Vilnius Ventures

Welcome back to Seikkailu Suomessa!  Last time I updated you guys, I had just returned from my week long trip through Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia.  This time, I'll be talking about my final two classes here at Aalto as well as my trip to Vilnius, Lithuania.

Schoolwork a Plenty:

Now that I have started the fifth period here at Aalto, it is a signal that my time here in Finland is coming to an end.  This period I am taking two classes, Customer Relationship Management and Negotiation Analytics.  These two classes involve a good deal of mathematical analysis and like my other classes this semester, both of these classes heavily depend on case analysis's to help reinforce the material you learn in the class.

Lithuanian History:

That pretty much covered everything that is new at school right now, but there will be more coming up in my next post.

Like I said, following my last post, I went on a weekend trip to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, but before getting too far into what I did while I was there, I want to do my usual thing and provide some historical background information on Lithuania.

Lithuania is different from its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia, because it actually existed prior to World War One.  Lithuania was actually the final pagan country to fall to the Northern Crusades performed by the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order and Lithuania was one the largest nations in Eastern Europe.  Lithuanian has historically been considered a "Grand Duchy".  After researching the term, it appears that it was applied to countries that were not considered to be kingdoms or empires, but still held a great deal of power in its region.

While it was pagan for most of its history until the late 14th century, but it had a small stint in the early 13th century when it was an actual kingdom, not a grand duchy.  King Mindaugas I converted to Roman Catholicism to try and halt the crusades and after being coronated, he switched back to his pagan religion and attacked the crusaders.  The pagan rituals continued in Lithuania until the personal union of Jogaila, then the Grand Duke, and the Queen of Poland.

The two nations went through turmoil, but in the mid 16th century, after the Union of Lublin, the two were formally conjoined to form a new nation known as "The Commonwealth".  This nation was one of the largest in Europe, encompassing most of Belarus, the Baltics, Ukraine, Poland and small parts of Russia.  The Commonwealth was mostly dominated by the Polish culture and language, with Lithuanian customs being considered secondary.  The nation existed for a few hundred years, but both Poland and Lithuania were absorbed by the Prussian, Austrian-Hungarian and Russian empires.

Lithuania wasn't a nation again until the Red Revolution in Russia.  The new nation was much smaller than its historic predecessor, but was also occupied by Poland until the start of World War II.  During the war, Lithuania was brutally occupied by both the Soviets and the Nazi forces, with the latter enacting the Holocaust on the Lithuanian Jews.  After the war, the USSR forced Lithuania to join it and Lithuania once again disappeared from the maps, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, regained its independence.

Today Lithuania is a member of the European Union and recently adopted the euro, phasing out the old currency.

Quick fact:  Two of our Men's Basketball players are from Lithuania.  Laimonas Chatkevicius and Mindaugas Kacinas are natives of the Baltic country.

The Trip: Vilnius, Lithuania



Vilnius is the capital and the largest city in Lithuania and boasts the largest old town in all of Europe.  When compared to Riga and Tallinn, Vilnius appears to be better off economically and things are getting better in the country with the adoption of the euro.  When you compare prices in Vilnius to Helsinki, everything is much cheaper.  In fact, you can get a dinner at one of the more respected restaurants in Vilnius for about 5 euros.

I arrived in Vilnius at about 12:30am and after having one of the scariest taxi rides I have ever experienced, I arrived at my hostel, but there was one problem.  When I got out of the taxi, there was no sign of my hostel, no signs or anything.  Thankfully, there was a younger Lithuanian couple walking down the street that helped me find the entrance.  You can see the entrance in the photo on the right, its just a gate with a small sticker with the name of the hostel.



After getting a good night's rest, I set out to see the old town and made my way to the Cathedral Square and went to the Gediminas Hill to see the tower and get a good view of Vilnius.  The reason for the name is that the Gediminas was one of the most powerful Grand Dukes in Lithuanian history.  The tower is all that remains of the Upper Castle that helped defend the city for hundreds of years. Currently, the tower serves as a small museum telling the tale of medieval Vilnius.  After seeing some of the relics, I stopped to take in the panorama of the city.

After visiting the tower, I made my way down the hill and went past to the City Hall to take a free walking tour of the old town.  The tour was amazing, and regardless of what city you are in, try to find out if there is a walking tour, the local tourist office should be able to help you.  Our tour guide gave us an extensive three hour tour and showed us some of the most interesting parts of the city.

