Places to go (2): The old mill at Verkiu rumai

One more mill-turned-restaurant:

East of Jeruzales district 12 chapels along a system of paths invites you for a walk. To go there, take bus No. 26 from the city center and get out at Seminarija St. If you go down to the River Neris via a narrow path (look out for the water treatment plant), you will reach Verkiu gatve. Turn left, and you will find a very nice restaurant after around 20 minutes of walking parallel to the river. Be aware of the traffic (see last post and a future post an that issue)!

The restaurant is located next to a little creek joining the Neris. In the summer you can sit outside, during winter-time the cozy atmosphere inside will warm your frozen limbs. My favourite dish there is the home-made apple pie with ice-cream. Staff is very attentive and friendly, music is smooth and drinks tasty.

To go home, take the stairs up the hill and enjoy the view over the Neris valley. Cross the park (home of the Archbishop) and you will reach P. Baublio St., from where busses No. 35 and 36 bring you back into the city. Both busses end at Zalgirio St., so you will need to take a trolleybus or the like for the remaining kilometer to downtown.

Enjoy!

Places to go: Belmontas

Today on the menu: Belmontas (link, only in Lithuanian)

Belmontas is a place hosting different restaurants, bars and rooms for rent located next to the River Vilnia appx. 3 km outside from Vilnius. In the 19th century a frenchman got permission to build a mill next to the river. As the new barns and buildings were a little too spacious for their intended purpose, the miller opened a restaurant, presumably for very rare steaks. In the course of time the place was first shut down, opened up again, closed down and only some years ago renovated. The scenery is now quiet idyllic, with fountains, a waterfall and an old water-wheel spinning next to the tables. Some people might criticize the somewhat artifical character of the ponds and gardes. They have a point, but if you’re simply looking for a pleasant location to dine or drink, you will like it.

Food on the menu is mostly assortments of grilled meat, pizza and various Lithuanian dishes. Prices are fair, but a little higher than in most oldtown places. Very important: beer is cheap and tasty.

A lot of friendly staff takes care you won’t wait too long for your orders.

How to get there? You either take a taxi from town, or prepare for a walk. The road to Belmontas is not to advisable for pedestrians as there are a lot of speeding cars and chartered busses running. Expect the usual reckless driving of local youths and young families.

A nice alternative is to take bus No. 44 (link) heading to New Vilnius, for example from Filaretu St. north of Uzupis district, and to get out at Mildos St. Be aware that some other busses are going the same direction but do not stop at every station outside the city. From Mildos St. you turn right into a narrow road framed by a small forest. Follow the road, which turns into a path with a great view over the rooftops of Vilnius. Do not walk towards the area with scrap cars (guarded by dogs) but rather turn left down into the valley 100 meters farther. From there you simply follow the path along the small power line. On the right side you will see some summer houses. Keep on following the track downwards. After you leave the forest you will see a small village in the valley. This is where you have to go. One more time you cross a small forrest and you are there. Belmontas consists of the bigger buildings (and a big carpark). The walk should not take more than 30 minutes from the bus stop.

Take a map with you, just in case Google Maps provides for a very accurate one.

Language barrier

I admit, it was not the best idea to wear this shirt on my late-evening shopping trip to the nearby supermarket. While waiting in line for the cashier a smelly guy demanded money from me to support his campaign “Vilnius Oldtwon Alcoholic of the Year 2007″. My well formulated answer to this request (“Ne!”) started a shatter of coursing into my direction. Ok, I did not understand a single word, but taking into account a) my refusal to handout some change, b) my shirt, c) me obviously being a foreigner and d) the credit-card I took out from my wallet, the very meaning revealed itself. Not to speak of the cashier girl giggling behind her counter.

I consider to impose a personal boycott on that shop. The competition is only 50m away and their tomatoes are much better. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t have a problem with people begging outside on the street. But I don’t like being pressed for spare change when simply ignoring the question is not an option.

Frenglish

Dear, Residents!

The pay for clearing landing is 10 Lt every month. We hopping you contribute too. The money you should to bring to 19 flat.

Thanking you in anticipation!

***

Found on the kitchen-table in someone else’s flat at 05:00 AM this morning. Still guessing what it means.

Drugstore Frenzy

Q: What happened?

A: I got beaten in the shoohooop by a man!

Q: Someone beat you? Who?

***

Today was one of those “Lithuania at its best”-days. My darling went to a drugstore (D****s) in Vilnius to obtain some nice, innocent lipstick. Picking the right colour from the display a man approached her. He advised her not to buy any of the products on shelf because gipsy-ladies would have tried them all, but bought none. Scared my girlfriend asked the lady at the cashier for help. Instantly the strange guy appeared again, came uncomfortably closer and started shouting at her. Asking who in god’s name he was, my shopping queen got an obvious answer: The store manager.

BTW: He shouted really loud, but did not beat her. Took me five minutes of questioning to get the correct information.

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