Vilnius could have been 'just another' European city, but these things happened.

Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, to the unacquainted can seem like just about any other European city. There aren't any Big Bens, no Eiffel Towers. The architecture, like many other European cities, is old, largely made of brick and stone, and bears a heavy early Christian influence. While Vilnius may not seem, at first sight, to be anything to look at, it is nonetheless a city that is charming in many other ways.

First, Lithuania is surprisingly tourist-friendly, especially in comparison to neighbouring Poland. For Adeline and I, Vilnius was a day-stop on our road trip up to Siauliai to see Lithuania's Hill of Crosses; the well-marked roads and signs in Lithuania were a welcome contrast to the maze of Polish roads that made sense to none but the locals.

Let me introduce you to Šaltibarščiai.

(If you don't know how to pronounce that word, don't worry - I don't either.)

Šaltibarščiai is a Lithuanian variety of borscht, a shocking pink cold creamed beetroot soup which is absolutely perfect in the scorching heat of summer. It's creamy but not a sickening gelat creamy ('gelat' means something like 'wearisome' in Malay), a gorgeously delicious appetiser.

In fact, it was so good it would be a crime for me not to give you the recipe for making a great Šaltibarščiai on your own.

INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk
1 pound beets, peeled and shredded
1 large cucumber - peeled,
quartered, and sliced
1/4 cup minced chives
1 bunch fresh dill, mince

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the eggs into a saucepan in a single layer and cover the eggs with water by 1 inch. Cover the saucepan and bring the water to a boil. Remove from the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 15 minutes; drain. Cool the eggs under cold running water in the sink. Peel and chop the eggs.
2. Pour the buttermilk into a large bowl; add the eggs, beets, cucumber, chives, and dill. Stir gently to combine. Chill in refrigerator for 1 full day before serving.

Very quickly, two extremely hungry Singaporean girls discovered that food in Lithuania is by far and large pretty cheap and offers amazing value for money. Eating al fresco in summer, with appetiser and main course and paired with a passion fruit and mint mocktail - all for under SGD15? SOLD.

This rice and salmon dish cost me less than SGD10.

The food is incredible, but so is the rest of the city, which suddenly seemed a million times more interesting now that our stomachs were filled. Secondhand books being sold from a vintage suitcase for 1 Lithuanian lita? That's less than 50 Singapore cents. If I had it my way, I'd've bought the lot.

Our purpose now turned to getting lost in and discovering all of Vilnius's many pretty winding streets, being curious about every tiny little thing.

Here's Adeline being her usual photographer self.

Vilnius could have been a city just like any other. But thankfully, the experiences of exploring a new city in a new country with a wonderfully adventurous friend and delicious food more than made up for it.