Lithuania - 4 Times

 Back in the early 2000s I spent time working as an english teacher in Poland - and all my visa renewals I did in Lithuania.  The capital, Vilnius, is where I spent most of my time but I managed to get to the coast and explore a little more of the country and see cool things like the Hill of Crosses. 

Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is a city where history and creativity meet at every corner. Nestled at the confluence of the Vilnia and Neris rivers, Vilnius has been a cultural crossroads for centuries. Its Old Town, one of the largest in Europe, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famed for its labyrinth of cobbled streets, baroque churches, and pastel-colored townhouses. Walking through it feels like stepping back in time, with Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture blending seamlessly.

The city’s history stretches back to the 14th century, when Grand Duke Gediminas established Vilnius as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Over the centuries, it became a hub of trade, culture, and learning. It has also endured hardship, from wars and occupations to the devastation of its once-thriving Jewish community during World War II. Today, Vilnius embraces this complex past while projecting a vibrant, youthful energy.

Modern Vilnius is known for its thriving arts scene and creative neighborhoods. The bohemian district of Užupis, often compared to Montmartre in Paris, has declared itself an independent republic with its own whimsical constitution. Street art, quirky cafes, and artisan shops spill across its narrow streets, making it a must-see for visitors seeking Vilnius’s playful side.

The city is also green and welcoming, with open squares, riverside paths, and panoramic views from spots like Gediminas Tower or the Hill of Three Crosses. Museums such as the National Museum of Lithuania and the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights provide deeper insights into the country’s journey.

Vilnius is accessible, affordable, and endlessly walkable. Whether you’re admiring the baroque masterpiece of St. Peter and Paul’s Church, sipping coffee in Cathedral Square, or exploring the lively nightlife, Lithuania’s capital offers a mix of old-world charm and modern vibrancy that lingers long after you leave.The Hill of Crosses, or Kryžių Kalnas, is one of Lithuania’s most powerful symbols of faith and resilience. Located about 12 kilometers north of the city of Šiauliai, this site is unlike anywhere else in the world. From a distance, it appears to be a grassy mound, but as you approach, the scale becomes clear—hundreds of thousands of crosses, rosaries, crucifixes, and statues crowd together, creating a striking landscape of devotion.

The origins of the Hill of Crosses date back to the 19th century, after the 1831 Uprising against the Russian Empire. Families began placing crosses on the hill to honor those who had died or disappeared. Over time, it grew into a place of pilgrimage, particularly during Soviet rule, when religious expression was suppressed. The Soviets bulldozed the site several times, but locals continually replaced the crosses, often under the cover of night. By the time Lithuania regained independence in 1991, the hill had become a powerful symbol of endurance and faith.

Today, estimates suggest there are well over 100,000 crosses on the hill, though the number is constantly growing as visitors from around the world continue to add their own. The site is free to visit and open year-round. Pilgrims and tourists alike bring crosses, small and large, inscribed with prayers, names, or messages of hope.

The Hill of Crosses is not only a national shrine but also a recognized site of Catholic pilgrimage. In 1993, Pope John Paul II visited and celebrated Mass there, further cementing its international significance.

Visitors typically reach the hill from Šiauliai, with buses and tours making the short journey. It’s best to allow at least an hour to walk among the paths, take in the solemn atmosphere, and leave your own cross if you wish.

The coastal town of Klaipėda, Lithuania’s only seaport city, sits on the Baltic coast where the Dane River meets the Curonian Lagoon. With its maritime heritage, cobblestoned old town, and proximity to stunning natural landscapes, Klaipėda offers visitors a fascinating mix of history and seaside charm.

Founded in 1252 by the Teutonic Knights, the city was originally known as Memel and has long been a contested hub between Germanic and Baltic powers. Its architecture reflects this layered past, with timber-framed German-style houses sitting alongside Soviet-era blocks and modern developments. For centuries, Klaipėda was part of Prussia and later Germany, only becoming part of Lithuania in 1923 after Lithuanian forces staged the Klaipėda Revolt. This was short-lived, however: in March 1939, Adolf Hitler visited the city personally to mark Nazi Germany’s annexation of Klaipėda and the wider region. It was the last territorial expansion before the outbreak of World War II.

