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  Speaker 3: is like three light installations in the old town of Illness.
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  Speaker 2: As you know, we have winter.
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  Speaker 3: Now and quite a long period of darkness, so to
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  Speaker 3: light up we have this light festival. If you come
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  Speaker 3: in May or June, we have a lot of music events.
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  Speaker 2: Going on as well as as theater.
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  Speaker 3: Also for the warm season, it's really nice to do
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  Speaker 3: some active vacation activities such as you know, kayaking or
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  Speaker 3: hiking and you can do all this well stay in
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  Speaker 3: the city because city contains a lot of green areas.
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  Speaker 1: You've emphasized that several times, and I think it's not
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  Speaker 1: something people tend to picture when they think of the
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  Speaker 1: Baltic they think of a wild, icy sea, they think
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  Speaker 1: of the ancient buildings, et cetera. But green spaces and
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  Speaker 1: opportunities to hike can be outdoors not necessarily top of mind.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm really glad you've emphasized that for us, that
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  Speaker 1: it's possible to really get out doors and enjoy nature
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  Speaker 1: without even leaving the capital city. I think I've been
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  Speaker 1: told that it's even possible to ski quite close to
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  Speaker 1: the city. Am I correct in remembering that, Yes.
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  Speaker 2: You're correct. A.
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  Speaker 3: You can do cross country skiing in our biggest park, which.
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  Speaker 2: Is in the middle of the city, or you can
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  Speaker 2: do skiing on the hill, which is also in the city.
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  Speaker 3: We don't have big mountains as South Africa does, but
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  Speaker 3: we have some.
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  Speaker 2: We have a special hill we made, yeah, which.
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  Speaker 3: Is really good for skiing. So we have actually people
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  Speaker 3: who sometimes go on their lunch break to ski and
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  Speaker 3: then they come back to work.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to add that to the list of demands
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  Speaker 1: that work here. We're a little bit lacking in snow
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  Speaker 1: though it could be a problem. I just want to
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  Speaker 1: say for anybody who is tuning in midway to this
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  Speaker 1: interview who might be wondering who you're listening to. Our
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  Speaker 1: guest joining us by a zoom this afternoon is gintare
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  Speaker 1: Kavalunegia from go Vilnius. That's the official tourism board of Vilnis, Lithuania.
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  Speaker 1: It's the capital city of the Baltic state, and chatting
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  Speaker 1: to us about the many reasons you should think about
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  Speaker 1: visiting Lithuania on your next holiday. It's not really sort
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  Speaker 1: of top of mind for those planning a European trip
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  Speaker 1: from South Africa, but perhaps it should be, gentara A.
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  Speaker 1: We're hearing a lot globally about over tourism and seeing
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  Speaker 1: people complaining about how some of the sort of more
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  Speaker 1: regular popular tourist sites are just becoming overrun by the
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  Speaker 1: sheer volume of numbers of as it is that are
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  Speaker 1: actually spoiling the experience. From what you're saying, it sounds
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  Speaker 1: like that's not a big concern for Villness and for
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  Speaker 1: Lithuania generally. Are you finding that your visiting numbers are
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  Speaker 1: still manageable that you can have an experience that still
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  Speaker 1: feels quite unrushed and uncrowded.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, for sure, we have.
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  Speaker 3: We feel that that's a difference that we have. Actually, Yes,
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  Speaker 3: if you come to Villiness, you don't have a crowd,
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  Speaker 3: you don't have queues, you know at the restaurants or museums.
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  Speaker 3: It's quite everything is quite easy to to to reach.
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  Speaker 3: So those are the numbers are growing growing steadily, but but.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they are still manageable and.
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  Speaker 3: The city is quite spacious, so so yeah, you don't
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  Speaker 3: get this feeling of being you know, tired because of
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  Speaker 3: the crowds.
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  Speaker 2: So if those who.
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  Speaker 3: Want to have some more space than Villiness is a
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  Speaker 3: good choice.
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  Speaker 1: Our listener, Lucy, has had the privilege of visiting several
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  Speaker 1: years ago, and she says her favorite absolute highlight of
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  Speaker 1: the trip was the island Castle of the Old Grand Dukes.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's outside of Illness though, am I correct?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, that's She probably means Traffic Castle, which is about
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  Speaker 3: thirty kilometers from the Villiness center, so it's kind of
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  Speaker 3: like a half day trip. And yeah, I would agree
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  Speaker 3: it's a great It's a great day trip, especially on
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  Speaker 3: a summer day because you can also not only visit
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  Speaker 3: the historic castle, but you can sail, to kayak or
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  Speaker 3: also swim in the lakes because it's a nice lake region,
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  Speaker 3: and you can take a train from.
