Life in a Small Lithuanian City as a Foreigner
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- We have been living in the small Lithuanian city of Utena for just about 6 weeks now. Here's what my impressions are, how we're liking it, a few things that perhaps aren't so ideal.
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Song One: Kids in Love by Tellow
I moved to lithuania 🇱🇹 from London 4 years ago. I love it. ❤ now we are buying a farm 🚜 😀 I went from being a city boy to a farmer in such a short space of time haha 😄
Brace Yourselves, Winter is Coming
Well shes from New York, i dont think our winter will be that drastically different :D
The ice crystalline trees and streets are a sight to see. When the snow falls slowly and reflects street lights. It can be amazing if you have warm clothes.
Winter with no snow and 4°
Winter in lithuania is shit in2023
What's interesting, is that we, Lithuanians, don't see ourselves as that friendly 😄 we are more modest and yeah, we are welcoming, but I wouldn't say that we are as friendly as people in the south 😅 but it's nice to hear a gentle praise from a foreigner 😊
Totally agree with Austėja. Although, not all Lithuanians are the same, it really depends on situation and on person. As for the beauty of other towns, you should definitely check Anykščiai and Druskininkai also. Those are very impressive, green and relaxing places to visit as well.
@@frozenberry123 I totally agree with both of you. I don t think Lithuanians are that friendly either....yes as Austeja commented - that is true...modest and sometimes polite - but not always , not all of you....not like Canadians- they are friendly and polite people....
@@keepcreationprocess yes, but alot of Western politeness is fake. I live in UK and I know people will smile in your face and slag you off behind your back. With Lithuanians is going to be in your face and if they don't know you, they will be reserved, but if they like you, it's from the heart.
Would like to move to Lithuania
Totally right , I hope she doesn’t meet them when they are drunk 😅
Man I can't believe so many foreigners come to live in Lithuania. There's also one nigerian girl blogger on YT. That makes me proud being half lithuanian. You guys are so very welcome in Lithuania.
I truly have always enjoyed the comments section of Laura’s vlogs. Very kind people in her “community” of subscribers….a “safe” space. Laura should be very proud of this, as it is a reflection of her and her efforts on the channel. A refreshing difference from many. It is a pleasure to read comments from people that either live in, or have moved to Lithuania. All/most are very proud of where they live. Rightly so. An incredibly beautiful journey so far….and the ARCHITECTURE and FOOD…..wow! What I knew of Lithuania was very little. Shame on me. Learning lots and eager for more! Much love from Ottawa 🇨🇦
Your photography and narration do bring me back to my 3-month stay in Lithuania back in 1993. Even though it was beautiful, It's remarkable how much more vibrant, pristine, and friendly the country has become.
I do hope that you will acquire some Lithuanian friends soon!
you need visit again,and see,how all changed..
The country has changed drastically. Lithuania in 90s and Lithuania now are two completely different worlds. Please do visit again!
Just in the capital changes were like a double edged sword. We got modern skyscrapers, but also lost a lot of nature in the city, trees, green spaces as density just keeps increasing (in soviet times nobody cared about profits from this). Due to new constructions we are also loosing a lot of smaller historical buildings, especially wooden heritage is being lost quickly.
@@vaida.san94 Not is all ways. I miss some authentic historical charm of Vilnius old town. Nowadays some of it has been lost, while in many other cases all nice courtyards have become locked without public access.
Good! I am Lithuanian, I am over 40 years old, but I have not been to Utena yet. After watching your video, I think I need to visit Utena. Just today I returned from a two-day trip around Šiauliai and Kelmė region and I was convinced once again how many beautiful places there are around. I really liked Kurtuvėnai, Tytuvėnai, Šiluva.
Thank you very much for allowing to see Lithuania through the eyes of a guest. Good luck to you.
Give LIKE and SUSCRIBE.
Hi Marius, I am currently applying for a Lithuanian citizenship by descent. Hoping to be able to visit soon.
