Sunday, July 26, 2026

Baltic Tour 2026 - Vilnius

Vilnius, Lithuania. Wednesday/Saturday 22/25-July-2026 

Table of Contents:

Vilnius was meant to be a longer stop with a parkrun. The tea scalding meant a change of plans. 

Wednesday 22-July-2026. 

Between Warsaw and Vilnius we had to change trains at Mockava as we crossed over the border from Poland to Lithuania. This is due to a change of gauge as Lithuania uses the wider Russian broad gauge (1.52 m) inherited from the Soviet era.


Then off to Lithuania and our home exchange apartment. By this time Mary's blisters were still growing and so we asked our host to recommend where to go for medical treatment. She suggested a nearby private clinic that was closed by the time we got there but planned a visit first thing next morning.

That evening we found a nearby bar with some artisanal beers.


Supper was at restaurant Etno Dvaras, just through the archway "Gate of Dawn" into the old town and on the right with a night cap at In Vino wine bar.

Thursday 23-July-2026. 

We were on the clinic’s doorstep as they opened to get Mary's foot looked at, blisters de-roofed (burst and top skin removed) and professionally bandaged. The advice was to rest and keep the foot elevated so we went back to the apartment where Mary lay down to put her foot up. Mary was slightly concerned as the general advice is not to burst but to leave them in-situ for protection purposes. The nurse at the clinic said that their decision was based on the size of the blisters. A quick Google took Mary to a part of the NHS website that confirmed that.

Lunch and supper were in the apartment so Mary could keep her foot up.

Friday 24-July-2026. 

Back to the clinic for a fresh dressing. The advice was the same - keep the foot elevated. Since this holiday was all about doing lots of touristy walking about and parkruns there seemed a little point in continuing so we sadly decided to cut the trip short. We booked a flight back to Gatwick for Saturday afternoon and prepared to leave.

Lunch was in the apartment but that evening we went out for a drink and supper just to get out. We stayed very local to minimise the walking, back to In Vino for a delightful selection of tapas and a few too many glasses of wine.

Saturday 25-July-2026. 

The flight back was uneventful apart from I forgot to present my Italian Permesso di Soggiorno with my passport and, before I knew it, was entered into the EES. Fortunately upon my return, I was able to get myself redacted from the system but that’s another story.

Our arrival time was too late to make it all the way back to Penrith so we stayed overnight at a Stansted Airport hotel.  

Sunday 27-July-2026. 

In the morning, we took the train / tube to Euston where we were able to use one of our Interrail travel days on the train up to Penrith.

Epilogue: Back in Penrith at the surgery on Monday Mary's dressing was changed by a nurse who was pleased with how the burn was healing. By the third visit on the following Wednesday (5th August) the nurse was sufficiently happy that Mary did not need to go back.

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