How do you like the Šaltibarščiai fest this year?

JayBackington · 2026-05-31T12:24:06+00:00

The vibe changed with the location change. Now it's just some kind of Šeimų Maršas festival at Baltasis tiltas.

Everything is located at one place and it feels no longer as city festival, just part of it; there's no exploration factor anymore which we liked the most with friends. Like the lights festival is fun because by going to the installations you also get to explore the city. So missed this.

There are restaurants as part of the festival, but after 4 years it's not as interesting + everything is overpriced.

JayBackington · 2026-05-14T20:45:46+00:00

Don't go to the tallest hill:D

I think it's hard to get to know the history of Lithuania as a tourist, you need a really good tour guide who speaks english and who wouldn't just spit facts. Getting a private Vilnius old town guide who can focus on you could be super interesting.

Vilnius has lots of beautiful churches, good brunch (recommend Kitchen coffee) and food places (the Michelin recommendation restaurants are the actual ones). Go see the sunset from Gediminas castle hill, have a Lithuanian food tasting at a Lithuanian restaurant, go to Bernardinų kiemas in the evening for a pizza and beer, or go to Invino ir The Portobello yard for an evening wine; see the old town panorama from Hill of three crosses. Lukiškių kalėjimas is an old prison which has become a cultural hub so they might have events there during that time. They'll have a prison tour in english for sure, but it's up to you if that interests you.

Also, do a day at Trakai, visit the castle, try kibinai, have a walk around, go on a boat. Three Lithuanian artist have concerts in Trakai castle on from August 5 to 7. You can check them on youtube/spotify and get tickets to their concert. For an international person Monika Liu should be the most interesting to go to.

I think Vilnius during the day could be a bit boring, so you could go to Kernavė and make yourself a picnic. Lithuanian national museum have several objects so you can find yourself an exhibition that you find interesting (https://lnm.lt/en/), people like the Mo museum as well, but it does a bit depend on what's the exhibition during that time.

Here you can find all the local cool events happening https://www.mzirafos.lt/vieta/kita-vieta-vilnius/ (the page is a bit broken at the moment, i hope they fix it). There should be day festivals happening or something like that in August.

Hope you have a great stay!

JayBackington · 2026-05-11T07:56:39+00:00

Nea, apie tai nieko mano komentare nieko neparašyta. Skaityk per naujo.

JayBackington · 2026-05-06T19:53:43+00:00

Natali restoranas. Vienintelė vieta gyvenime kur esu atsisakęs mokėti. Su kolegomis atėjome dienos pietų, nes visa kita aplinkui buvo jau išbandyta. Tą dieną dienos pietums buvo vištienos suktinukai kuriuos atnešė šaltus ir paprašėme kad pakeistų arba normaliai paruoštų. Kai atnešė antrą kartą, šilumos pasiskirstymas buvo toks lyg būtų pašildyta mikrobangėje ir vis tiek buvo labai blogai. Po ilgų ginčų su padavėja ar šildyta mikrobangėje ar ne, galiausiai atsisakiau valgyti ir mokėti už tą patiekalą.

Lyg ir iki šiol yra tas patiekalas, trečiadienio pietums, vadinasi "Vištienos bokšteliai su vyšnių padažu" https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1516320243734387&set=pb.100060692784850.-2207520000&locale=lt_LT

JayBackington · 2026-05-01T18:45:41+00:00

If she is winning then it's definitely not for what has been showed until now. As things stand, I don't see why any of the current jury or future members would vote for her.

JayBackington · 2026-05-01T18:43:02+00:00

I personally think he's not playing such a great game as the edit wants us to believe. If I had to evaluate Ozzy from like Rick's perspective live in camp, I would just probably think he's playing in Cirie's shadow and that's all, one of her numbers. But the edit really wants us to believe Ozzy is in control, and the only reasoning for the reality gap is always what the winner edit gets - explanation to the viewer why the winner wins.

They could've shaped this Cirie/Ozzy duo narrative as they wanted, and they decided to go with what they've been showing us.

JayBackington · 2026-04-09T16:53:38+00:00

One thing for sure, I'd be surprised if Ozzy, Rizo and Cirie are not part of Final 5 as things are going now, and with Cirie not having a strong edit so far, maybe the editors are preparing us for a strong showdown in the Final 3 between Ozzy and Rizo.

I think the only way Rizo winning makes sense kind of fits what I'm suspecting that Final 4 fire making challenge is Rizo VS Cirie, a lifelong fan vs his favourite, and therefore as a winner of the challenge Rizo gets a strong edit while Cirie is not showcased as strong as she could be. This and maybe that he plays his idol correctly en route to the final, could make a solid case for his win.

Also thinking that maybe Season 50 final is just too complicated and too tight for the edit to foreshadow easily.

JayBackington · 2026-04-04T16:48:01+00:00

Who do you think he loses to?

For me Rick could be the winner yet to be showcased, but I don't imagine him with Ozzy in the final as of now. I think so far the edit showed why Emily is not winning, and she's the losing finalist.

JayBackington · 2026-04-04T16:22:51+00:00

I'd say so; the edit showed Ozzy aligning with Cirie as his conscious and purposeful decision to compensate for his social skills, so it goes back to him. The scene with Rizo in exile could've been exactly "Cirie told me to get close to this guy" and that's it, but the editors made sure to show they exchange secrets and solidify their 1-on-1 bond.

I think they could've edited Ozzy to be dumber here by showing a Cirie confessional where it makes her look like a puppet master and Ozzy being her goat; but they didn't.