Thanks so much, Marius! I'm glad you are enjoying the videos and I appreciate the tips on other places to visit around the country. There are so many places, my list just keeps getting longer! haha
@@laura-bronner As you are near, you should definitely visit "Šavašos pažintinis takas". Great place to feel the greenery of forests and creeks. If you'll ever need any help, tips or just to meet, you can write me ;)
You should try out Anyksciai, it's near by Utena and it's one of the greenest places here in Lithuania ;)
Exactly, it also has lots of restaurants.
aaaand they have a pretty great variety of SPAs in Anykščiai :)
This video was great... I'm from niagara falls NY and I'm moving to Lithuania next year. I visited there for a week,I got back 2 days ago. I adore it...my girlfriend lives there but even if I wasn't with her I'd still move there. It's gorgeous,everyone was VERY nice.
It's Corona thats why the buses aren't very often. Movement between municipalities in Lithuania was prohibited just few months ago
ahh that makes sense, I didn't realize. Thanks for letting me know!
Fellow Lithuanian here. Utena is one of the better choses to live from all smaller towns in Lithuania. I'm not from Utena, I live in Vilnius, but I do have old summer house near Utena and I love this town. Also there is one more restaurant called Liūtas Ir Avelė
, which is really decent.
Dear, very glad to hear that you’re enjoying living in Lithuania so far☺️♥️
Thank you, I'm loving it :)
It’s my native city, and I lived by the lake Dauniškis. Great to see people from other countries enjoying this place! I would love to make new friends, but now I am living in Ukmerge. I hope you will meet new friends there. It just takes a little bit time to get to know locals. Good luck!
Will it be too cold in winter for someone from coutry which never has temperature as low as 10°C?
@@edsong7824 You would need decent winter clothing. With that winters are really not that cold.
@@edsong7824 well last winter I think there were few weeks with like -15 if I'm not wrong, maybe more
@@paulioska7194 a bit more 😊 last winter we had cold as low as minus 20-26 for quite a while (mostly it doesnt last longer than 2-3 weeks) but thats when the lakes freeze properly and you can go walk on if there is snow its heaven
I think Utena should become a bit more lively once they fix that horrible road from Vilnius. I travel a lot in Lithuania by car, but usually try to avoid that direction :)
Must be a huge change from constantly moving around. And it looks like you enjoy that. Relaxing and not having to pack up in a few days. I'm really enjoying these videos from small town Lithuania. I've already said that you've sold me on the country. I'd love to come visit.
You’re always welcome here! Lithuania is an incredibly safe and peaceful place. And the capital is super cozy and lovely. You’d enjoy for sure☺️
If you like quiet and natural places, you should definitely rent a cabin near some lake for couple days. Usually there are sauna and/or hot tub to relax, fire place to sit or cook and some water activities (even though weather is not that good anymore).
..and there are plenty beautiful places not that far from Utena for such purpose 🙂
I love Your videos❤i feel so nostalgic!!! I am from Lithuania, but i live in Usa right now...
Thank you so much, glad I could give you a taste of home!
Meteorological records in Lithuania:
The lowest air temperature -42,9 °C Utena 😁
🙉🙈🙈 oh dear.
i'd love to see it
I am English speaking Lithuanian and I can help you if needed. In Utena is a nice place to eat called Liūtas ir avelė 🤤
Thank you! I will check out that restaurant!
Hey! It's so nice that you chose to live in Utena, while lots of people are leaving rural areas. I'm so happy that you are shareing experience, maybe it would broaden others' horizons to explore Lithuania, especially its nature, including forests and rivers around Utena, Molėtai, Ignalina (truly recommend) and calmness. Uniqueness is still not losted, it's one of the biggest values of lithuanians :) Best wishes!
Was really not expecting to see my hometown in your video! I really hope you feel welcome here and that the winter doesn't scare you away. I tell everyone who visits Lithuania that they must go visit the Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology in Moletai - it's one of my favourite places in Lithuania and it's not at all far from Utena - they have a very interesting and modern exposition right now. You can even book a night stargazing tour using their telescopes. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions about the country/town and I hope you enjoy your time here!
Thank you so much!
