When it comes to the perfect stag weekend, Prague is having its moment in the sun. For the better part of ten years the Czech capital has been the it girl of the former Eastern bloc. And just like it girls from Essex to Primrose Hill, Prague is being done like a dinner. Those who arent already going there are thinking of going there and everybody else already went in the 80s before, like, it became so popular. Now theres nothing wrong with abandoning Bournemouth and Skegness in favour of a bit of Iron curtain history and culture, in fact its where the smart money is. But listen up people, theres a whole map out there filled with quirky, exotic and down right crazy locations that are just champing at the bit to show you a good time. So lets start with the new kids on the Eastern Bloc; Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn and Moscow. Think of them as best friends youre yet to meet. Lovers youre yet to kiss, you get the drift. So here are some handy hints, interesting facts, useless trivia and some slap-your-granny-you-cant-be-serious exchange rates on places that you might want to consider upon organizing the mother of all stag weekends. Gentlemen, get your phrase books ready. VILNIUS S veiki atvyke Lietuvos! Welcome to Lithuania! Its the largest and most southerly of the three Baltic republics also home to an annual cucumber festival, pea beer and the worlds finest (and only) Soviet-era theme park. Here in Lithuania a beer bicycle is not just a fantasy but a legitimate form of transport and stewed beaver a perfectly reasonable alternative to toad in the hole. They ditched communism to score independence in 1991 and are now eating lunch in the EU with the cool kids. They walloped the 2001 Eurovision song contest with a princely 13th place and, as Paul McCartney would say, things just keep getting better all the time. The small and quirky republic of Lithuania, perched on the Baltic Sea and sandwiched between Poland, Belarus and Latvia, is simply one of the hottest travel destinations of the moment and making a stag weekend of Vilnius has never been so easy. So polish your Kankles, get in, get down and get ready to party Vilnius Style. Where its always 1991. Why in the name of sweet Monica Lewinsky* should I go to Vilnius for My Stag Weekend? What all those earnest Professor Boring travel guides wont tell you is that Vilnius is home to some of the best legal fun a man could ever want. And the best part is the hordes are yet to climb on the bandwagon so theres plenty of Lithuanian goodwill still in the barrel to go round. This is a good thing to keep in mind when planning the mother of all stag weekends. Now technically your wedding is supposed to be the best day of your life, but that doesnt mean that your stag weekend cant be the best weekend of your life. So, for the greatest weekend of your life Lithuanian style heres what you need to know: Its the Geographical Centre of Europe (Yes! Really!) Thanks to the nice people of the European Union extending their warm Belgian welcome to Lithuania, it is now officially part of Europe. And not content to simply be a part of the action, it also home to the European Geographical centre. I know. Its rather like paying twenty Euro for a chunk of cement said to have been part of the Berlin wall, little more than a tawdry marketing tool and barely worth the photo opportunity. But. Still. Youre drawn to the idea. Like one may be drawn to standing with your left arm in the Northern Hemisphere and the beer clenching right arm in the South, or going to Korea to moonwalk across the border of communism and capitalism. Or going to York. Period. In any case Lithuania has the honour of housing the centre of Europe. And like all fledgling capitalists worth their coca cola they have embraced the fact by building a commemorative park - the Europos Parkas - just in case one mistook the precise yet indistinguishable point for an alien crop circle or Stalins summer mud bath cabana. So theyve got the centre and nowhere else does. *A fine specimen of Lithuanian-descended womanhood |
