Vilnius – a beautiful city of contrasts

I’be blogged before about the contrasting sights you can see in Vilnius both buildings and people.

This is the view you can see from the viewing point on, I think, Subačiaus g. You come past it on your way from the airport or train station and you can stop for a coffee and take in the panoramic view of the city, just like these ‘tourists” keen to get in the picture!

What I like about this picture, taken by my colleague on his new Nikon camera (and who blogs as Kindadukish) is that you can see the mix of modern houses, the old church, the castle, the trees, and the high-rise business buildings. A cross-section of the history of the city.

This was taken early in 2012 and the landscape has changed already. The trees on the castle slopes had already been removed but the roof is still on the building to the right of  Gediminas’s tower and if you could see down to the River Neris beyond the castle you would see more cranes as building work continues in the business district, already much developed since my first trip to Lithuania in 2005.

Business District in Vilnius

This is my favourite view of the new business district taken on one of my earlier visits in 2009.

Walking across the white pedestrian bridge (Baltasis tiltas) over the River Neris to Upes g.you see the VCUP (Vilnius Central Department Store) on the right (the old cooperative store in soviet times) and Hotel Lietuva (now a Radisson hotel) famous for its Sky Bar, casino and Riverside restaurant centre left. (Rumour has it that it was a favourite meeting place for soviet big-wigs, local mafya, and call girls before independence).

You can see the Europa Centre in the centre background further back on Konstitucijos pr.and various office blocks housing banks and IT centres. Halfway across the bridge is Mambo Pizza close to the Summer sports areas and the skateboard park.

You can also see to the left a sculpture of the logo for European Capital of Culture.

New buildings have sprung up since then to add to the skyline and there is now the Ray-Spear sculpture (Spindulys-ietis) piercing the bridge.

This was created by K. Vildžiūnas and M. Lukošius in 2010 and is part of the project ‘Signs of Vilnius’ (Vilniaus Zenklai) dedicated to the capital city.