The average Kaunas vs Vilnius debate always ends with Kaunas being called a gas station on the way to Klaipėda. 😅 But, as a resident of BESTonia, all of Lithuania and Latvia are just places you have to drive through to get to Eestimaa ❤ Hahaha kidding, Lithiania is epic. (Latvia is ok)
This was a well-written, epic, and, most importantly, humorous comment. That's surprising, I never knew Estonians had a sense of humor. And yes, Latvians are okay, at least for horseheads as we call them in Lithuania sometimes. Seriously though, the casually racist jokes about Latvians and Estonians that are completely and irrevocably a... feature of what it means to be a Lithuanian... are a bit concerning, but also strangely heart-warming. I'm sure they have jokes about Lithuania in Latvia and Estonia too. It might just be a bit of an unexplainable bond, fondness, and sibling rivalry born from the trauma of the 50 years we spent in the USSR together, I guess?
What I really like about Vilnius as a Kaunas resident is its old town architecture. The most annoying thing is russian language on the streets and other public areas. I hate hearing russian more than Lithuanian whenever I visit Vilnius. The basketball case, teams are not even comparable. Žalgiris is a Europe scale brand while Rytas is just a journeyman of lower tier European leagues.
Rytas is a Historic European team who was the 1st team to win 2 Eurocups and the first team in Europe to win 5 titles in 1 season only in the recent decade Rytas has fallen and Rytas by far has the best fanbase in Lithuania. Instead of talking shit about Rytas you should get red of ''the Crab'' that is your mayor.
@@pontiuspilates what a stupid assumption. You must be deaf if you live in Vilnius and do not hear Russian language daily. Or you just avoid all the public places.
Lived in vilnius for a year didn't use russian language on purpose, what happened that some of the russian speakers understood what im saying but talked their language
@@phyrothegreat you are talking about second tear titles here buddy, nobody cares about that, your team started in 1998 Zalgiris startetd in 1944 They won eurolygue, were 2nd and 3rd there, I'm not even talking about domestic titles, it's not even comparable, your fan base is 5 thousand at the very best, Zalgiris solds out 15000 regulary, stop you look ridiculous with this comparisons...
When you hear some weird Lithuania relation to Portugal. Note that Lithuanias first proposed flag was horizontal green + red. Later yellow was added on top.
Tbh, Portugal only adopted green and red in 1910. Before that, the national colours were white and blue. Source - am Portuguese (don't live there, live in Estonia tho)
Yes, but that flag would be a lot closer to Belarus than Portugal (basically Belarus took the same 2 colors, gree and red, that were most used in national clothes and made it their flag, while Lithuania added yellow on top of that.
I personally hate that there's a rivalry sometimes. Don't get me wrong, joking about it is fine, but there's a fine line between regular people laughing at eachother's stereotype jokes and a 40 year old man with an IQOS and a shirt that's 3 sizes too small that actually takes all those jokes seriously. Love to Kaunas from Vilnius!
I know right? Looking at comments made by 40yr old dudes arguing which city or basketball team is better is a surefire way to lose braincells. I get that this isn't exclusive to Lithuania, but I haven't seen grown men throwing kindergarten-level insults at each other anywhere else on this scale.
Fun fact - before WW1 Kaunas was not less Polish than Vilnius. And nobody knows what would happen if Poland did not succeed seizing Vilnius region in 1919. May be those people who consider themselves Polish would be Lithuanians now.
That's true. Most larger settlements in Lithuania were exclusively polonophone as it was the official language for many years. In fact, many Lithuanians actually spoke Polish for centuries. And only in the early 1900s, there was a paradigm shift which led to readoption of Lithuanian language among inteligentsia, officials and other parts of upper strata. Even today, neighbourhoods like Slabada, Vilijampolė, Freda sound very Polish.
It wasn't simply that the city was "Polish speaking". Antanas Smetona was a speaker of Polish, in itself it meant nothing. It's an irony of history but Vilnius and region became a center of Polishness and Polish patriotism more than Krakow, let alone Poznan or other historic Polish lands. The Polish national ethos was created in historic Lithuania by polonised Ruthenian and Lithuanian lords. Unlike Kaunas, not only the city itself, but the surrounding area was slavicised by the time nationalism really took off. So even the peasants who lived there acquired a strong Polish national identity. It is naive to think the people there, who were a majority and (in the city itself) a highly creative element would have rejected that Polish identity their ancestors created for something created by people from elsewhere based on a language they did not know and which was also very polonophobic. It was something foreign to them. It was clear long before Zeligowski's action that the Lithuanian national movement had no takers in Vilnius and region. Polish ethnonationalists were elected in Duma elections, barely any contributions to Ausra came from there, none of the signatories of Lithuanian declaration of independence, even the 2(?) Polish native speakers didn't come from there either. The area was thoroughly polonised and it didn't happen in the 19 years of Polish rule.
