The weather forecast wasn’t wrong, today the city was not only much cooler than yesterday 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, our 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.
I 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 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 you receive a free panoramic view of Vilnius!
As you roll around the city, you are constantly reminded of its past but also how it has rebuilt itself since the dissolution of the Soviet Union…
Vilnius Old Town reminded me 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 (We were 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 we seemed to stumble upon on the way back to the hotel was some kind of 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 (still windy though!) as we enlist the assistance of Google Maps to direct us towards the TV tower…see how that goes…todays directions were a mixed bag 🙂