Lithuania

 by Wiebe

Day 176 & 177 | From big city to little town

Day 176 | Tuesday September 6

Tuesday started with a TV-interview, it looks like there is coming more and more attention for Plug Me In. The show is called “Labas rytas, Lietuva!” or good morning Lithuania! They asked me to come to a charging station in the city and asked me some questions about my plans and stay in Vilnius, will be broadcasted tomorrow.

After the interview I went to Cozy and said goodbye te Bernie and Renata. They have been very hospitable to let me stay for 5 nights, I could do whatever I wanted and they treated me with a lot of stories, beers and food. That last one was also now the case, Bernie send me to his hamburger restaurant Le Butcher were I could have a final free lunch. They had a beef steak burger on the menu and I never had that before. It was beef cut in tiny slices with some sauce, lettuce and potato wedges, excellent choice if you would ask me 😉

Time to leave Vilnius now. Simonas invited me to come to his parents summer resort in Pivašiūnai. I actually wanted to go there yesterday but because of the TV interview today I postponed it. That was no problem for him bit today he could’t be there himself. Luckily he was able to come to the meeting with the electric Honda yesterday and we had the opportunity to meet.

Pivašiūnai was only 75km from Vilnius. I was welcomed by Simonas parents Gerardas and Ramute on this countryside mansion. It was really a mansion because the area of their place was at least 5 football fields. They had a big house with a big stable with a big sauna next to it and very very big solar panels. They had 3 huge arrays of panels, at least 15 meters wide each of them. On a average day they collect around 200KWh of electricity, which is a lot and way more than they can use. What remains they sell back to the power company.

Gerardas and Ramute didn’t speak fluently English and one of the first things I could understand was Gerardas asking “you want shot tequila?” Which I than couldn’t decline. Some more shots of local spirits followed and after dinner we sweat it out of our bloodstreams in the sauna.

Day 177 | Wednesday September 7

I woke up before 9 to watch myself on television, broadcast was between 9 and 12. We waited, waited more and eventually were let down, no handsome man on television. I sent a message to the interviewer and she replied that the planning for this week was already full so it will be aired on the 14th. They will sent me a link which I will post here.

A few weeks ago I received a message from Michal who lives in Poland. He saw one of my movies and wanted me to show his sustainable project. I thought it was interesting so a few days ago I’d let him know that I would be coming soon. As I had no-one who plugged me in between the Lithuanian border and his place (about 450km in Ilawa) I asked him for assistance. He wanted to take care of me and look for friends or other possibilities on the way. For today he and his assistance Weronika booked a hotelroom for me in Augustow! Great because I had a lot of work to do and had now had some time and quietness to write and edit stuff, like this interview about RePack, go read it!

So today I arrived in Poland, country #15 this trip. Since I got to Denmark all the countries I passed I had never been before. Poland is new territory too but it feels (and it not only feels) like I’m getting more close to home, but that is what makes this trip so much fun, letting other people decide how I’m traveling to Australia.

Pictures

Beef steak burger
Le Butcher
Gerardas and Ramute's House
Hot Tub
Huge solar panels
Sauna
Playing around
At night
Charging fully on solar energy
Gerardas and Ramute'
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 by Wiebe

Day 174 & 175 | Vilnius Pt. II

Day 174 | Sunday September 5

My host Bernie has a lot of contacts throughout the city and today he arranged something special. A Dutch friend of him is about to open a ski-center in Vilnius, Slidinėjimo Akademija. Not one with snow or brushes but a rotating track. It’s about a 15 meters long and the height can be adjusted. It’s been a while since I skied for the last time, at least 18 years, so it was nice to do it again. It was a cool experience, I expected the track to be a bit stiff but it was actually pretty easy to make turns. The ‘cool’ thing is that you can do it with your t-shirt on as it’s of course not cold at all. For Bernie it was the first time but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.

In the evening I met Johan, another friend of Bernie. Johan made a road trip per bike from Lithuania to Malaysia, so from here I’m making the same route as he did and wanted to meet up with him to hear his experiences about especially the middle-east. I got a lot wiser, felt relieved about some issues I was thinking about and had some new things to think about.

Johan is a traveler pur sang himself. He had a baby a few years ago and couldn’t resist to travel again. He bought an old fireman truck from Austria and with his girlfriend and baby they traveled around the world. Great inspiration for later. You can find his stories and pictures here.

Lithuanians are very proud of their language. This is because they have been under pressure for a long time and due to circumstances over the years the country changed a lot. The language is something that never changes. Bernie and Renata told me that there even is a law that says you always need to stick to the language. They received an email from the government who saw the menu of one of their restaurants online. For a dish they used different words than the original Lithuanian language and now they risk a fine if they don’t change it!

Day 175 | Monday September 6

The day started with a meeting at the Dutch embassy in Vilnius. Via Facebook I was in touch with Bert, the ambassador, for already some days. He even offered me a place to stay at his house, a really nice gesture. He told me more about sustainability in Lithuania. How the country bought a boat to get their own gas so they can be independent from Russia and how the Dutch are helping with giving advice about our biking infrastructure. 

For lunch I had a meeting with Zilvinas, journalist from 15 Mins, one of the countries biggest media channels. He took me for lunch and asked me everything about my trip. You can read the article here, it’s in Lithuanian of course but definitely worth putting through Google Translate.