@@pannalecka702 "Unlike Kaunas, not only the city itself, but the surrounding area was slavicised by the time nationalism really took off. So even the peasants who lived there acquired a strong Polish national identity. It is naive to think the people there, who were a majority and (in the city itself) a highly creative element would have rejected that Polish identity their ancestors created" Oh really, be informed, that all the chunk of land between Kaunas and Panevėžys was actually so heavily Polonized, that a few "Polish republics" (Babtai, Vandžiogala, Lapės, etc.) were formed there to fight Lithuania in 1919. Such places as Lapės were called Lopie by the locals, who believed it be "purely Polish". The region was called "Lauda" by the local Polonophone people. Even Česlovas Milošas considered himself a Pole, born near Kėdainiai in so-called "Lauda".
@@arturass3896 Lauda had a high proportion of petty nobles, a patriotic element, leftover from the Republic of Two Nations. However even there the peasant majority spoke Lithuanian and overall Poles in Lithuania were a "manageable" minority. Especially that much of the Polish speaking intelligentsia moved or were expelled to Poland. Originally the Lithuanian nationalist leaders wanted borders which would extend far beyond the areas where the Lithuanian language was spoken, by both the rural and the city population. It's pure fantasy to think that all those people living there whose Polish identity was strong would just lithuanise without a whimper. What would actually have happened is that you would have a civil war.
I would choose Vilnius if it was not located so close to Belarus and russified as hell at the moment. Vilnius is lovely if you can live in the Old town, but it is a mess as a whole.
As a person from Kaunas, if you're just an average Lithuanian, Kaunas could be better than Vilnius (?). But in terms of tourism, I feel like Vilnius is much better. It has some high-rise buildings in Šnipiškės (which I find very fascinating because we have none here, really, lol), a very big old town, and the new town can be interesting as well. And of course, there are many, many things to do in these places. Meanwhile, in Kaunas, I'd say the Old Town is the only interesting part. Also, in terms of apartment renovations, both are at a similar percentage renovated. I think Kaunas could do a lot better since it is more than two times smaller than Vilnius. I'm not saying Vilnius is good at that, but because of its size, I guess we can forgive it. Honestly, in that aspect, if we are talking about the biggest cities, Klaipėda is probably the best at it. But overall, Kaunas got boring for me since I grew up here and have lived here my entire life, so Vilnius has a different vibe and feels more interesting since I can explore more there. So that's my opinion.
Having been to Lithuania twice (October 2023 & July 2022) and being a huge fan of Lithuanian basketball; and having over 70 Lithuanian basketball players as friends…..on my first trip I stayed longer in Vilnius, then on my second trip, I stayed longer in Kaunas….for me, Vilnius is my favorite city. I love the Cathedral Square area, love the old town, love the multiple shopping centers. In Kaunas, I stayed a lot in hotels right on the pedestrian street, which is lovely but after staying 9 nights in Kaunas this past October….I practically saw just about everything there is to see & do in Kaunas. I went to a Euroleague game, the arena was sold out, it was loud and fun but the atmosphere in Vilnius at the Rytas vs Liekabelis game was way better. The Jeep arena is way smaller but the atmosphere was just better (I did see a Wolves game at the bigger Avia Solutions Center as well). Of course, traffic can be heavy and bad in Vilnius but so is at that big roundabout in Kaunas. I love Lithuania, love cepelinai & kibinais, love Klaipeda, Siauliai and other towns but Vilnius is my favorite city. I love walking on Gediminas Street, love watching people play basketball at the white bridge park, in front of the CUP. I can’t wait to be back.
The Vilnius bus station is an embarrassment for the city. The bus station is a mess and looks from the soviet times unlike Kaunas which has a great bus station with a Rimi inside as well 🎉
Via Baltica project ends in 2026 n triggers Rail Baltica with complete reconstruction of train station n bus station only the current one bus station will be used for inner travels. Zaha Hadid Architects designs sweeping bridge across Vilnius railway station. Also the end of contract for old trolleybus n new ones gonna buy.
@@ugnikalnissadly this project is postponed, wich nice way to say its dead. In fact entire Rail Baltic link to Vilnius wont be finished any time soon. Defenitly not in this decade.
The more times I visit Lithuania, the more I realize Vilnius is the city for me. As a foreigner, Vilnius is just more cosmopolitan and I’ve never had a problem finding people who speak English. I still like visiting Kaunas but I’ve fallen in love with Vilnius.