One of the more interesting parts of the city is the old Jewish areas.  Before WW2, Vilnius boasted a large and well respected Jewish community and had one of the largest libraries in Europe in the Greater Vilnius Synagogue.  During the war, many of the Jewish people were forced into one of the two ghettos that the Nazis had set up.  Unfortunately, not much remains of the Jewish quarter today, including the synagogue and most of the Jewish population.  Today it is a residential area and save for a plaque explaining this, you would never know what used to be there.

After visiting that part of town, we paid a visit to another interesting area that is called the Republic of Uzupis.  Uzupis is not a recognized republic, but it is a neighborhood populated by the artistic community.  The republic does have its own constitution, written in about 10 different languages and also guarantees certain rights like the right to no rights.  There is also a president that you will occasionally see him driving a yellow Cadillac through the city and there is also a standing military (all 12 of them).  Our guide told us that Uzupis was originally one of the most unsafe areas in Vilnius, but many artists began flocking the area due to the cheap housing costs and now it is a place for many young people to meet or live.  It is also unique because not many places can have the Dali Lama as an honorary citizen.

One of the bridges into Uzupis

The next stop on the tour was St. Anne's Cathedral.  It is an impressive red (it was originally yellow) brick Gothic cathedral dating to about the 13th or 14th century.  There is a myth that when Napoleon visited Vilnius during his march to Russia, he wanted to take the cathedral back with him, but this is not true, but makes for a good tourist story.  After the cathedral, we eventually made our way back to the Cathedral Square, which is home to the Vilnius Cathedral.

St. Anne's Cathedral

The Vilnius Cathedral

I met a few people on the tour and when it was over, we all went and got lunch from one of the local places and talked for a while.  Some of the people I was eating with said that I should visit the Museum of Genocide Victims.  I spent most of the rest of the day exploring the old town and enjoying what Vilnius had to offer.

The next day unfortunately had some bad weather, with it raining most of the day.  So after taking a long walk in the rain, I decided to pay a visit to the Lithuanian National Museum.  The museum is great way to get acquainted with Lithuanian history and most of what I learned was included in the above section.  There was also an exhibit showing the Easter traditions of Lithuania, and while the country does have the standard Easter eggs, there is a tradition involving these large broom like objects (I cannot find the name and cannot remember what they were called).

After spending a few hours there, I moved on the the Museum of Genocide Victims.  Originally I thought that it would go along with the Holocaust Museum also in the city, it is dedicated to the victims of deportation and execution at the hands of the USSR and Nazi forces since World War Two.  The museum itself is located within the old KGB headquarters building in Vilnius.  The museum has three floors, with the first two giving a timeline of the occupation and how many Lithuanians tried to fight against their Soviet occupiers and the bottom floor is an old prison containing a few exhibits.

During the Soviet occupation, thousands and thousands of Lithuanians deemed dangerous to the Communist regime were either deported to Siberia or were jailed in the bottom floor.  Many of the Baltic country citizens are described as being somewhat cold and reserved, but after seeing what the Lithuanians had to go through, it is easy to see why that is the case.  The hardest part of the museum was wandering through the jail.  Walking past cell after cell, some had normal accommodations, but the others were horrible.  There were a pair where the inmate would be forced to stand on a platform and was forced to balance on it while the floor was covered in about a foot of ice cold water.  When the inmate fell, they would have to step back on until the process was over.  There was another cell that was dark inside, but you could see a straight-jacket bolted to the wall to keep unstable inmates in place.  After working through this network of cells, you go outside and see the yard where prisoners received some fresh air, but past an unassuming door, you come face to face with the execution chamber where over 1000 people lost their lives.  The inside of the room is cold and bare, and the floor is essentially a glass walkway with the personal belongings of some of the executed prisoners located under the glass.  After seeing that I was ready to leave.

The main entrance to the Museum of Genocide Victims

Upon leaving the museum, I realized that the rain had stopped and decided to pay a visit to the Three Crosses Hill.  After a strenuous climb, I arrived at the monument.  There has been a set of crosses over the city since the 17th century, but the current three have only been there for about 30 years.  Currently, no one actually knows what the crosses were originally meant to be, but following their independence in 1991, it is considered a symbol of the city and provides some of the best views in the city.

The next day I flew back to Helsinki and prepared myself for my new classes.  Overall, Vilnius was a great city and I hope that someday I can visit again.  Now this weekend, I will be travelling again, and this is your hint this week, along with a photo.  Like when I went to St. Petersburg, I have already mentioned the country in this post and it was also occupied by both the Nazis and Soviets.

This photo is courtesy of Google image search

Thank you all for reading, stay tuned for more adventures!