❤ good post
Greetings from lithuania 🇱🇹🇱🇹😎
Welcome to Lithuania! I love your point of noise - we do have some pockets of silence and beautiful life in this country :)
You must rush to see Klaipėda, Palanga and Nida while the weather is still decent here.
I don't think I'll get up there before the cool weather arrives unfortunately. Without a car it's been difficult to get around, but we don't want to get a car (don't even think we can?) until our residency permits come through. Still a few more weeks to wait unfortunately.
@@laura-bronner It's super easy to get there via train from Vilnius! It will take around 6 hours, but I think you won't regret it, especially Klaipeda - Nida, as soon Nida will start closing down due to the end of the tourist season (which is a good thing as most of the tourists there are Lithuanians and the place is more lively). In all honesty, if you were looking for a city with a sense of town but an international community as well, then Klaipėda is the best spot as there are some awesome people from the US & Canada and all over the world living there. Not to mention the sea, beautiful park and overall amount of green spaces you have a few minutes away from the city center. It's the best city for nature lovers in Lithuania.
Silence is one of the best exports of this area of Europe. Silence already starts when you step in and sit in the airplane on the tarmac in the foreign country readying for take off - people are speaking so quietly. It was hard to get used to, but then one can.
Nice video, as always :) Highly recommend you to go and explore hiking trails while weather is somewhat nice. There is a lot of nice places to explore :)
Thank you! We have been really enjoying the different trails that we've found so far! I would love to do some of the 100km loop trail around Vilnius while the weather is still nice :)
Utena area is so beautiful, but you need a car there ;) Go to Molėtai it is super cute and try looking for restaurants on the outskirts of small towns. For example in SPA Hotel BELVILIS or something like that :) but.. yeah you need a car, i live in small village in that area and moving around with buses is almost impossible :D
Lovely to hear you're enjoying your stay. Hopefully the autumn and winter won't be too much for you two :d
Bus times can be tricky, I suppose they might be more 'stable' in a bigger town like Utena but they do change depending on what day it is (weekends vs weekdays at the very least) to be as efficient as possible because there's just not that many people most of the time, especially with the small towns.
(If you two are staying a while I recommend getting bikes. They're quite handy (and you can take them on busses!), especially if you live in a town "cluster", there's even been a lot of roadwork to ease up such travel these years)
And well not that many places have that many 'regular' attractions like a lot of restaurants, bars, cinema's and else, aside big cities, especially if they aren't cultural hubs. (We actually have quite a few dwindling towns because they used to be manufacturing hubs before but have lost that. Some are trying to breathe new life by incentivising other sectors (mostly (local) tourism) nowadays.)
And I won't lie, I think you might not have concluded that people are as warm if you looked more different from locals. Some seem to have difficulties (you might have heard of an immigrant and the border with Belarus issues on the news lately) with outsiders. Of course not everyone is like that but it's not that hard to find, especially in older generations in smaller towns.
Anyway, hopefully my 'essay' here isn't bothersome haha, best of luck with everything and may the search for friends go well and the heating prices not hit you hard in the following months ;d
(Also gotta add you've got a beautiful accent!)
Thank you very much for the positivety in your video. I am from Lithuania (not from Utena though). Well you were apologizing to Lithuanian watchers for calling Untena and small city but there is nothing really insulting in calling it this way - it is small even by Lithuanian standards. I agree there are lots of tiny places in a country that are much smaller than Utena. The good thing is that from recent times the country of Lith is undergoing maasive renovations and remodelling making public spaces look better than they were, lets say, 20 years ago. Lithiania is really green and with less people into your face, together with that with all the goodies of civilization. I hope you will continue enjoying your calm living away from a big city🙂
Your videos make me want to move to Lithuania 🇱🇹 the friendly people and peace sound so appealing ❤️
Hello Laura! I am glad to see that you are enjoying living in Utena! The country is great with all that greenery! I come from the coastal part of Lithuania - Palanga. Big recommendation to visit that part! You will enjoy Nida, Juodkrante Neringa, Klaipeda:) Like yourself , I have been living in London for 16 years and now living in Germany. I know the feeling! I am Visiting Lithuania in October! Let me know if you fancy a drink in Vilnius!:) All the best, Sigita
Would be lovely to have a drink when you come back to Lithuania!
