There is a Tony Soprano Statue in Vilnius, Lithuania
Sept. 22, 2021: We landed in Vlinius on Sept 8, after breaking camp in Bratislava, Slovakia and driving the airport in Vienna, Austria. (There’s another post on my two days in Slovakia).
The U.S. had not been to a FIFA Futsal World Cup since 2008, but our U.S. Futsal Men’s National Team qualified earlier in the year and made it to Lithuania, site of the ninth edition of FIFA’s tournament for five-a-side soccer, played indoors.
This was yet another new country for me, and came just a couple weeks after returning from Russia where I was with the U.S. Beach Soccer Men’s National Team for the 2021 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. Actually, there were five of us who were part of both staffs.
So yea, Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. A country not on my list of ‘places to see,’ but one I’m glad I was able to visit. I honestly didn’t know much about this area that is north of Poland on the Baltic Sea- aside from knowing it had been part of the former Soviet Union. But so much fascinated me, and google helped me learn on the fly, and more afterwards.
We stayed in a hotel on the north side of the Neris River, with a great view of - and short walk to - Gediminas’ Hill and Tower on top. The hike up is a little steep, and rocky, but pretty short. And from above you have a neat panoramic view of the red roofs and narrow streets of the medievil-looking Old Town.
There were two other memorable neighborhoods - the first, Užupis - an artsy area that has tongue-in-cheek called itself an independent republic. It’s kind of hipsterish, with some unique wall art, structures…and even has its own ‘constitution,’ which can be read along on a city wall in multiple language. This list of 41 ‘right’ are not necessarily political, more so they are whimsical:
Every person has the right to be unique
Every person has the right to be lazy or do nothing
A dog has the right to be a dog….
And lastly, I learned there was a huge statue of Tony Soprano not far away. What?%! So I searched for it, and made my way…a 25 minute walk to the main train station, and there he was. Standing 15 feet tall, the statue of mafia boss on the hit HBO show, The Sopranos - in boxers and a robe - greets passengers arriving at the Vilnius Train Station. A work of art!
On the court, things didn’t go so well. We got crushed in the opener by defending Futsal World Cup champs Argentina 11-0. Game two was much better, falling 4-2 to a very strong Iran team.
We then took a bus to the coastal town of Palanga on the Baltic Sea. It had a nice pedestrian street that ended at a peir - originally built in the 1500s, and renovated in the 1990 to extend near 500 meters into the sea. It’s a beach town similar to what you’d see on some U.S. coasts, catering to tourism but also possibly retirees or summer homes. .
Our final game in the group stage was down the road in the town of Klaipeda, but we didn’t get a chance to explore -only visit the arena. We dropped our final game 7-0 to Serbia, and the next day drove back to Vilnius before flying out on Sept 22.