The Adriatic Adventure

Dober dan! Sorry for the late post, I just recently returned from my last trip and needed a few days to recuperate.  I spent about a week travelling through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. I'm going to organize this update by each city I visited.

Dubrovnik, Croatia:

Dubrovnik is one the most visited cities in Croatia and has been used by HBO to create the fantastical city of King's Landing in the Game of Thrones television show.  Dubrovnik is best known for the city walls that have existed since the 12th century, with the current walls being installed in the 1400's to help defend against Ottoman invasion.

Dubrovnik is nestled between some mountains in the southern region of Croatia, known as Dalmatia. The city was also the cite of one of the most liberal countries in existence at the time, a trading nation known as the Republic of Ragusa.  Ragusa was founded during a time when most of Croatia was controlled by the Austrian Habsburgs or Venetian Doges and was actually the first nation to abolish slavery.  Ragusa was reportedly also the first nation to recognize the United States as an independent country.  The reublic finally fell when Napoleon annexed it after helping Ragusa end a siege by Serbian forces.

Dubrovnik may seem small, but there is a lot to experience in the city.  There are only about three entrances to the old town (the part surrounded by the walls) with the most well known entrance being the Pile Gate.  Once inside the city, the first thing that you notice is the wide marble paved avenue known as the Stradun.  The Stradun is the widest and easiest street to find in the city.  Walking around the side streets, the only way to know which street it is or what is located on the street is to look at the red banners at each intersection.  It is very easy to lose yourself in the old town because outside the Stradun, the streets are very narrow and without any real landmarks.  It's a lot of fun to just take some time and explore the streets and if you happen to be near the walls, you can find doors leading to areas outside the walls with cafes and spots to lounge.

One of the other things to check out is the Rector's Palace which shows the history of the city and is a good example of the influence that Venetians had on the city.  The palace was the seat of administrative power in the city and was home to the governor (or the Rector). There is also a good number of churches and two monasteries in the city.  Unfortunately most of the churches were closed for renovations or were preparing for Easter.

The Venetian facade of the Rector's Palace

While much of the city looks peaceful, it was only about 20 years that the city was facing a siege by Yugoslavian forces when Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia.  I was able to talk with a few people about that time, and most people never thought that Dubrovnik would be attacked, but most of the old town was hit by artillery and forced many people, including my tour guide in Bosnia, from their homes.  Today, many of the scars have healed, but the war is remembered in different events and exhibits throughout the year.

After spending about three days in Dubrovnik, I left for my tour through the Herzegovina region of Bosnia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

This might have been my favorite area during the trip.  Bosnia is a country with a complex history and is truly a mixture of Eastern and Western cultures.  The country has the Croats, the Serbs and the Bosniaks all sharing one country, and this have led to many issues.  The biggest issue is religion because you have Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim all represented by the different nationalities.  Bosnia possibly felt the most pain during the Yugoslavic wars, with all three cultures fighting each other within the country.  In order to bring peace, the Serbian population was granted an autonomous region which is called the Republika Srpska.  When we entered a few neighborhoods, there would often be a flag demonstrating where the people felt allegiance, often Croatia or Serbia.

During the tour, we had a small stop in the Croatian majority town of Neum.  This city is located in a small 10 kilometer stretch of land the actually separates mainland Croatia.  The reason for this actually the Republic of Ragusa selling that land to the Ottomans to avoid war many years ago.  We then continued to the unofficial capital of the Herzegovina region, Mostar.

Mostar is divided between Croatian and Bosniak sides, with a Catholic church showing the Croatian side, while the Bosniak side is shown by the many Muslim mosques in the old town area.  In the old town of Mostar, the streets are lined with markets and vendors trying to vie for the tourist's attention, but the centerpiece of the old town is the bridge that has existed since Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire.  The original bridge was destroyed during the war, but it still an impressive sight.

While exploring the city, I was able to hear the call to prayer that occurs during the day for Muslims to gather at the mosques and it added so much to the experience.  I had never seen a mosque before, i had never heard the call to prayer and I haven't had much experience with Muslim cultures in general, so it was such an exciting experience to be able to find it in Europe (excluding Turkey of course).

If you wander just a few blocks from the old town, you can really see the impact that the wars had on the town.  There are still a few buildings that haven't recovered from the war, but for the most part, you would never have guessed that the country had been consumed with war not too long ago.