I come from the same place as Sigita, the surrounding areas around Palanga are just amazing!
Hey - british ex-pat here - in a village just outside Utena for 3 years.
My girl is from Utena, and we thinking about moving there. We live in Norway now, but it is just to expensive
I've never been to Norway, but I imagine it's much cheaper to live in Utena haha, especially if you are still able to earn what you are earning in Norway.
Labas! Not sure what you plan next, but Marijampolė (the 7th largest city) is the beautiful and clean small city I live in. Renovations have been constant here for the past few years, making it clean and still green, like the Pašešupio park which is pleasant to be in. You'll find quite more restaraunts and cafés (which also serve proper Lithuanian meals) here and public areas with many poeple, yet remaining calm...!
I have to agree! I live not too far from Marijampolė and visit this town every week. I like that everything is so close in the center and you can find everything you need. And really it's one of the most renovated towns in Lithuania. Also very clean and close to Poland and Kaunas. Really worth a visit ☺️
Thoroughly enjoy your videos Laura. These last ones on moving to and living in a new country are really good. Especially as I’m thinking Lithuania would not be high up there on peoples lists to travel or move to. So this makes them very enjoyable and interesting. Thanks so much for sharing and taking us along for your experiences. Peace and Calm. 👍🏻😎🇨🇦
Thanks so much, Gerald. I'm really glad you are enjoying the recent videos! I appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment :)
Keep on keeping on.
It's not the destination It's the journey. With an open heart and soul you are the village.
yt reccomendations brought me here. take care, love Lietuva from Poland.
We have returned to Lithuania after 15 years living abroad. Instead of our native Kaunas, we bought a homestead near Alytus and river Nemunas. It'so quiet and peaceful - and a large city is only 8 kilometers away!
I love lithuania from egypt 🇪🇬
I hope to visit egypt
You should come visit Anykščiai. It is not very far away from Utena and has some really nice places to see also there are some great restaurants in Anykščiai, like Vilnius SPA Anykščiai (I know it sounds confusing...)
While in Utena it might be reasonable to make encephalitis vaccination and make some local friends who could take you fishing, mushroom picking and other attractions of nature here. You're not far from Aukstaitija National park.
Forgot to mention basketball star Jonas Valanciunas is from there who plays in the NBA now :)
Oh unfortunately you need a car if you wanna travel around comfortabily. You can rent a Citybee from bigger cities. Also, consider visiting seaside while it is still warm - I'm sure you would love it🥰
We are waiting for our residency permits to come through before considering getting a car, but I think long term we will probably get a car. I have heard so many lovely things about the coast, I can't wait to get up there!
oposite it is better visit sea in late autum. you can get hot vine and go see huge waves. in summer it is boring
Try Gastro Pub "Aš būsiu čia" (I will be here) in another small city Ukmergė ! It's not far away from Utena.
Also Anykščiai is very beutiful city not far away from Utena.
I would really love to go to Anykščiai, it looks so nice, but I don't have a car, so getting there by bus is very difficult at the moment. I would love to visit Ukmergė, maybe see you there!
@@laura-bronner yes, public transport is very uncomfortable in Lithuania. Check carpool groups like " Vilnius- Utena, Utena - Vilnius", also "Utena - Kaunas - Utena". Its kind of sharing a seat in a car for few €. I tried several times and such system works :) especially when students going to study or going back to visit parents...
Thanks so much, that's really helpful!
It's so cool to see my country with foreigner's eyes. Thank you for sharing your experience. :) One advice get encephalitis shot. Those f*cking ticks live in those green spaces. 🙈
Oh yeah, encephalitis vaccine is strongly recommended here. 2 ticks got me in July...
Indeed, I've been getting at least 2 of those little shits every summer lately. Last one from sitting on grass that wasn't even a centimetre tall. They're truly everywhere.
At the very least educate yourself about tick diseases and go to a doctor right away if you spot the signs.
Welcome to small town life, from a New Mexico town that's actually just a village.
I understand the draw now :) I used to swear that I was a city girl, but I am really enjoying the serenity and kindness that just doesn't exist in a city.