Today, Klaipėda embraces its complicated history while presenting itself as a lively port town. The Old Town features atmospheric squares like Theatre Square, home to the statue of “Ännchen von Tharau,” a nod to the city’s German past. The Curonian Spit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared with Russia’s Kaliningrad region, is easily accessible from Klaipėda and offers visitors endless sand dunes, pine forests, and quiet fishing villages.

Klaipėda is also the gateway to Lithuania’s summer escapes. Ferries connect the mainland to the Curonian Spit, while the city itself bustles with festivals, street markets, and a growing arts scene. Visitors can explore the Lithuanian Sea Museum and Dolphinarium, stroll along the harbor, or enjoy the fresh catch of the day in a seaside café.

Compact, walkable, and steeped in maritime tradition, Klaipėda is both a reminder of Lithuania’s turbulent past and a vibrant hub for exploring the Baltic coast.

Grūtas Park, often nicknamed “Stalin’s World,” is one of Lithuania’s most unusual and thought-provoking attractions. Located near the spa town of Druskininkai in southern Lithuania, the park was established in 2001 by businessman Viliumas Malinauskas. Its purpose is to preserve and display relics of the Soviet era, allowing visitors to confront Lithuania’s difficult past under communist rule.

The park is home to over 80 statues and monuments that once dominated public spaces during the Soviet period. These include imposing figures of Lenin, Stalin, and other communist leaders, as well as busts, plaques, and Soviet propaganda art. After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, most of these symbols were removed from cities and towns, but Grūtas Park became a place where they could be preserved in context rather than destroyed.

Spread across a large, forested area, the park is designed to feel like a journey into the past. Visitors walk along boardwalks and trails, passing guard towers and barbed-wire fences reminiscent of a Soviet labor camp. A small museum on-site displays documents, photographs, and everyday items from the communist period, offering deeper insight into how Lithuanians lived under the Soviet system.

While the subject matter is heavy, the park also incorporates lighter elements, such as a playground, a mini-zoo, and cafes, making it accessible to families. Still, the overall experience encourages reflection on history and remembrance of the struggles faced by Lithuanians under Soviet control.

Today, Grūtas Park attracts both locals and international visitors interested in history, politics, and memory. It stands as a reminder of how far Lithuania has come since regaining independence, while ensuring that the lessons of its Soviet past are not forgotten.Though Iv been to all the Baltic states, Lithuania was where I spent the most time and had the most visits. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina - what a place!

On January 2016, I set off on a long-awaited Balkan adventure.  It was anti-clockwise and went: Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania finishing in Moldova.
Some places stood out more than others, for various reasons, and Bosnia and Herzegovina has stayed in my mind - allow me to introduce my experience to you.

I used buses to travel within the Balkans, which is how I went from Belgrade in Serbia, to Bosnia's capital Sarajevo.  I remember the border crossing, not much happened there, but I do recall it.  And beautiful green country side, which was typical of Bosia - it reminded of Georgia and parts of Armenia.

It was cold in Sarajevo, there was still snow on the ground and grey skies above, it was late winter after all.   I taxied from the bus drop off to my accommodation which I'd booked through Airbnb.  It was 'out' of town, but not by many kilometres and certainly not by Australian standards, and tricky to find as there were a lot of apartment blocks in that area, but eventually we found it.  It was well connected to the public tram system being only a few minutes walk from the tram line, had a good supermarket across the road and was actually a really nice apartment.  It was a studio, so I was staying solo but the hosts mother was there to greet me and show me whats what, albeit it in broken English.  She ended up being quite pushy, wanting me to book trips to explore Bosnia with her son as my chauffeur, to the point it got too much.  I was really keen to go to Srebrenica and almost relented to her pressure,  but thankfully I didn't because at this time of year the museum is shut and the memorial site has limited access.
Srebrenica is where the July 1995 genocide of more than 8000 Bosniaks took place during the Bosnian War.  I have a close friend who worked for the UK police at the time, and he was part of a team that went over there to help with the clean up.  To this day, he still won't talk about what he saw or witnessed while he was placed there.

