Today we visited what is supposed to be Lithuania’s most incredible place – and you will see why I agree with that statement. The hill is a short distance outside the town of Siauliai so – on recommendation from the tourist office – we rented a couple of bikes and off we went. You notice directly when you have reached the place because you see the hill from a distance and once you do you just want to get closer.

It is not a big area, just two small hills in the middle of nowhere,  covered by crosses. When I say covered I mean it in the true meaning of the word, there are thousands of them. The whole experience is really just about slowly walking around on the small paths among the myriad crosses, taking it all in. It truly is amazing – the large amount of photos I took is evidence of that. Sadly it’s hard, if not to say impossible, to capture it all in a photograph but I will share what results I got with you all the same. I did also attempt to describe the place as a Frozen Moment.

Even though the pictures only tell part of the story, I hope you agree that the place is incredible.

Having seen the Hill of crosses and returned the bikes we went back to our hostel, packed our bags and went to the bus station hoping to catch the next bus to Riga. To our surprise, the bus was small and full of people when it arrived so we didn’t get any seats. There was nothing for it but sit down and wait for the next bus which was almost equally full but we did get seats. This is one of the downsides to my brand of independent travel, having to wait an hour extra due to not checking things beforehand.

Luckily the bus took less time than expected so we arrived in Riga on time and found our hostel, which is supposed to be one of the best in Europe. The place really is something extra, offering free beer while they tell you a bit about Riga, is just one of many special services. Filling our bellies with hearty Latvian food at Lido and taking a short walk in the light drizzle to round off the evening, I now find myself in the common room writing.