I'm in Las Cruces. Its growing on me.
What brought you to Lithuania? The recent history of this place is very exciting.
The same thing that brought me to Mexico, my boyfriend took a job here :)
I wanna see ehat you say when November comes and it's dark by 4pm xD
As a fellow American, you sure make me miss my little foreign expat country.
In Australia now, but in a few months heading to India for a small work stint.
I am hoping to run into you/both when I return to LT! Next Spring?? :)
Keep up the great videos. I look forward to them!
Would be lovely to meet when you're back! I'm glad you are enjoying the videos and they can bring you a little bit of Lithuania while you're away.
Enjoy Utena. Greetings from Vilnius. I am happy I've discovered your channel.
Laura what ethnicity are you. Just curious. ✌️
I passed through Utena on my way for a stay at Barono Vila which is near Butėnai, and sadly my only stop in Utena was at Charlie Pizza, but I will make a point of exploring Utena next time I am in Lithuania.....to further explore the Lithuanian dream.....
You look so healthy Laura! That home cooking is treating you well. So much healthier than eating out!
Thanks, I'm feeling happy and healthy :)
@@laura-bronner Welcome to Lithuania :D And yes, we lithuanians love our fresh produce, and we cock at home very often :) we also do visit shops for those "vegies" almost every second or third day :D That's why there aren't really any restaurants in smaller city. It simply will not have enough customers. Best of luck and dress up. It will get rainy and cold soon ;)
I am American living here in Vilnius 6 months out of the year, I notice that probably 90% of the people have the same color eyes, check it out when your people looking. Wait until winter arrives, we will see how happy you are
Looks like a lovely place Laura. I’m curious how you spend ypur time since there is only so much touring you can do in a small town.
When I'm not working, I catch the bus to Vilnius or go for a walk around Utena. Vilnius is the closest big city, so it's easy to head there for the day and get my city fix. But I work Monday to Friday from home and tend to travel elsewhere on the weekends :)
Great. You should to make move to Klaipeda. I think it’s a most liberal and beautiful town in Lithuanian. You have Nida and Planga on sides of Klaipeda. Is best experience in LT. At least it is for me.
Come to live in Raudondvaris, best place to live in right now 😃
Nice to see you back. You got the perfect place hahaha. You hated noise in Mexico. Too quiet too silent would stress me and get me anxious. Hahaha. What a masochist guy I am.
Hey you nice , your voice nice, your video nice,❤💚❤💚❤💚
Everything is cool, but you are stressing it funny ;D
So nice to see you enjoying things we are used to and take for granted. All the best wishes!
Great new intro!!
Not sure if you've answered this in another video, but why did you chose to move to Utena, and not Vilnius, Kaunas or even Klaipėda? When the winter comes, and outside isn't as nice anymore, you'd certainly want some more places to explore/hang out. Maybe you plan to move to a bigger city?
I'll answer this in the Q&A video I'm filming - will be up Wednesday :)
Why everyone should move to big cities? Smaller regions already lack people and you suggest even stronger centralization. Also it seems she searched for relaxing, quiet, green environment with a lot of space and nature. Kaunas and especially Vilnius have just too much action, movement so many changes, green spaces are disappearing in front of our eyes just for the sake of skyscrapers, shops and restaurants. I wouldn't be surprised if Vilnius becomes similar dense concrete jungle to other European large cities due to new constructions. At least it used to be unique with its spaces, nature, old town and historical architecture. Don't get me wrong, some love that, but not everyone.
Well I live in Vilnius and quite passionate about its history so I think I am a bit familiar with changes that are happening there.
Here you go, you agree that Vilnius is unique compared to other larger European cities. But that is what I am talking about, those differentiating values are slowly disappearing and it becomes similarly globalised and homogeneous. Of course I am not comparing it to pure concrete jungles like Paris or Barcelona. But Vilnius was uniquely green and didn't have "big city" feeling compared to even Riga.
