We worked together and we grew together

I want to give you an important advice! If you want to do some traveling, then do this before the semester starts. You will experience the baltic states in warm temperatures and with less stress. The last weeks have been kind of rough but nothing that hasn’t been manageable. The College has also a breathtaking-wonderfull workload (Attention! Irony.). On the other hand we had some new experiences with this culture and of course we investigated bars and events; be prepared, your time in Lithuania will be fun!

The favorite Bar of Lithuanian and Erasmus students is clearly the PliusPliusPlius (+++). It is visited during the week, at weekends and is always pretty full! Another often visited bar is the Bix Baras, which is an oldschool Rock pub. Certainly, something for the “harder” ones. By the way, there are definetly a lot of events happening in Vilnius. There was the national soldier festival, the visit of the pope and many street festivals since the last Blogpost. Right now we are all amazed by the christmas markets. Sure we know them from Germany but it feels like they have a special charm, even if they are smaller. One of the markets is build up in the shape of a gigantic clock with a tall christmas tree, that is decorated with huge glowing gears. Be ther when it is first lit. There you can buy warm and cosy garniture, like long and cute christmas socks. Some christmas specialities like candles, incense granules of course, too! Another market is the arts and crafts one, and you will find some cool stuff on every corner. Keep your eyes open on pop up events.

Now, about the delicious food! Visit the markets and you get Hot Wine, Hot Chocolate and some trend food like bubble waffles. Have you heard of them? They can be filled with nearly everything sweet and the dough has the shape of many Bubbles. Be aware of roasted almonds and cashews… they are delicious! Furthermore the menu of the restaurants has changed since its winter, but what is traditional food in Lithuania at all? Well… here are some examples: The Cepelinai (Zeppelins) are a mix of raw and cooked potato dough, filled with pork mince and are served with a sauce of sour cream and bacon. For the Fast Food fanatics, there is Cepta Duona which is basically dark rye bread that has been deep fried in oil and spiced with salt and garlic and it is served with melted cheese. It is supposed to be a companion of beer. And last but not least I want to present to you the Kibinai, the traditional food of a turkish ethnical group that has settled down in Lithuania long before. A crispy pastry keeping pork, cheese crud, vegetables or berry marmalade hot inside. It is by far my favorite and I recommend you to try it from one of the many street Vendors.

While heading to the end, let me tell you some last things. Did you know that the difference between the temperatures in summer and winter can reach 60 °C and in extreme cases more? So never forget your thickest coat! The temperatures can drop low enough to make the Neris ( River flowing through Vilnius) freeze. In the deepest winter the ice gets so thick that people just walk over it or go ice-skating, sounds like a great time. I hope I can try that when I come back after Christmas break, which is actually starting from December 21st. I think we will all appreciate the break before finals. I want you to know that I learned as many things as possible here and I always would choose this country and college again.