This afternoon I was in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania and the last of my Baltic States after my morning ride from Riga Latvia. I was back in warm weather and blue skies. It was mid 20s, the warmest it had been on this trip so tshirt weather.

One of my travel buddies was supposed to meet me this afternoon but his flight had been delayed till the evening so I had the whole afternoon to explore on my own. The southern entrance to the Old Town is thru the Gates of Dawn.

I made my way to an Orthodox Church on the map but there was a myriad of churches of various denomination in the old town.

Heading to the town hall I made my way further to the centre of the old town where I encountered another Orthodox Church.

Lithuania has a mixed history as was part of the Grand Dutchy of Poland-Lithuania so had Polish and Catholic influences also in its architecture.

The central landmark is the Grand Cathedral and its separate Belfry Tower. You can pay to go up but I wasnt about to navigate the open staircases and preferred to wait to see if my friend wanted to go later.

Inside the stone cathedral it had a natural cool climate like being in a cave, a welcome relief from the afternoon heat. There were several elaborate crypts in the side alcoves.

Behind the Cathedral Square was the National History Museum and Palace of the Grand Dukes. Both were closed on Mondays so I planned to come back tomorrow. The tourist info booth had told me it closed at six tomorrow so I had lots of time to come back.

The hill behind the Cathedral houses the watchtower, the only remains of a old fortress. There were views of both the old town, its many churches, and the new modern skyline.

Back down I found my way to the Presidential Palace and the University Campus, one of the oldest in Europe.

There was another interesting Catholic Church with more Polish influences.

Along with the souvenir stalls I found an elderly man who spoke some English selling Soviet coins, medals, and stamps. He also had Nazi era coins which was quite surprising for only 2 Euros!. I bought a Tsar Nicholas II coin from 1913 which was in poor shape for 2 Euros.

It was strange how people had worked so hard to earn these medals during Soviet times to earn them with pride, only then having to sell them to foreign tourists during the pension years.

Again I was looking for food and couldnt find anything by the train station so ended up at McDonalds where I havent been in years and vowed never to go again. The weather was quite warm and my allergies had started to kick in.