retiredmartin

May 2023.

Towards the river, Vilnius gets seriously gorgeous,

We didn’t tick off any pubs craft beer bars in Vilnius, but we did add a new country to our list.

Uzupis, a land of 7,000 east of the Vilnia River is Lithuania’s capital, has a border control,

an army (retired) and an anthem, possibly stolen something from “Sparkle in the Rain“.

There’s also a useless but lovely little map on the bridge, which seals the deal.

Oh, and a written constitution (credit : Waternooh).

“Everyone has the right to understand nothing” is just perfect.

In truth, the bridge leading to Uzupis, with adventurous bench seating and mermaid, is the highlight.

Frank Zappa, commemorated across the river, said “You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer”.

Uzupis doesn’t have a brewery, but it does have beer, and paintings and posies,

and sculptures straight off a c.1973 Zappa double album in an astonishing collection of buildings along the riverside.

I don’t think they have a national team recognised by FIFA yet, and only Duncan can confirm the existence of a Uzupis La Liga.