I find it surprising that there are so few restaurants and yet there are a lot of supermarkets, including a LIDL, as you pointed out. We live a town in Portugal with a similar population, perhaps even smaller, and according to Trip Advisor there are between 75 and 100 restaurants, depending on how you define a restaurant. I am sure we have about 50 cafes too, almost one on every corner.
I guess it’s a cultural thing. People in South Europe tend to spend more time outdoors and to meet in restaurants, cafes more than Eastern Europeans. Here it’s way more common to cook at home or to invite guests to come over. Of course in the capital is different.
People are nice because you're a novelty to them.
Lithuania is a beautiful country love to live there
A wonderful visit👏👏👏
Lietuva - Lithuania, Lietus - rain xD
is Lithuania a nice country to live as a Non -EU ?
Wow! How come you decided to live in Lithuania?
My boyfriend got a job here and I work remotely so we moved here about 6 weeks ago :)
Would love to move there but don't know how to go about it
She doesn't even know how to pronounce the name of the town!
I took my driving test back in a day in Utena.
Hello. Yes, in small city people is nicer.
Very quiet, kind like boring !
Nice I Am Also Coming Soon ❤😅
New york is hell, no wonder you like it here :)
Greatings from Biržai 🤝.
It's somewhere I'd really like to visit! I heard you have the best beer there :)
@@laura-bronner The best 🍺
I live here since i was born, and i can't live in bigger cities like Vilnius or Kaunas. it's quiet place where you can basically have everything, except concerts.. But this weekend will be our town birthday, so i hope you will enjoy it.
I'm excited to see some of the live music and the other events that are happening here this weekend :)
100 km for concerts isn't a big deal 😎🔥
@@aurimaslabanauskas with our public transport system it's a big deal. unless you have a place where to sleep there or have a car, otherwise last bus from Vilnius to Utena 18.50
Kinda shocked to hear that its that green...I would have thought New Zealand had that in the bag..
It's so hard to make a comparison because I was such a different person when I was in New Zealand, I had seen so little of the world and had nothing to compare it to (it was over 10 years ago now since I lived there), but I think the biggest thing about Lithuania is that it's so flat, so you get up above the tree line and you can see green for miles and miles. New Zealand is rockier, more mountainous, more rugged, so the greenery doesn't smack you in the face quite as much (at least that's how I remember it).
@@laura-bronner good point......I just discovered your vids recently....really enjoyed the Baja ones so far ...keep on doing what you do..
Nah! Lived in Kaunas for 16 years. Lived in NZ for 63. Green is green, unless you have survived Canterbury after a normal summer, with Norwesters. Cheers from The Kaunas Kiwi...
O nice I live in Utena also.
Labas:)
Hey! Nice video, I do agree about community problem. But I think more and more people are moving from big cities (like Kaunas and Vilnius) to cities like Utena, Molėtai, so they could be closer to lakes and green stuff, so community should be less and less be a problem.
Welcome to Lithuania and Utena!:) You certainly chose unconventional place to live for expats :) I do hope that after winter you won’t change your mind about it :) If you are craving for eating out, other options are heading to Anyksciai (they’ve got a place or two there, I hear Vilnius SPA has a nice restaurant) or Ignalina (check out restaurant Zuvedra). Generally, if you get a chance to visit Ignalina - do so! It’s surrounded by Aukštaitija National Park and hundreds of lakes. Autumn colours would be absolutely mesmerising. But as you highlighted, public transport is disappointing, so either you need jump on a bicycle or rent a car to be able to get to places. Back in the days before covid, I would have suggested also hitchhiking, but not sure if that’s still seen as OK.
Disclaimer: My wife is from Utena, but both of us don’t live in Lithuania for the past 14 years.
Laura, hope you have time to also explore Utena’s dark 1941 secret. According to Wikipedia it’s in the Rase Forest just 2km north of the city. Every Lithuanian city, town and village has the same 1941 dark history., so Utena is certainly not alone.
Tasty beer, thou
just be heeerrrrrr
I like the peace and quiet.
Me too, it has been so lovely.
Greetings from Kaunas, awesome to have foreigners coming to us and staying a bit longer :)
Are you still studying Spanish and also Lithuanian?
