It was our last day in Vilnius, and our last day in the Baltic states.  To commemorate this, we had breakfast in Double Coffee (we can’t recommend them enough, they’re cheap and they’re all over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.  Special offers include adding a Double Cappuccino to your fry-up for 20p…).

With not much left to see, we leisurely strolled up the hill (funiculars are for wimps) to Vilnius Castle for midday.  Enjoying the sunshine, the views and the replicated suits of armour, we completed our sunny, tower-top photo-op and wandered back down the hill.

The tree-clad Gedeminas Hill was no match for my hardened battle-trainers, but traction proved to be a problem on the way down for the be-flip-floppèd Mr. Manners.  Alas, another hill was on the horizon in the baking heat, and onto the outskirts of the city, sweaty money-belt strapped to our backs, we climbed to see the Three Crosses Monument.

The Three Crosses were…uh…three crosses to commemorate the first Christian Missionaries to arrive (and get promptly killed) in Lithuania.  Unperturbed, the Vatican sent more envoys until Christianity was as ubiquitous as Double Coffee.
Another important landmark recommended by the Rough Guide To Europe On A Budget was safely ticked off.  Next up, St. Anne’s Church and a miscellaneous Orthodox Church where we might’ve accidentally interrupted another wedding. Every good wedding photo needs a man with a dSLR and a man in shorts in the background, right?

Before we could reward ourselves with beer and lunch, we were determined to have an amble through the self-declared independent republic of Uzupis.  Yep, this small region of Vilnius, in an action which can only be due to the carbohydrate-drunk diet of Lithuanians, has drawn up its own constitution for their little bohemian district.

Oh, and there were some padlocks engraved with various proclamations of everlasting (and marital) love on the bridge as well.

Well-deserving our lunch, we generously ate and drank before heading to the hostel to militarily-check and re-pack our bags. (PostScript: NM forgot his shower gel.  Court-martial date TBA.)  Before we knew it, we were stocking up on pancakes (again) and off we trotted to the crummiest bus yet for a journey to Warsaw.  It wasn’t too bad, but if ain’t got wi-fi, I ain’t interested.

Oh, and thanks to the wonder of time-zones, the journey is an hour longer than I anticipated.  On the upside: it’s an hour longer to sleep.  Sweater expertly fashioned into a travel-pillow, seat reclined enough to break the knees of the person behind me, and it’s over and out from Vilnius.