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  Speaker 2: Villiness to get to track, so it's like.
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  Speaker 3: A nice half hour train ride and then walking in
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  Speaker 3: the beautiful lake region.
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  Speaker 1: Sounds gorgeous, Lucy, thank you for the tip. Keith would
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  Speaker 1: like to know how easy would it be for in
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  Speaker 1: English speaking South African to get around and communicate with
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  Speaker 1: the people of Lithuania. Tell us a little bit about
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  Speaker 1: language and whether there's a language barrier.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: English.
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  Speaker 3: At the moment, English has really spoken widely in Lithuania.
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  Speaker 3: You know, the main language here is Lithuanian. But as
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  Speaker 3: for many small countries, you know, people always know two
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  Speaker 3: or three languages just to travel around the European Union
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  Speaker 3: and things like that, so there's no problem absolutely to
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  Speaker 3: speak in English.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, good news, Keith, thanks for asking, and then Johann
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  Speaker 1: asking the most important question of all. Let's talk about
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  Speaker 1: the food. What are I mean? For so many people,
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  Speaker 1: food experience is a huge part of their holiday. What
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  Speaker 1: would you recommend a visitor should try. What are some
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  Speaker 1: of the traditional dishes or flavors or things to look
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  Speaker 1: out for that will give you a stomach a fresh experience.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, so Villainus is actually becoming a trendy gastronomic destination
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  Speaker 3: because of our We recently joined the Michelan List with
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  Speaker 3: the with the four restaurants with one star. So there's
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  Speaker 3: a nice selection of fine dining with a low kind
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  Speaker 3: of young and local chefs inventing their their own.
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  Speaker 2: Way of preparing food.
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  Speaker 3: You know, combining the local products and the modern kind.
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  Speaker 2: Of take on that. So that's fine dining.
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  Speaker 3: And other than that, we have traditional food, which is yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we are kind of like our history is a lot
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  Speaker 3: of farming communities, so the traditional food is a bit heavy.
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  Speaker 3: It has a lot of potatoes and meat. But one
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  Speaker 3: there's one dish that is becoming very popular lately is
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  Speaker 3: a dish that is called pink soup. So that's a
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  Speaker 3: that's a summer summer dish which is made from beetroot
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  Speaker 3: and it looks pink, but it's a very refreshing soup.
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  Speaker 2: So we even have a festival dedicated to this soup.
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  Speaker 2: It's called spin Soup.
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  Speaker 3: Fest because it's kind of like a We hold this
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  Speaker 3: festival every year at the last days of spring, and
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  Speaker 3: there's just kind of an opening of the summer season
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  Speaker 3: when you can be outside.
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  Speaker 2: It's long summer.
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  Speaker 3: Days and you can eat refreshing called beetroot soup with
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  Speaker 3: cafir okay, so really recommended.
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  Speaker 1: So Johann, you know what to put first on your
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  Speaker 1: food bucket list when you're visiting. Thank you for your question.
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  Speaker 1: I'm so glad that Enid has messaged us reflecting on
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  Speaker 1: the fact that there are many South Africans who have
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  Speaker 1: Lithuanian heritage in their past. My own family and I'm
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  Speaker 1: aware of the fact that on our family tree there
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  Speaker 1: is a branch that came from Lithuania originally. Enid feeling
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  Speaker 1: quite sad listening to this conversation because she says my
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  Speaker 1: father had to flee there as a result of the
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  Speaker 1: programs and Enid touching on, you know, the fact that
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  Speaker 1: Lithuania has a very long and fraught history. It's a
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  Speaker 1: space that has been occupied and fought over and had
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  Speaker 1: a lot of displacement over the years and many different
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  Speaker 1: sort of eras in its history. I mean, is that
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  Speaker 1: something that's fully reflected in the visitor experience? How does
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  Speaker 1: that impact that that very diverse history which includes a
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  Speaker 1: lot of conflict. How does that shape the visitor experience today, Gineret.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, So Villnus and Lithuania we have a quite diverse history,
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  Speaker 3: and the twentieth century has not been easy and it
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  Speaker 3: really does have some really sad and dark moments. So yes,
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  Speaker 3: So this is a very important part of the identity
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  Speaker 3: of the city to kind of try to work with
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  Speaker 3: all this history and to reflect it in the museum.