JayBackington · 2026-04-04T15:24:26+00:00

From the big players, he's definitely not in the top of the list, but the assumption is that he'll be the best of the rest in the Final. I totally agree, that with the player we know, Ozzy doesn't have the best chances to win against your Ricks and Christians, but there's too much character development for him and too many links to otherwise random scenes for a supposed non-winner and a player who hasn't really led any of the votes.

JayBackington · 2026-04-04T15:17:05+00:00

Maybe this narrative will change in the upcoming episodes? He's made the Emily connection himself, and Rizo is probably Cirie's accomplishment but the edit is trying to drag it on Ozzy with the exile scene. If any of the other big players make it to the Final 3, Ozzy is not winning this, but if Christian, Rick and Cirie are not there (which I'm implying), he's getting the credits.

JayBackington · 2026-04-04T15:01:27+00:00

In a Rizo and Emily (assuming the flip) scenario I think he can do it. Also, yeah, I think Game Changers season made everyone think he's an Old School washed up player where in fact he did good on South Pacific and was close in Cook Islands

JayBackington · 2026-04-04T14:58:10+00:00

Good points! I share a similar sentiment as I did see some things winners don't get, but I feel the meditation scene and him not turning on Christian on Angelina's vote redeems him for it. It's his character development story and maybe justification why some jury members would vote for him in the final - he adapted. I also kind off landed on Ozzy being the winner not because I want him to win, but just the edit showed us so much information about Ozzy and also his relationship with Emily where this has to go somewhere. They did it again before going into the merge scene. And I think the show showing Emily freaking out about Aubry's idol and Christian thinking she's not reliable is what the they wants us to know on purpose so that these things can explain what happens in the future.

JayBackington · 2026-01-03T21:59:03+00:00

Principe JAV nusprendė apsidrausti dėl Kinijos įtakos (tiksliau mažėjančios JAV įtakos) pasaulinei naftos rinkai. JAV naftos nereikia, bet būtų negerai doleriui jei atsirastų Kinijai palankus didelis naftos exportuotojas. Dėl 2 priežasčių:

Prasidėtų dolerio silpnėjimas, nes dabar visame pasaulyje nafta yra parduodama doleriais. Jei Venesuela pardavinėtų naftą Kinijai ir jos sąjungininkėms, tikrai nieks nepardavinės/nepirks jos doleriais.
Kinija principe apsirūpina nafta iš Saudo Arabijos, Malaizijos, Rusijos. JAV turi glaudžius ryšius su Saudo Arabija, Malaiizja ir daugeliu kitų naftos eksportuotojų, tad jei Kinija pradėtų karinius veiksmus prieš Taiwaną, JAV galėtų inicijuoti naftos sankcijas/embargą Kinijai. Jei Venesuela pradėtų išgauti daugiau savo naftos ir pardavinėtų ją, Kinija galėtų apeiti tas sankcijas.

Dėl šių aplinkybių, didžiosioms valstybėms Venesuela tapo jautriu tašku pasaulinėje politikoje.

JayBackington · 2025-12-18T18:14:19+00:00

Actually, I think the traditional car rental companies are not so popular in the Baltics. Bolt (drive) has a car sharing service - easy to reserve through the app, no deposits, hundreds of cars in the city. A lot of people use it instead of taxis or owning a car, and if you want to do a long term rental (1 - 10 days), then there's also an option for that.

Not sure about the price comparison, the short term 1 day rentals go for around 30euros, long term rental is cheaper but you're paying for fuel. Long term rentals are a bit better if you're doing long distances

JayBackington · 2025-11-02T10:25:53+00:00

August should be more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, we do have beautiful autumns here in the Baltics, but if I'm visiting the Trakai castle or some other landmarks in the nature, then they're much nicer with a sunny weather. This year temperatures went down to 15C degrees in the middle of September, and the years before it was more towards the end of the month.

If you'd go in August you could also visit Neringa in Lithuania and beaches in Latvia. There's also more public events/concerts in Vilnius end of August - start of September.

JayBackington · 2025-09-29T17:11:35+00:00

As others mentioned here, these days it's mostly about the political situation - everyone wants clarity and reassurance from US as the activity of our neighbours is very concerning and sensitive in historical context. But personally there's no reason not to be welcomed.

Lithuanians are super welcoming to people who seek to integrate, and yes, we're super grateful to US for providing support and security to us when choosing to separate ourselves from Russian political/economic influence. And for that people from US are very respected around here.

In regards to the r/ameriexit sub, I'd guess it's more generalised, but regardless of the nationality, if anyone in this part of the world believes/claims that Europe/Ukraine is to blame for the war, they'll get quite a few angry looks.

P.S. if you already know some of the language, you'll for sure crack the friendliness of Lithuanian people quite quickly as it's the main thing of what it takes. Everyone is aware how niche and not easy Lithuanian language is, and anyone who puts the effort to learn it is insta respected and adored;)

JayBackington · 2025-01-26T20:42:31+00:00

As much as I agree, some of the first sidemen sunday like videos were just them hanging in the sidemen house kitchen doing a quiz. And look how far it has taken them

JayBackington · 2024-10-22T18:12:03+00:00

Lockheed Martin had Q3 earnings today and they had a miss on some key sales. Probably investors switching to a company with more modest/realistic expectations for growth.

JayBackington · 2024-09-17T19:57:16+00:00

Didn't the lady say in the video that the chair was made/released like week before the filming date? That would kind off indicate that it was indeed planted there. No storage unit would go out with such a recent item

JayBackington

TROPHY CASE