Reached via two walkways across Lake Galve the island castle of Trakai is the greatest symbol of Lithuanian nationalism. Situated in an area of lakes and forests roughly 15 miles west of Vilnius, the red-brick turrets, watchtowers, and tall keep were restored in 1962 by the Lithuanian government much to the chagrin of then Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev. At

The Grutas Park is southern Lithuania’s biggest tourist attraction and has been open since 2001. The Park was the brainchild of mushroom entrepreneur Viliumas Malinauskas, who bought all the park’s sculptures in the decade after the country became independent in 1991. He realized that after the downfall of Communism and the break up of the Soviet Union, all

The Hill of Three Crosses is a symbol on the skyline of Vilnius. These three crosses represent the triumph of Lithuania over its invaders. The current crosses data from 1990 and replaced the previous three crosses that were destroyed during the Soviet occupation, which themselves were erected in 1915 to commemorate the Russian withdrawal from Vilnius.

Bulldozed three times by the Soviet authorities, the Hill of Crosses in Northern Lithuania always came back. When I was there in August 2007, over 50,000 crosses of all sizes were at the site, spread over two hillocks 12km north of the city of Siauliai, Lithuania’s 4th largest city.The planting of crosses originally started in the 1860s, though the exact