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  Speaker 3: So we we have. Some of the places which I
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  Speaker 3: would recommend to visit is the Museum of Freedom Fights,
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  Speaker 3: that's about the struggle for independence. There is a Jewish
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  Speaker 3: museum which has recently opened a new a new branch,
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  Speaker 3: which is talking about the identity of the local jew population,
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  Speaker 3: the Litvas and their contri huge contribution to the color, culture, politics,
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  Speaker 3: food and things like that.
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  Speaker 2: So Illness has a history with a.
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  Speaker 5: Polish community, with Jewish community and the other nationalities which
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  Speaker 5: it is trying to integrate all this kind of complicated
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  Speaker 5: and difficult history and to see it as how we
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  Speaker 5: move forward, but not forgetting the past.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mean I just want to echo what
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  Speaker 1: you say that some people might think that to visit
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  Speaker 1: a museum like that and to be reminded of sad
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  Speaker 1: history is not a fun thing to do on holiday,
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: but there can be some of the most powerful experiences.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm thinking of another example that's done it so
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  Speaker 1: well in Amsterdam. The Holocaust Museum absolutely one of the
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  Speaker 1: most powerful experiences I had during my experience of that
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  Speaker 1: city because it was done with such sensitivity and really
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  Speaker 1: thought provoking. So absolutely echo what you've said, Jintari, that
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  Speaker 1: those are places worth visiting to remember and reflect why
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: we look forward. We've got a voice note in from
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: a listener who wants to comment. Let's take a quick
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: listen to that before we wrap up.
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  Speaker 6: Lithuania has been on my travel radar for a long time.
• 17:16
  Speaker 6: I haven't been there yet, but if you are in
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  Speaker 6: the area, telling the capital of Estonia and Riga, the
• 17:22
  Speaker 6: capital of Latvia, are also.
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  Speaker 7: Really worth visiting. Talin, the old town of Taliann in Estonia,
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  Speaker 7: is probably the most magical place I've ever been to,
• 17:34
  Speaker 7: and Riga and Latvia was also soroughly enjoyed. They've both
• 17:38
  Speaker 7: got herbal bitter herbal the kiirs. Estonia's one is called
• 17:43
  Speaker 7: Vana Talin that is delicious. Latvia Is one is called
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: black balsam. I did not enjoy that at all. In
• 17:52
  Speaker 7: Riga in Latvia, near the main square, we found two
• 17:55
  Speaker 7: oceans sparkling wine, not cut classic sparkling wine, selling at
• 18:01
  Speaker 7: the price of for each champaign. Then, as I said,
• 18:05
  Speaker 7: it was a few years ago, then English was a
• 18:06
  Speaker 7: bit of a problem and we try to explain to them,
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: but either they wouldn't listen or they didn't understand.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: I bet you drank it anyway, Elso thank you what
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: a lovely voice notes and really flying the flag there
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: for the whole Baltic region. And if you're traveling all
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: that distance, then why not make it a multi country
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: experience if you're able to Jitari, you've done such a
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: wonderful job of painting the picture for us of the
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: attractions of Lithuania and particularly of the capital, c City Villainess.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Last quick question to you is around affordability. Is it
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: still a relative I mean, anything in Europe is expensive
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: for South Africa's traveling on the round, but compared to
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: some of the other big tourist destinations, would you say
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: it's still a relatively affordable destination.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: Indeed, the illness often ranks on the economy side. Among
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: European destinations, so it's still Accommodation is from sixty euro
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: and you can eat.
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  Speaker 2: For relatively.
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  Speaker 3: Small prices, so yes, this is quite a good quality
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  Speaker 3: for money.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I hope I get to come and experience it for
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: myself soon. In the meantime, though, Jintare Kavalu Nadia, thank
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: you so much for opening our eyes to this destination
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: and we wish you all the best for the light
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  Speaker 1: festival this weekend and the visitors in the year beyond.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so so much for your time this afternoon.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Yes, thank you very much. Nice to be here, great.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: To have you with us. Jintare Kavalum Nadia from go Vilnius,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: which is the official tourism board for the capital city
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: of Lithuania.