Than I picked up Johan and drove to Mindaugas. This guy converted his own Honda HR to fully electric already in 2008. I made a video about it (which is very technical but interesting) which you can see here:

Full Electric Honda HR-VFull Electric Honda HR-V

Pictures 

At the embassy
The electric Honda
Indoor Skiing
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 by Wiebe

Day 172 & 173 | Vilnius

Day 172 | Friday September 2

Today started out really fun. Yesterday I came in touch with Maarten, a Belgian guy who is active in sustainable initiates in Vilnius. He invited me to come to CreativeMornings, a monthly event were they invite someone to speak about a certain topic. This time a laughing yoga teacher came by, not a yoga woman who laughed all the time but a woman who gave laughing yoga courses, you get it?
She started with a long presentation in Lithuanian which I understood for exactly 0%, still this woman smiled all the time and had a positive attitude which was contagious.
We finished the workshop with some laughter exercises, most of them felt a bit awkward. We needed to greet each other while laughing or hold each others hands and bend down while laughing. Still at the end I felt more positive so it did it works, interesting experience.

I had some time to do some sightseeing in Vilnius. It is a city with much charm. Everything is old and build nice, what you expect of a capital but its not so massive crowded as most capitals.

In the evening I met Maarten again, we met at a food street were we had huge fat hamburgers. Maarten uses car-sharing platforms to get around the city. Today we tested Spark, which is an full electric platform. See this movie for the impression:

Testing Car Sharing Platforms in VilniusTesting Car Sharing Platforms in Vilnius

Maarten told that recently they introduced deposit on bottles, cans etc in Lithuania, that was a huge succes. Apparently the deposit system works better in countries which are poor, when people can earn money they do that. Also homeless people search everywhere for cans. The waste in cities reduced a lot and most of the cans and bottles where returned to the shops.

Day 173 | Saturday September 3

I had meeting with Sigitas, owner of Sweetroot, a restaurant in Vilnius. He doesn’t explicitly say that he cooks sustainable as for him its a normal way to do but he has some traditions. In the kitchen they only seasonal food and it has to be found local. The wine and coffee are the only things which are imported. All the dishes he serves are based on local traditions like stories from grandparents or childhood memories.

Sigitas invited me to come back tonight to have dinner at the restaurant, a really kind gesture. The food was unbelievable good and the presentation was spot-on. The total experience took about 2.5 hours and I received 9 courses! Definitely the best meal I had this trip.

Pictures

Vilnius
Old & New town
Sweetroot menu
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 by Wiebe

Day 170 – 171 | Latvia to Lithuania

Day 170 | Wednesday August 31

My host Dennis gave me a tour through his town Ludza. It’s a very old town surrounded by lakes. Dennis hasn’t seen much outside of his town, the border with Russia is only 10km away but he prefers to stay in Ludza, so he knows it pretty well. With his sports car we drove off-road into a forrest, some kings from hundreds of years ago and even mummies were buried here.

Around noon I left Ludza. I wanted to go to Vilnius but that was impossible to reach in one day. So I stopped halfway down, in Daugavpils. In search of a place to stay I entered some hotels and found my luck at Park Hotel Latgola, a beautiful looking hotel located probably in the tallest building of the city. My room was located on the 9th floor and had a great view over the ‘skyline’.
Minor problem was that there was no opportunity to charge the car at the hotel. In Latvia there are some public chargers but they are found in and around Riga. I started to drive around and looked for a socket. There are not many here. I was lucky to find a carwash with a nice guy who offered me to park and charge overnight, problem solved.

Day 171 | Thursday September 1

Funny thing to discover on this trip is how breakfasts are totally different in each country. Today I had the opportunity to discover it at the hotel. In Latvia they eat very strong: eggs, salads, fish and and soups for breakfast. Less bread, no croissants at all.

Vilnius was now only 173km away. When I had been driving for 50km or so I noticed the country seemed to change. The roads were better and the houses looked different. Without knowing I already entered Lithuania. Last night I didn’t had any offers yet for places to stay in Vilnius so I send out a request on Facebook. In the morning I had 3 people who replied to it, including two Dutchmans. In the afternoon I arrived in Vilnius and stopped at a shopping mall to pick up free wifi and check my messages. The malls are huge here, in the middle of the mall even was an ice-skating ring! Impressive.
They also had some superchargers installed at the parking. Long time ago I saw one. Some cars were charging there and I made a short talk. Apparently it where taxi drivers and they felt pretty satisfied with the EV’s.

Bernie, my Dutch host invited me to come to one of his restaurants. In 2001 Bernie got the opportunity to start a houseclub here in the city, loved it and stayed ever since. He now owns 6 different establishments in Vilnius including a tapas bar, rum bar and burger restaurant. Bernie is original from the same city as me, Haarlem. It’s a small world.

After dinner at his restaurants (really good beef steak by the way) we drove to his house. It was only 2km and I had 4% battery left. For the first time this trip the battery ran completely out! Luckily I was in the middle of the city with electricity everywhere so right where it ran out there was a hotel and it was ok to plug it in there. After 15 minutes we got home.

Bernie lives with his girlfriend and 2 cats in a nice house only few minutes from the center. We talked a bit, did some work and than Bernie took me to a concert in town and we finished it off with some rums at one of his bars.

 

Pictures 

Ludza
Latgola Hotel
View from the room
Emergency charge in Vilnius
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