What's their food like? Smoked eel is the typical Baltic speciality, but if you don’t fancy sliding a slimy ribbon down your throat, why not try some of their potato-based fare, such as 'bulviniai blynai' (potato pancakes) or 'vedarai' (potato sausage). A sausage… made of potato. Genius.
Local tipple: You might want to try the national drink ‘kvass’ (in English: ‘bread drink’) which is only 1.44% alcohol and yes, tastes of bread. If you fancy getting blotto while you’re in the Baltic states, go for the honey-based 'Midus', which is basically mead. Whatever that is.
Biggest cultural oddity: Their folk music. Instruments include: 'ragai' and 'dandytes' (wooden trumpets), 'sekminiu ragelis' (the Lithuanian bagpipe), the 'bandoneón' (a weird accordion type-thing) and the 'pusline' (a musical bow made from a pig's bladder filled with dried peas).
Most likely to kill you: The other big culinary export (aside from potato sausages), is cold beet soup. Try it and prepare for a slow, agonising, beety death.
Phrase to memorise: ‘Ar pašoksi su manini?’ which means ‘Would you care to dance with me?’ Useful if you happen to be in the 18th century. If you’re not, try ‘kad prisivirei košes, tai ir srebk!’ which means ‘now that you've cooked some gruel for yourself, eat it!’
Best place to visit: The capital, Vilnius, is well worth a visit – mainly because it’s so damn old and a lot of the buildings are made of wood.
National animal: The white stork is Lithuania’s national bird. March 25th is ‘Stork Day’ which is celebrated by giving presents, lighting straw fires and killing snakes. It’s also appropriate to bury these dead snakes under your doorstep, but don’t do that. That’d be weird.
Impressive pub trivia: There’s a statue of Frank Zappa in the capital’s main square – despite the musician having absolutely nothing to do with the country.
Sports they would beat England at: Basketball. Several Lithuanian players have gone on to play for the NBA, and Lithuania is currently ranked at 5th in the world basketball rankings.
Would you want to live there? No. It’s freezing.
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