The latest European jaunt with my oldest friends - the Wonersh/Guildford crew - was an exciting double-header to pastures new: the capitals of Latvia (Riga) and Lithuania (Vilnius).
These weekends away have now become an annual event, after several years of inactivity in our late 30s and early 40s when rearing very young children. Getting through the day was an event in itself in those mind-fog days, let alone organising and taking a 3-night break to some faraway land.
But life has got (relatively) easier for us dads as the kids have grown up, and the positive boost we all get from hanging out together in a new eastern European outpost is good for all our souls.
Not so good for the liver, but hey.
On this trip we had a crack team of five: me, Gaz, James S, Ken and an overdue appearance of St Jacob of Maunders.
Jake had missed the last few trips so it was particularly welcome to see his face as I met up with the crew in some backstreet Riga bar at 11pm on Thursday night.
The rest of them had flown out earlier that day but I couldn't afford to take more than a day's holiday, so got an Air Baltic flight from Gatwick post-work and joined the festivities a few hours after their arrival.
Why Latvia and Lithuania?
Firstly, they were new countries for me - and I'm always up for seeing more of the world when the chance comes. And secondly, I'd spotted that a new train route had recently opened up between the two capitals, making the two-country, two-city long weekend an easier proposition than before.
Ken, who can sniff out a good club night a mile off, had done his research and suggested the better nightlife would be found in Vilnius.
So, with three nights to play with, our itinerary was sorted: one night in Riga and two in Vilnius.
Our one and only night in Riga would be spent - where else - but in the picturesque old town. We moved from the medieval dungeon-style bar that I met them in to the crux of the main nightlife scene in downtown Riga.
We hopped between a few bars, trying out the local beers, shots and more. It was pretty quiet considering it was the nightlife hub of a European capital city, but it seemed that Thursdays weren't in fact the new Friday. In Riga at least.
Anyway, it was the first night of three so no problem. I wasn't looking for a crazy big night as wanted to make the most of Friday sightseeing around town before our 5pm train south.
We eventually found our way onto a semi-deserted dancefloor in a bar/club place, had a final couple of drinks and then called it a night.
The following morning we got breakfast in a cafe called Liberta near the freedom monument on the edge of the old town.
Afterwards I stood transfixed by the Freedom Monument as the changing of the guard took place. Very formal and very precise, with each movement of each guard done exactly to plan,
The rest of the day was spent mooching around the town. We went to the top of St Peter's church for a great view over the city and had a leisurely lunch in an Israeli hummus joint.
Riga was cool. The old town was small enough to walk around in a couple of hours, there were some lovely old streets and buildings, and it felt nice and quiet - no big groups of tourists dominating the main sights.
At 4pm we went to my hotel to pick up our bags - the receptionist was kind enough to let the others store theirs for free, but only after Gaz hastily changed into his shorts in the street outside...
We made the short walk to the train station, got some snacks and drinks, and then boarded the 16:55 to Vilnius.
A few weeks earlier, I'd bought us tickets in First Class as they were only 34 euros each (versus about 15 in standard). In the event, I possibly shouldn't have bothered. Standard looked just as comfortable.
That said, we did get free tea, coffee, water and cake. No complaints.
After 20 mins of the 4 hour journey, the inspector came to ask us what we wanted to drink. She spotted our beer cans on the table and told us that drinking alcohol was forbidden. Doh.
The scenery was pretty unspectacular - rolling fields upon rolling fields, and everywhere flat as a pancake.
There was no passport check or any other notification when we crossed the border from Latvia to Lithuania. I was tracking our progress on Google Maps so kept my eye out for the crossing, and managed to see a couple of nondescript border posts when we passed by.
And that was it - into my 57th country.
We bowled out of the newly-renovated train station at Vilnius at 9pm with a spring in our collective step.
A new city, Friday night, still light (and would remain so until at least 11pm). All was good in the world.
We walked the 20 minutes down the main drag to the Kesminta Apartment complex in the centre of town. We were tucked behind Drops bar, round the corner from one of the liveliest spots in Vilnius.
Soon we were sampling the drinks and sights of the city. We tried some of the local pale ale - Anarkist - and some pilsners. Guinness too.
Vilnius was a completely different vibe to Riga. Bigger, busier and more of a destination for nightlife.
We sat on the main street for a while and people-watched. It had the air of the Italian passeggiata, with the locals going all out to look their Friday-night best.
After a drink in Drops bar, where I spotted this Pixies Doolittle artwork on the wall...
...we walked to the old town and found a tiny hole-in-the-wall pub that could fit no more than about 20 people.
In there I got chatting to a local, who recommended various other clubs and late-night bars.
As always, the best tips always come from the locals, not the internet.
We were in a quieter part of town so headed back towards where we'd come. We had a drink in a bar with a surfboard as a table and a cop overseeing proceedings.
One of our group then spotted a place down a side street that seemed to have some life, and music, in it.
We stuck our heads round the door and found a small green-lit bar with a buzzy feel and a DJ.
It wasn't busy but ticked the box. At one point Ken put a request into the DJ for some Boris Brechja, which he accommodated. A nice little stop.
After that place, I was about to head home but changed my mind for one more pit stop.
We'd spotted a place earlier in the evening with a balcony overlooking one of the main streets.
We headed there, negotiated free entry with the door staff (she wanted 20 euro per person, then 10, then just let us in gratis), and had a final nightcap or two in the atmospheric old building as dawn broke over Vilnius.
As we were leaving, a fight broke out across the street. Two blokes had been arguing inside the bar earlier in the evening and one of the protagonists was waiting outside, shirt off, ready to scrap.
Ken crossed the road for a ringside seat, but there wasn't much to see. Handbags, I think they call it.
We headed to bed at some point between 5-6am.
After a short sleep we were up and about, first getting some breakfast at a place called Lola's (lovely food)...
....and then a day seeing the sights of Lithuania's capital.
We went to the old town, up to the castle ramparts on a funicular railway, and saw some of the major squares and historical buildings.
We managed to get another vantage point from the church tower of the university. As we went into the main tower, a haunting piece of music was playing and a large gold pendulum was swaying over a compass on the floor.
It turned out to be an art installation. I liked it.
We got the lift to the top and took in the sights of the red-topped roofs, the meandering river and the green countryside beyond the city.
At 4pm, a huge Baltic Pride parade started down by the castle. Dozens of lorry floats drove past, blaring out techno and house to the 10-deep crowds on the side of the road.
Across from the main square a bloke with a megaphone was protesting the presence of pride ('Sodomy is evil', etc.). Outside the main church there was a similar protest party.
But the Pride attendees and performers didn't care one bit. They were loving showing off who they were, celebrating the uniqueness of all of them, and us. It was fun to watch.
We then got away from the hubbub and made our way to the river, walking 20 mins up stream towards the renovated prison in the heart of Vilnius.
Along the way we saw teenage boys jumping into the fast-running water at one end of a jetty and grabbing the ladder on the other end to get out (before doing the same thing again and again). Simple pleasures.
The disused Lukiskiu prison has, since it closed as a working prison in 2019, rebranded itself using '2.0' and become one of the go-to spots on the Vilnius tourist's itinerary.
We considered doing one of the 2hr tours of the innards of the facility, but after +20k steps and little sleep the night before, we took the coward's way out and sat in the courtyard for a couple of hours instead. Drinking, eating, chatting.
It was a great afternoon. Nice tunes, the untouched inner prison walls towering over us, lovely local beer.
We had pizzas - in hindsight an error because they made us bloated and sleepy - and then walked the 30 mins back to our apartment for a nap.
At 10ish we were up and ready for Vilnius Night 2.
Aka, The Search For A Decent Club.
We stopped at this outdoor bar, where we spent 10 minutes chatting to the barman about how, yes, he had beer. But no, it wasn't cold. But yes, he had a downstairs bar. But no, the drinks weren't cold there either.
A confusing experience all round.
I still had the list of venues given to me the previous night, and the plan was to spend the night in the 'edgy' (according to ChatGPT) station area.
So, after a couple of drinks in a sleepy sports bar on the walk to the station area, we found ourselves in Bar 98.
Unfortunately the DJ was terrible and it was a bit of a damp squib. We decided to move on after one drink.
After dodging a couple of downpours earlier in the weekend, we got caught this time.
It was bucketing down but I persuaded the others to run through the rainy streets up to the station, to the Peronas bar.
Peronas kept coming up in my online research, as well as recommendations from locals, so I wanted to pay it a visit.
It was situated in an old station building, with the outside area joining Platform 1 of the actual railway station.
There was a random 25-ft high statue of Tony Soprano outside, good Guinness inside and some comfy sofas. Worth getting soaked for I reckon.
(One of many anti-Putin/pro-Ukraine slogans we saw across the weekend. Latvia and Lithuania are, geographically, very close to both Russia and their ally Belarus).
After a couple of drinks in Peronas, Gaz took himself home after feeling pains in his chest and back (thankfully given the all-clear later) and the rest of us went back to Bar 98 to see if things had improved.
Thankfully they had. The DJs were playing good tunes, spirits were good, friendly crowd.
The only minor complaint - it was about 40 degrees in there and those of us silly enough to have come out in a flannel shirt (i.e. me) were struggling.
All in all, another fun night out in Vilnius. And another post-5am finish.
On our final day - Sunday - I had a quick bite to eat...
...and headed east to an area across the river called Uzupio. Or The Republic of Uzupio as the locals proudly call it.
As you cross one of the 6 or 7 bridges into Uzupio it says you are entering into the Republic, and its distinct, bohemian character doesn't disappoint.
I walked through the outside art galleries, down winding streets and along the river bank. These arty, liberal neighbourhoods in any city or town are always high up on my list of places to visit.
In Uzupio they had a mirror wall with the Uzupio Constitution printed in a variety of languages:
While I waited for the others to join me, I had a nice coffee and free waffle (for my 13k steps already that day) in a cafe founded by a running obsessive.
My kind of place.
I also spotted this in a window of a small house down a side street. Random object of the weekend.
I met the guys in the town square and we had a final (soft) drink before journeying back to our apartments.
All that was left to do was get our bags and jump in a Bolt for the 15 min ride to the airport.
We whizzed through security, meaning a leisurely final pint of Anarkist in the airport bar:
We flew back on Poland's LOT air to London City before saying our goodbyes on the Jubilee Line (until the 2026 version of Foges Tours).
Latvia and Lithuania? Lovely.