After spending some time in Mostar, my tour group left for a small town with an amazing attraction.  This sleepy little town is nestled into the side of a rocky outcropping, but it's what lies at the top of the hill that interested me.  After nearly dying from the climb up, I arrived at the fortress.  According to our guide, the fortress was from around the 1400's and belonged to the Ottoman Empire.  The town had once served as a rest stop for merchants and the fortress helped to oversee the route and town.

The Ottoman fortress at the top of the hill

We only stayed in this town for about an hour before moving on to the site of an old Roman outpost dating back to the 1st century.  Not much from the original buildings exist, but the outlines and a few columns have lived through the years.  If you want to see a lot of well preserved ruins from Rome, then Italy is the best bet, but very few places can claim to have Roman ruins and Bosnia and Croatia have some of the best examples in the world, including the next city I visited.

The ruins

Split/Zagreb, Croatia:

After my tour in Bosnia, I was dropped off in a town past the border and left for the town of Split.  Split was one of the most unique cities that I have visited ever.  Many European cities have old town worth boasting about, but none can say that their old town is made from the palace of a Roman emperor.  Emperor Diocletian served as emperor during the mid-300's and when he retired, he built a palace along the Croatian coast.  After his death and fall of the empire, the palace sat abandoned.  After the town of Salona was attacked by barbarians hundreds of years later, the people fled and occupied the palace.  The people repurposed the palace and today there are a few remnants of the palace, but not much is left.

My introduction to Split was walking to the market and seeing what it was like.  I was confused when I passed a few people and heard a chirping coming from them.  After exploring the market and continually hearing this chirping, I found the source.  Many of the market stalls were selling baby chicks, along with rabbits and puppies as well.  I wish I could say why the vendors were selling the chicks, but I honestly have no idea.

After indulging my curiosity, I went through the Silver Gate entrance and began exploring the palace grounds.  Much like Dubrovnik, many of the streets are very narrow and it can be easy to get lost.  The first landmark I found was the Peristyle in the center of the palace.  It currently serves as a church and the burial site of Emperor Diocletian.  It is ironic because Diocletian had a habit of killing off Christians during his life and now his burial site serves as a site of prayer.  There is also a large tower that you can climb and get a bird's-eye view of the city.

My personal favorite attraction is the Temple of Jupiter.  Before Christianity became the major religion of the empire, the Romans were pagans and Jupiter served as the king of their gods (much like Zeus in Greek mythology).  Today the temple serves as the Baptistery of St. John and the original statue of Jupiter was replaced by one of St. John the Baptist.  However, that is the only change to the temple.  The exterior is all original and when you examine the ceiling, you can see the relief sculptures that were carved into it. 

After visiting the temple, I decided to check out the basement chambers, which were very interesting.  The basement of the palace had been buried over the years but recent excavations have revealed many secrets about how the palace was built.  There are examples of wooden beams used by the Romans, as well as pieces of pipes used to create a sewer system.

After seeing these sights, I decided to catch a bus to the capital of the country, Zagreb.  Zagreb is a nice city, but there wasn't much to see while I was there.  I had arrived late in the day on Saturday, so many shops were already closed and with Sunday being Easter, it made checking out the city difficult.

Easter was interesting for me.  I went to explore Zagreb and nothing, I mean nothing was open.  Most of the city looked deserted.  It wasn't until you came near the churches that you were able to find people.  So after a few hours of exploring, I decided to leave by train to my final destination, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Ljubljana, Slovenia:

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and is a very charming, quiet city.  I arrived on Easter day from Zagreb, but unlike Zagreb, there were a few things open in Ljubljana.  Just for a little back story on Slovenia, it was the first of the Yugoslavic countries to declare independence and was never involved in the fighting that Bosnia and Croatia experienced.  It was also the first from that region to join the European Union and adopt the euro.  

There are not a lot of tourist attractions in Ljubljana, but there is one thing that you have to see and that is the castle.  The modern castle dates back to about the 1500's, but since before the Romans, there has been a fortress on the hill overlooking the city and it even has the oldest example of a wheel with an axle in the world.  

The castle itself is relatively small, but provides a good overview of how the castle and the city around it has evolved.  The city of Ljubljana has only owned the castle for about 100 years after the mayor bought the castle and donated it to the city.  There is also an exhibit on Slovenian history from Roman times, through the World Wars and to the present day.

Other than the castle, walking along the river provides the best views of the city and its many bridges. After spending Monday in the city, I left for Helsinki on Tuesday.

That just about does it, but I will be back in two weeks to discuss the final period of classes at Aalto and my trip this weekend.  In keeping with my traditions, here is a hint as to where I will be spending my weekend:

courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Thanks for reading, hvala, and see you next time!