Vilnius – June 2019

Our strategy for today was simple, get into Belarus! As our flight wasn’t until the evening, one had plenty of time to visit the Old Town one last time. After spending 5 days in Vilnius, I think we came to know the lay of the land far too well!

The best bet if you are a wheelchair user is to contact the ‘Maltieciai’ service (who we transferred with when we arrived in Lithuania) as it is unknown what size vehicle to expect (even for a manual wheelchair!) if one chooses to use Uber.

Now, when one thinks of airports i.e. Bristol or Heathrow, I envisage them being surrounded by hotels, car parks etc, not an airfield located around the back of a conventional industrial estate, oh, and an IKEA to peruse whilst waiting for check-in! Vilnius airport with its Soviet styled exterior isn’t the biggest airport in the world but it has all you need plus a number of disabled toilets!

We flew to Minsk International Airport (or airfield as the hostess put it!) with Belavia (a Belarusian airline) with a flight time of just 35 minutes. Seeing the airport from the air confirmed my expectations of it being an ‘end of the motorway’ structure surrounded by fields and trees. The air quality was pleasantly nice stepping out from the marble and pristine terminal! As mentioned originally, there are no publicly known wheelchair taxi services in Belarus so your options are to catch an accessible bus OR to catch a conventional taxi. One opted for the latter taking 40 minutes and costing a mere 150 Belarusian Rubles!

Tomorrow is our only day in Minsk so let’s see how that goes…

The Neris River runs through the heart of the city and then meanders through the various parks/forests leading out into the suburbs. Like many rivers, a level cycle path runs beside it (providing that you know how to enter onto said path). Despite having roads either side, it was rather peaceful as we walked/rolled along it, a nice change from the noise of the city! The thought of food directed off the path and into a rather run down suburb, however, the highlight of this area was most definitely UNO Park, if you know of Go Ape in the UK, it’s exactly that but mostly free (albeit not accessible at all!)…

As one approached the restaurant that Google Maps directed us to, the realisation dawned upon us that this may just be a conventional supermarket! Fear not though as another restaurant was bolted onto the side providing the best service thus far (the usual wait for food in Vilnius seems to be between 45 – 60 minutes), it’s the unusual places that are the best!

Tomorrow afternoon, we head down to Vilnius railway station (which YouTube has kindly shown has minimal facilities) to catch the train to Minsk in Belarus. Now, according to YouTube, the train is fitted with lifts, whether it works is another story…

Today one headed to the Vilnius TV Tower. Now, an able bodied individual would have two walking options to reach this landmark, the easiest being through the lush green forests (Vingio Parkas) that seems to be of plenty in the city, the other one being to follow various dual carriageways. You can immediately guess which option one had to take…don’t be stupid, of course the forest walk isn’t going to be accessible! It is with this that we set off on our quest coincidentally straight through the financial district…

Like many European cities, as soon as you step out of the city centre, the pavements aren’t exactly smooth? It’s not all doom and gloom though in Vilnius, rather than having steep ramps to access underpasses, many have elevators down from street level akin to a metro station…

One of the reasons why a visit the TV Tower (bar it having an observation deck/restaurant) was important was due to its tragic role that it played in the opposition to the Soviet military seizure in 1991 where many were injured for which there is a museum in commemoration.

Disabled individuals can enter for a discounted price of 9 euros. However, it is worth noting that to enter said structure, its necessary to seek signs that show a wheelchair and a Lithuanian phone number. One presumed that you could phone that number if you required assistance, however, we chugged on our own. The reason for the phone number became apparent when the signs began directing us towards a flight of steps. Once inside, one was approached by a member of staff (who talked little English) basically telling us that there is in fact an accessible entrance around the back but fenced off (hence the phone number being displayed) which we got to experience when exiting the building.

The plan was also to visit the restaurant strangely named the ‘Milky Way’ which, unbeknown to one consists of a rotating dining area providing a 360 degree view of Vilnius as you eat (very cheap too!)…

One decided that the bus would be the best option to get back to the hotel afterwards. The majority of buses in Vilnius are low floor with a conventional pull out ramp (as 95% of the bus stops don’t have ‘humps’).

Tomorrow is the last full day in Vilnius before one catches the train down to Minsk on Sunday afternoon. On our short walk on Wednesday evening, we discovered that a footpath runs for miles along the River Neris out of the city (which isn’t too far anyway) so the plan is to roll along said path and see where we end up.

The weather forecast wasn’t wrong, today the city was not only much cooler than yesterday (when it was around 32C) but was also being drenched by torrential downpours. For us, this meant running for cover from time to time in the most unusual of places…

Anyway apart from sheltering from downpours, the aim for today was to explore The Gediminas Castle Tower followed by a wander around the Old Town. Now, The Gediminas Castle Tower is perched on top of a rather steep hill, however, luckily for us, a funicular railway has been erected providing a hassle free passage.

One was rather intrigued to see its accessibility given the one in Prague which is completely inaccessible to even a manual wheelchair, however, was pleasantly surprised to discover that this one is fully equipped and free for wheelchair users! The best way to describe the railway car is that to an elevator. Essentially, the car comes flush to the door (enabling level boarding) and then a large space presents itself and some majestic views can be seen when riding…

It is a completely different story once at the top, large cobble stones (as you would expect from a Castle Tower) makes it impossible for even a manual wheelchair to roll about, at least one receives a free panoramic view of Vilnius!

Rolling around Vilnius, one is constantly reminded of its past but also how it has rebuilt itself since the dissolution of the Soviet Union…

Vilnius Old Town reminded one a little of Tallinn in Estonia in terms of its cobbled streets and buildings. Like Tallinn, the majority of shops and restaurants have multiple steps, even McDonald’s (one was searching for a level entry disabled toilet at this point) hence an electric wheelchair may take quite a while to navigate this area!

The traditional food here is rather interesting also…honey and fruit atop of a crispy dough base!

Another interesting event that one stumbled across n the way back to the hotel was a Lithuanian university graduation ceremony. If only mine was introduced by an instrumental orchestra playing Bruno Mars!

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks slightly better than today as we enlist the assistance of Google Maps to direct us towards the TV Tower, a scene of tragedy in January 1991.