Sarajevo.  What a gem! I like to get up and head into towns / cities and just walk, exploring at my own will.  I don't pre plan things, I just walk and walk, find a nice place for coffee, another for food and get the feel of the place.  Sarajevo was no exception, however, given its history and the scars of war that still dot the town, I'd recommend finding at least a little out about it before you go.
Its' sometimes referred to as the Jerusalem of Europe / the Balkans because it's one of only a few European cities to have a mosque, a catholic church, orthodox church and a synagogue, all within the same neighbourhood.  I don't recall noticing this and it wasn't something I was aware of when I went.  There's beautiful cemeteries sprawling across the rolling hills around the town centre, and I did wander up through them.  They offer amazing views and there's headstones almost as far as the eye can see.  It was peaceful and serene.
Sarajevo is not a big city, with a population of only 275 thousand, but that was part of the charm - you can wander narrow lanes, cobbled streets, amongst and past colourful, ornate buildings, very much like in parts of eastern Europe and whatever Id been expecting before arriving, this wasn't it!

I went to a cafe in the square one day and had a beautiful lunch of a type of kebab with the all the trimmings.  Everything was fine but I was aware that theres possibly not a huge number of tourists going into Bosnia, I had the feeling I stood out as an outsider, I could feel the looks of curious eyes.  I found outdoor markets and haggled for a warm hat off one seller, I think I bought a scarf as well and just kept on wandering the streets.
Sarajevo has a particular war reminder with the 'roses of Sarajevo' - splashes of red paint marking places on the ground where bombs hit.  I didn't find many, I wasn't looking for them, but its still freaky to see them.  I was alive during this war and remember it being on television etc.  Hard to believe it happened on these very streets I was walking on.
I wandered and wandered, looked, took photos, observed the goings on.. I remember trying to find a cafe that had decaf coffee as I was doing my best to lay off caffeine - I can confirm, it was impossible to find! Dammit! Also, there was heavy rain one day and as I always keep my passport in the outer pocket of my daypack, I panicked when I realised my bag was getting saturated.  Two weeks earlier in Greece, Id washed my pack and my passport got laundered in the process, so the one I had in Bosnia was actually the new replacement one, and it was getting wet again!  Luckily I salvaged it and there was no real damage, aside from slight ripples in some of the pages as they dried.

I remember going to a museum, but now I cant remember which one it was! There's actually a lot of museums in Sarajevo that I noticed, and the one I went to had war memorabilia plus national history - and it was a disappointment.  I don't like to judge, but I didn't rate it, I was disappointed.  Of more interest to me was the Srebrenica museum in the heart of Sarajevo - Gallery 11/07/95.  It's interactive, with computer screens set up along desks in a room, that give you choices of which footage to watch, in whichever language you require.  In other rooms there were movies and photographs showing plenty of and about the massacre, perhaps a little too much to keep my concentration with so much history, detail and information, but Im still pleased I went.  That massacre was a bloody streak in Bosnia's history that still haunts the country today.
I found a large vegetable and household market in the inner city, and though I didn't buy anything I wandered around to get a feel of local life.  Walking up and out of Sarajevo, along the hillsides be it in the residential area or up amongst the cemeteries,  gives amazing views of the city and its surrounds.  And it suited the grey, wet and cold weather, I loved it. 

No trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina would be complete without heading south to Mostar - its a must.  I took a minibus there from Sarajevo through beautiful, green rolling countryside, absolutely beautiful.  In Mostar I was met at the bus station by the young couple I was to be renting my accommodation from for my stay - a small apartment that I'd found online, perfect.  They were friendly, helpful and got me settled in - then they offered me a private tour in their car to some points of interest south of the town,  if I was interested. I was! Let's go!  I'm so pleased I went, not only was the price right but its so good to do side trips with locals for many reasons - this was no exception.  First stop a short drive south of Mostar was Blagaj Monastery.  It's small and quaint, resembling a cosy house more than anything else and today functions as a restaurant.  It was built in the 16th Century by Dervish monks, there is no mistaking the classic Ottoman architecture.  A river runs by right outside, and I was told it can flood and make some of the restaurants on the river bank opposite impossible to eat at.
They also took me to see the open air museum of Pocitelj, which was awesome.  We had a good wander around, and I got a lot of awesome photos.  While the construction date hasn't been able to be made offical, the general consensus is that it was built by King Tvrtko sometime in 1383.  Two stages of evolution are evident within the fortification - medieval and Ottoman.  Fascinating. 
My hosts dropped me back to the apartment and left, but they'd told me stories about the war that have stayed with me to this day.  They were teenagers then, so have vivid memories and recollections.  He lost both his parents and then became the youngest fighter in Mostar, fuelled by anger no doubt.  And she told me of a friend of hers returning home one day to find the body of her father on the front lawn, he'd been decapitated, she was 14. 

Next morning I got up and set off to do what I love, walk!  I had my day pack and, thankfully, the warm hat that Id bought in Sarajevo was in my pack.  I had to pull up to put it on, I didn't want to stop, take off my pack, find the hat and then put it on - the wind was biting cold, my ears and face were burning and I was hunkered down into my jacket trying to defend myself from its wintery brutality, but stop I did. The hat was awesome. 
You can't visit Mostar without seeing the infamous Old Bridge, or Stari Most in local language.  It is a rebuilt Ottoman bridge from the 16th Century, crossing the Neretva river that dissects the town.  It is a UNESCO site and really quite something to see.  The walk towards it was just as I'd expect - tourist shops.  I kept walking, crossed the bridge and then turned sharp left and went down to a cafe.  I went inside, it was big and empty, I was the only customer.  There was one male staff member there, he was sitting at a table reading when I entered.  I asked him if he had good coffee, he said he had the best, I believed him and ordered what was easily one of the worst coffees Iv ever had.  I lied to his face and told him it was delicious - I mean, at least it was something warm to drink, plus I had amazing views from the windows and the cafe gave me a welcome break from being outside in the wind.  I paid and as I went to leave I lied to him again and told him I'd come back another time.  I never went back.
Further on from the bridge past more shops on cobbled streets, is the small 17th century Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque.  Not only open to the public there's the chance to climb the tiny narrow staircase up to the top of a minaret and get stunning 360 degree views.  I was so close to the speaker up there that if an Azan had started Id have been deafened, luckily it didn't. 
Behind the historical parts of the town I found more urban areas, quaint and picturesque.  I wandered, took photos and just absorbed the feel of the place. 

Next day I did much of the same, this time taking more of a closer look at the reminder of war - and theres evidence everywhere, from bullet holed buildings, to craters, buildings in ruin.  It's bizarre to walk through the history of a war, especially one you can remember.  For lunch, I decided to check out a restaurant that Id heard about, but when I got there it was closed.. I was disappointed and stood there waiting for a plan B to come to mind - I didn't have to try, a local woman asked me what I was doing, what did I want etc.  So I told her I wanted Bosnian food - 'follow me!' she said! We set off, the footpath was narrow so I fell into step behind her.  She walked quickly and talked the whole way.  She told me about being shot during the war, in the back and in the head.  What a stroke of luck to survive one shot, let alone two, and in the head also!? She spoke to light heartedly about it, just get on with life, right?  I wasn't disappointed with where she took me to find good national food, plus they had free wifi

And that was Bosnia.  Forever in my heart as one of the Balkan highlights.  Next stop was to be Dubrovnik in Croatia, and again, it was a seamless trip by bus.  Take advantage of using buses to get around the Balkans, its a great, well-connected network.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostar