Day 286–287: First Impressions of Vilnius

A Cold Arrival in Warsaw

The overnight train pulled into Warsaw at 4:45 a.m. Stepping onto the platform, the crisp 10°C air caught my breath. The city was still asleep; nothing was open. Outside the station, I noticed a man in a wheelchair asleep at the top of the concourse stairs. The air spilling from the terminal was warmer—18 to 20°C—making it a better spot than the street. I slipped the last of my loose change into his hand. He stirred, whispered “Dobra”—a word that in Poland can mean many things, but here it was simply “thanks.”

The Train to Lithuania

At 7:56 a.m., my connection to Vilnius left Warsaw—eight minutes late. My seat faced a bulkhead with no window, so after an hour I wandered to the bar carriage, where tall stools offered sweeping views of the countryside rushing past.

The speed fascinated me: 148 km/h on average, topping at 157 km/h. Not quite the 300 km/h I once experienced from Paris to Bayonne in 2017, but fast enough to make the fields blur. Rail lines this quick need straight tracks—any curve could be disastrous. Poland is working on its own super-fast rail link, but like the UK’s troubled HS2 project, the challenge is carving a perfectly straight path through communities and councils.

In the bar, I struck up a conversation with Katie and Jacob, two Americans bound for Riga to attend a wedding. We swapped travel stories, and their passion for it was infectious. At Trakiszki station, the train reversed direction—an odd feeling, moving forward while technically going backwards. Soon after, at Mockava, two hundred passengers scrambled for seats, since this Lithuanian train had no reservations.

First stop: Kaunas. It looked like a city worth visiting, but not today—I was headed on to Vilnius.

Vilnius: First Impressions

The train finally rolled into Vilnius, though construction work made the streets look shabby. Roads were dug up, and scaffolding stood everywhere. Not the welcome I’d hoped for, but tomorrow promised better: I’d booked a walking tour to uncover the city’s history.

That evening, disaster struck—my bank card vanished. After frantic calls and searching, I managed to set up a digital card on my phone. Later, drenched in a sudden storm, I tested it—it worked. Crisis averted.