- Probably one of the best castles in Lithuania.
(bright dramatic music)
I've never seen Lithuania as white as in this trip,
so it's pretty amazing.
The whole lake by the castle in Trakai is completely frozen,
hopefully I am lucky and I can fly my drone.
I check and it's not a restricted area.
(bright dramatic music)
What is the classic food in Trakai?
It's something that they call kibinai.
Kibinai is like a Cornish pasty
or like an empanada.
It has some type of meat,
you can have curd or whatever you want,
but there are a lot of different options.
So, Trakai is the most well known place for kibinai
because I'm Argentinian,
I like kibinai or empanada pretty much every day.
Here in Lithuania, they don't eat kibinai every day.
Only when they come to Trakai,
or if there's an special occasion.
And the way they eat kibinai is not like in Argentina,
that you just eat one after the other.
Here the dough and the way they make it is more dry,
so, it always comes with a soup / broth.
That's a classic, I would say.
Coffee and kibinai is also common here.
Apparently one kilometer away
there's the best kibinai in Trakai,
but this needs to be seen.
(bright dramatic music)
It's freezing today.
I think it was like -17 degrees in the morning.
I have today a Lithuanian expert guide with me.
She knows everything about Trakai.
The main person living in the castle was Kęstutis, right?
- Yeah.
- I see.
One thing you need to learn in Lithuania,
Dukes are very important.
Most of the roads, monuments,
and things like that in Lithuania
will have a name of a duke or a king.
Mindaugas.
Remember, Mindaugas, Vytautas, Kęstutis, Gediminas,
the list is endless but those are very, very popular.
(bright dramatic music)
I'm gonna fly the drone over there.
It's just a beautiful area but now we need some coffee.
(lively folk music)
- [Kris] This is a very traditional way of drinking tea.
Instead of tea bag,
we just put the syrup in hot water and drink it.
(lively folk music)
(spoon taping)
(lively folk music)
(group speaking in foreign language)
- It was tasty, a little bit dry for my taste
but that's how you eat it here in Lithuania.
- Behind we have the amazing Trakai Castle.
And Kristina's gonna do a little dance now, right?
- But that's for personal record.
- Trakai Castle is just fantastic.
It's probably one of the best castles in Lithuania.
And, guess what? It's not crowded today, so.
(serene pop music)
(serene pop music) (fingers snapping)
(serene pop music)
(engine turns over)
("Auld Lang Syne" playing)
Finally in Vilnius, all the way through Trakai.
It's not really far,
I think it was like 30 minutes, 40 minutes drive.
It was my third time in Trakai.
I love coming back.
There's always, you know, like,
this special vibe for me in Trakai,
like I love this kibinai, I love the castle.
One of those places, very, very cozy.
I know there's some tourists,
not a lot, especially in winter,
maybe much more in summer, but still to me
it's one of those places I really enjoy coming back.
I'm now in Vilnius trying to park.
Vilnius is one of the cities in Lithuania that I like a lot.
A lot of activities, lot of restaurants,
lot of coffee shops, I don't know,
interesting walks, the castle.
I would say an international city,
probably not like London, of course,
because the size is different,
but very international and open
to do a lot of different things.
Vilnius and Kaunas are also very different cities.
In Kaunas, you feel more like that local vibe,
more traditional Lithuanian.
Whereas in Vilnius you feel more, more international,
probably because of the influence from other countries,
like Russia, Poland, also just because it's the capital.
And what is hiding here?
- Because I was told.
(speaking in foreign language)
(chill pop music)
- It's -18°C.
We have the Gediminas Tower here.
It's just fascinating.
We go to the Cathedral Square,
hopefully we're gonna see the Christmas tree
and the Christmas market.
Even though Christmas is gone, they still have it.
I'm gonna put my gloves back, my right one,
because seriously if I don't have it for long,
I'm gonna freeze here.
(chill pop music)
- Are you from Vilnius or you from Kaunas?
- I am from Kaunas.
Ale: You're a Kaunas citizen
Vidas: I'm a Kaunas citizen
Ale: I'm from Vilnius
- I don't look from Vilnius actually
Can see lot of Lithuanian
because we have Kristina here and Vidas,
he was in the video that we made in Kaunas, cause he's
"Kaunietis" he's from Kaunas,
but he actually lives in Vilnius.
- Heading now to Gediminas Tower.
We'd been here last summer.
It was super, super sunny, and it's still sunny.
(bright dramatic music)
(door creaking)
(bright dramatic music)
My understanding is that this was built
around the 13th or 14th century.
And it was the main residence of one of the key dukes
in Lithuanian history, Gediminas.
I guess that's why the name Gediminas' Tower.
The big reconstruction, or the last reconstruction,
took place sometime later in the Vytautas period.
I think I mentioned this before,
but Lithuanian dukes are super, super, super key
in the history of the country.
I love this little castle.
I don't even know if it's a castle anymore,
it's called tower.
Every time I'm in Lithuania, I feel like having a coffee
because most of the times it's very, very cold.
(cheerful music)
Just came back from Mindaugas Bridge.
We are leaving Vilnius, and next stop is.
(dramatic music)
(mellow music)
I was stopped by the security guy.
♪ Without a glimpse of the light ♪
They still have the right to, you know,
kick you out or say,
"Hey, we prefer you not to fly the drone here."
This is how it works, and we just need to accept it.
I also like Kaunas.
I know that locals, sometimes they say
maybe Kaunas is not the best city,
but I really like Kaunas as well.
Laisvės alėja (iconic street in Kaunas)
♪ Te conozco tu voz... (singing in Spanish) ♪
♪ Darlin' you were meant to survive ♪
♪ With every start ♪
♪ We are born again ♪
♪ Open your heart and ♪
♪ Spend less time in your head ♪