Yesterday we went to Vilnius, for a mere 12 lats, with the Mari agency. Absolutely loved it all. The guide wasn't bad, we checked out a huge and quite interesting fair, Kaziukas, where massive crowds of artisans sell their (and factory-made, naturally) crafts, bread, and meat. To keep people's energy up, they serve hot beer and snacks, or you could just pop into a local eatery, good thing Vilnius has a huge old town that's quite touristy.
We also saw the traditional Gediminas' Hill and Tower, and climbed the hill with the crosses erected in honor of the drowned Franciscans (nearby). The fact that the hills are high, and climbing them wasn't so easy, is nice, but it'd be better if they were about 3 times higher, that would've been even more interesting.
Afterwards we went to the Akropolis mall, where we sat in a Lido equivalent called Delano. The food is tasty, prices are moderate.
My impressions of the trip are just fantastic, especially regarding the European approach to everyday design (à la Lebedev). Examples below.
For instance, in the Akropolis parking lot, the zone signs feature animals right alongside the numbers.
In a computer hardware store, an entire wall is plastered with kids' drawings.
A bookstore has a long bench piled with pillows, so you can comfortably sit down and flip through a book.
In Gediminas' Tower, the handrails on the spiral staircase aren't just on the left along the wall, but also vertically on the right, which greatly eases the climb up and down.
Over the highway, I also spotted an electronic message board once; we don't have those (or very few?).
The porta-potties are divided into men's and women's, never seen that before. I didn't make it into the men's one, so I can't say how they differ.
Along the Viliya river, there is an incredibly cool sculpture, in the shape of a pipe emerging from the soil and immediately plunging back into it. A neat figure made of steel ribbons is also attached under the bridge.
The artisans selling pretzels and bubliki mount massive specimens of their wares on their tents, of truly monstrous proportions (around a meter long).
Vilnius itself is also beautiful, set on hills; the skyscrapers are beautiful, kind of miniature copies of the real skyscrapers of London, or, say, Chicago.
As a funny curiosity, I can also mention the fact that they brought us a menu in Lithuanian at the tavern, but when the giggly waitress realized we weren't locals, she dragged over the exact same thing in Russian at our request. This helped us pick, but it absolutely did not help her remember what we wanted, because she couldn't read and couldn't remember the names of the dishes in Russian, in Russian; instead, she'd get horrified by the complexity of the words and laugh. In the end, though, she brought all the orders right, except for my rosehip tea. (I got the same as everyone else, hibiscus with fruit). I ate pelmeni baked in wine sauce; not bad, but not super.
Keeping in mind, though, that prices in Lithuania are often slightly lower than Riga's, one couldn't ask for more. My respect for Lithuanians grew even more (as you remember, I also enjoyed my last trip to Lithuania). Of course, good company and warm sunny weather played a big part, but nevertheless.
To sum up: we'll go with the Mari agency again, they promised a sea of tulips and a 10-hectare lilac garden — enough to sniff for a lifetime.