REVIEWS FROM EX ERASMUS LIVING IN VILNIUS

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EXPERIENCE 1 - JEREMIE FROM FRANCE

** Let’s go for three months in Vilnius …First questions in my mind : What about the weather, thefood & the parties…? Now I can answer : “Don’t worry, be happy”, Vilnius is just a GREAT experience!!! **

 The currency is “Litas” & 1Llt = 0,30 €

 > Weather :  March 29th : snow and rain welcomed me :/ but never mind, the discover of this beautiful city helped me to forget the cold weather :)

 Don’t worry, in April, Spring is coming. In almost 3days, the landscape is totally changed. White & cloudy become Green & sunny, it’s beautiful !!!

 > But don’t be happy quickly like me : there was summer just during two weeks more or less :(

 > Food : ” Skanaus” !!  means “Enjoy your meal”.

 There is some unavoidable typical food like “cepelinai” (potatoes with pork inside), a lot of soups whose one cold & pink named “Saltibarsciai“.

A lot of very good salads, the traditional cake “Sakotis” and of course, fried bread with cheese to join a big variety of beers. =)   “I Sveikata!” means “cheers” ;)

You can find so many restaurants very cheap and eat a lot for a really good price!  (around 10e for a complete menu).

The best place for me to have a dinner, drink beers & enjoy with friends on Thursday is “Alus Namai” (beer house). Is not so far but going by bus is better ;) (Trolley bus 10). Go there around 8pm, because after it’s quickly full.

If you are French or like the French culture, go to the “Champs Elysées” restaurant, it’s good, you can listen some French musics & the waitress speaks French. It’s a really nice place.

If you want to sit in a nice place to grab a coffee or eat something you can go to ” La Crêpe ” it’s nice! BUT if you are French, don’t order crepes because they are not good ;) it’s better to go to SOPRANO, the crepes with Nutella are AMAZING :p

Be attentive because you can find some little restaurants in some discrete streets very cheap with a tasty complete menu.

Unusually thing (for me), you have to ask (and pay) if you want water (or bread in some restaurants).

Also, if you want to dinner in a “special” restaurant, you have to go early because some of them (all those that I tried) don’t accept nobody after 10 p.m.

You can easily find various kind of restaurants like Brazilian, Russian, French, Czech….

> Parties : The easiest thing!!! If you’re lucky like me to live in the Corner hotel, you will enjoy your stay! A lot of foreign Erasmus people, a really good mood and always someone motivated to party ;)

The places to be for Erasmus people are Pusku-Pusku (alcohol very cheap), Tarantino(entrance free, just 1litas for the cloakroom) and Salento, (5 litas for student people). Open until the last people die! (I never left after 8 a.m so i don’t know at what time it’s closed). But there are also Cocainn, Buddha, Seacret, Pantera, Berlin and plenty of others that I forgot ^^

Also, some friends rented one limousine so we spend one hour (i think) inside partying, it’s really funny if you can, do it!!

> Shopping : To buy daily things, MAXIMA (xxx) is the best because very near from the Corner Hotel & open 24/24h. To buy clothes, souvenirs, or all that you want, there is Gedimino street in the old city center. Cup or Europa mall, you just need to cross the river isn’t far by walk but you can take the bus if you prefer. Panorama & Akropolis, are very big malls, you need to take the bus (53 for example).

>  One typical day in Vilnius:

(You are going to meet some Lithuanian & foreign people very quickly, in your hotel, school or company ..)

- wake up, go to the sport club (there are a lot of gym club with special price for short subscription (for 1 or 3months for example) so you can find something interesting related with your stay! Let’s meet some friends & go to have a lunch in a typical Lithuanian restaurant, walk and visit the beautiful old town, go to a pub to drink some beers, then after had a dinner, let’s go to party ;)

This program was mine the first month, because after that usually you stop to go to the sport club, you visit less because you know better the city and above all you start to be tired because of this “hard party life” :) so you are lazier during the day!

You will see in the old center of Vilnius, a lot of events are held,

ONE ADVICE : be careful also with your money ahah! because every things are cheap, you eat & drink a LOT, restaurants are your second kitchen and at the end of the first month you check your account and you are POOR ahah! Don’t worry was the same for everyone ;)

Places that I visited (in Vilnius or around) :

- Trakai, is near from Vilnius with bus or train. You really have to spend one day there to visit the castles, have fun with the little boats, walk around and try the typical food (Kibinai).

- Kaunas (if you are here during the annual Jazz Festival, you have to go there it’s free and very nice.)

- You probably are going to do some trips, it’s quite cheap to travel from Lithuania. So i went to Riga, Stockholm & Oslo. Usually you might take the bus during the night to go to the closest country!

- Europas Parkas : You need to go there by bus it’s 19km far away Vilnius. You can spend all day long there and have a picnic because the park is huge!You are going to see a lot of funny, strange, amazing things. There I spent one of my best afternoon! (but you might come back with some bites of insects :/ )

- The Old Town of Vilnius is unmissable! I almost discovered a new thing everyday during one month! (one new pub, one new street, one new restaurant…) This part of the city is very beautiful, between huge monument, various churches and a lot of green spaces. You can find in every moment one place corresponding to your mood!

- Uzupis, one of my favorite part of Vilnius! I love the artistic mood that you can feel and the river, is like a wild district..You will love it for sure!

- Gedimino castle & the Hill of 3 Crosses : i really liked those places, it’s a good way to walk, run or enjoy the landscape ;)

- The Cathedral Square : there is often some young who are dancing (hip-hop, break dance or something like this) or people doing skate or something … I like this vibe!

Some activities that i recommend to do between friends :

- Vichy Water Park / Paintball /

- Less funny but very interesting, i advice you to visit the KGB (Genocide) Museum!

EXPERIENCE 2 - SALVATORE AGUSTA FROM ITALY (Review in Italian):

http://www.palermoerasmuslife.net/2010/09/25/destinazione-6-vilnius-lituania/

EXPERIENCE 3 - JAUME FROM SPAIN (Review in Spanish):

http://deerasmusenvilnius.blogspot.it/

EXPERIENCE 4 - RACHEL FROM GREECE

It was the 28th of January.

The time had finally come that i would say goodbye to my country and take off for Lithuania. Since there are no direct flights, i had to fly first to Copenhagen airport and then from there i took another flight to Vilnius. I had delays in both my flights - thank you Scandinavian Airlines - so when i grounded in Lithuanian territory, it was already the 29th. When i got myself out of the plane, there was a small snowstorm going on and my first impression was like: 'damn it is ACTUALLY cold in here!!'

I was very tired from the long trip. Thank god, my dearest mentor was there to help me. Aydin (my mentor) and Rustam, were waiting for me in the airport. I was very happy to see them. I exchanged some money and then we took a cab, to my residence. Vilnius Airport is quite small and not far from the city. In addition, taxi's fees are very low in Lithuania and as i found out later, work in one way: if you want a taxi, you need to call for it. You can't take it from the streets and if a driver accepts to let you in, you'll definitely pay more. 

Anyways, i sat back on my seat, feeling relieved and watched the landscape as we were driving away from the airport. 'So much snow', i admitted to the guys when asked about my impression. I was astonished!