Walking Around in Vilnius

Today marked our first full day in Vilnius. We visited a small biotechnology company called Profarma. Honestly, the science was a little over our heads. Fortunately, we did know what cells and DNA are, so we were not completely lost. However, it could have been better. Afterward, we received a tour of the university, which is fairly large and an easy place to get lost. It was very interesting, though. The university has a rich history in Vilnius, and we enjoyed the tour. The library had an excellent collection of older books, including more than 300 of the 1200 in Europe from the first 50 years of the 16th century. They also had an interesting observatory, filled with old telescopes and such. We climbed up into a tower, and the staircase was a tight fit. They also have a church with a very impressive pipe organ. Overall, we enjoyed the tour, although our feet were tired, and more walking was to come.
After lunch, we took a two hour walking tour of the city. The city is filled with architecture from various periods, including the Baroque, Classical, Gothic, and much more. There were many churches throughout the city, and they were all impressive. Vilnius, unlike Riga and Tallinn, has car traffic going through the old town, so that was something else we had to look out for. After the tour, we had dinner at 3 PM (Seriously, our welcome dinner hosted by the University was at 3 PM). Fortunately, the food was delicious. However, we were all hungry later, so went out to get a snack in old town. Now, we are tired from all the walking, and ready to go to sleep. That is all for today. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Written by Daniel McClendon and Joseph Guthrie