Yes! I’m in a Spanish book club and I still taking speaking classes once or twice a week in Spanish alongside learning Lithuanian 👍 Luke and I also sometimes speak to each other in Spanish 😊
Hey 👋 a lovely video, very positive! Never been to Utena but definitely will visit it when I am around. Thumbs up 👍
Hello! I've just now seen this video and i'm super excited cause i live in Utena too! Very good video, I feel like it explains the town very well, if you have any questions about it please ask, i'll be very happy to help :D
Btw you should definantly check out Utenis square if you haven't been there yet, it's just to the right of the 'Senukai' shopping centre, it's a nice park area with fountains (although they stop working around winter for obvious reasons, we get a lott of snow most of the time so you should prepare lol) there's also a very nice bakery there that you should absolutly try
Thanks so much! I will check out the square and the bakery. What is the name of the bakery?
You're welcome :D, and it's called 'Aikštės Kepyklėlė'
Edit: More things to see if you're interested: There's a museum of the Utena area (Utenos kraštotyros muziejus) really close to the bakery
Another bakery is even closer to 'Senukai' called '101 Kepyklėlė' and it is also really good and opened up pretty recently
The Utena culture centre (Utenos kultūros centras) which you should really go to this week because the annual city fair is happening right now, where a market opens up and they sell esentially everything you can think of, it should be a great way for you guys to meet some locals and have a great time (it's located on the other side of the road from the church you showed in the video, the one next to the store called 'Maxima', in winter time they also put up a christmas tree and decorate it there too, that's something that is done in almost every single Lithuanian city as a form of friendly competition
Speaking of churches, there is another one just down the road from Utenis square called 'Utenos kristaus žengimo į dangų bažnyčia (which roughly translates to 'The church of the christ's ascending to heaven of Utena)
Another museum is on the road to Vilnius, it's called 'Utenos laisvės kovų muziejus' (Museum of the fight for freedom of Utena) and it has a lot of historic things related to the Soviet occupation of Lithuania and the exile of Lithuanians to siberia, pretty cool
And also, when you can, definantly see some of the villages not far from Utena (like Užpaliai and Svėdasai) as they have interesting historic locations that give insight into old Lithuanian history and tales, see some of the mounds in the countryside, which are old hills that often had a castle or fort on them, the one in Narkūnai, a village really close to Utena was actually the place where the history of the city began
Really sorry if i ended up typing too much i'm just really excited to help as we don't usually get a lot of foreigners in our country, and especially in small provincial places like Utena, hope both of you guys
have a great stay here! :D
Thank you so much for all of the tips! I've added them all to the map on my phone so I can check them out. The Museum for Freedom of Utena sounds especially interesting!
Hey are you still here? come to Zarasai! Its 45 km
This is how it looks. ua-cam.com/video/YuDSwsRBHiI/v-deo.html
great video!!! nice review gotta tell you that! Also if you ever visit Kaunas again - hit me up for a meet could show you around some places too :)
I was so surprised to see someone talking about Utena! It's my hometown. Lived there untill college 😀
The Winter is coming.
haha yes it's already perhaps the coldest August I've experienced since living in New Zealand where August is winter 😂
''winter is coming''-kevin samuels
yep its beautiful, but i rather go to better places, because green nature is gets boring when u live here alot of years.
My wife is from Utena and we plan on moving back there very soon maybe we can maybe would be cool to have English speaking friends in the same time zone lol 😆
Would be great to meet when you return to Utena!
@@laura-bronner for sure a little bit about us she was born in that City and I'm an American that drives a truck in Europe traveled most of Europe so I think we will for sure have something to talk about :)
I’m originally from there, delighted you guys are liking it and it’s just mental people choosing there to live. I’d recommend rent a car and driving around, there are so many insanely beautiful spots, an insane amount of lakes to explore in that region, windmills, don’t be afraid to go foraging for awhile strawberries and blueberries in the forests and soon it will be mushroom season. Just such a shame I’m only seeing your challenge now when I’ve just returned to Ireland
As lithuanian i understand your pain while traveling our lovely road from Utena to Vilnius. If i was in your case i would rather walk to the capital.