They can rival as much as they like as long as move capital to Klaipeda. That would change Lithuania in a much better direction of North Europa rather then east as it last Vilnius advertisement has shown.
Niekada nebuvau Vilniuje, bet mano atveju laimi Kaunas. Net nesu krepšinio sirgalis, bet kai pirmą kartą aplankiau Žalgirio Areną, tuoj pradėjau mylėti "krepšinio miestą"!
Last time I asked directions in Vilnius I got 2 answers in kirilica and third in polish, but he spoke ingrish well so no complains. It happened over 10yrs ago so hopefully its doing better now.
I would choose Klaipėda because it is located by the Baltic sea. I have already lived both Kaunas and in Vilnius for many years. None of these two is a perfect place to live. I hope that Vilnius people are less agressive and more progressive than Kaunas people, but can I be sure? No. I despice the stupid hatred between certain stupid vilniečiai & kauniečiai. Not sure who contributes to that more.
I can say that people who spread controversial things about Kaunas actually don't want to share their enjoyment of the city so they keep them for themselves.
as someone from Klaipeda, I find it funny when people from Kaunas think they are better than everyone else aswell. people from Vilnius can feel a bit snobbish, but people from Kaunas can have this abrasive and rude manner of speaking, and this aura that they think they are superior. While someone from Vilnius might flaunt their wealth to show you that they are better, a person from Kaunas will beat you up to show you that they are better than you. I find Kaunas to be a hotbed for nationalism and rightwing'ism and as someone who doesn't care for basketball the constant yapping about basketball you get from people that are from Kaunas becomes very annoying. Obviously the cities are diverse and the type of behavious I described is the minority, but the "vibes" I get is that that is the biggest minority. I'd choose Vilnius anytime because I genuinely feel people are more eccepting and kind there, but that won't stop me from calling them p*les everytime.
Yep, we thought the same growing up in Šiauliai too. Back then, my opinion towards Vilnius was more or less neutral, but Kaunas was infamous for it's... quirks, to put it lightly. Even my relatives from there were not very likeable people, to be honest. That's why I ended up living in Vilnius and not Kaunas myself.
you don't like our nationalism, you don't like basketball that was so symbolic with our independence. i think you prefer russian vibes over lithuanian vibes, friend.
@@KSfreaky lived here all my life, went to a lithuanian school, about to go serve in the army. But yes, me not liking a sport where people throw around a ball and me not thinking ethnostates is the end of political developement completely invalidates everything. This is exactly what annoys me about nationalism. It rellys on the exclusion of other people and drawing a subjective line in the sand and saying this human being is not a rEaL lithuanian because he doesn't have the same political view as I and doesnt like my favorite ball game. Easy to say when you neatly fit into commonly conceved ethnicity, but for mixed people, as myself, it's not that great. Caring for all people the same amount and not caring who their ancestors were fucking is a far better model in my opinion.
@@Max-pk6uc what’s wrong in lithuanians living and protecting everything about lithuania IN lithuania?we are unique and we embrace it. sounds to me like you prefer ussr where everyone were the same more than lithuania.
@@KSfreaky again, "you don't balieve the same thing I do so you must like the country with the gulags!" Yeah Lithuanians are cool, so are Latvians, the Spanish, the french, swedes, thai people and everyone else. But why do we create states based on ethnicity? What if we instead did it by religion, one catholic country for the catholics to be catholics IN their catholic country, sounds like you want to go back the united provences of the Netherlands where catholic belgians and protestent dutch all lived in the same country. I am not saying someone needs to come to Lithuania and force everyone to be hindu, speak swahili and celebrate ramadam, please be Lithuanian, swedish, korean or whatever, I honestly don't care, what I care is peoples quality of life and Lithuania as a country cannot provide a better life for it's citizens than lets say the whole EU combined, we just don't have the resources, that is why we recieve millions of euros every year from the European Union. I think further integration into it would make the lives better for lithuanians. And if Lithuanians really love being Lithuanians they will preserve the language and culture, just like there are still catholics even tho the pope doesnt control all of central Italy anymore. Tho I do think what scares nationalists is that many people don't care about being one ethnicity or another and just want to care for themselves and their own life, so you need a reservation where the government ensures lithuanian culture is dominant and nothing else. But like is that it, we just all sit in our own reservations, and all borders stay the same, no political change, people don't decide to organise countries by values or something other than ethnicity?
I think only people from Kaunas think of it as a rivalry. On a daily basis, most Vilnians don't even think about Kaunas at all. Let's face it, it's kind of a metropolitan area city already. The Vilnius-Kaunas highway is probably the busiest street (funily enough it even has the same name) in the country if not in the whole Baltics.
Lived both in Kaunas and Vilnius and i can say both sides think about this rivalry. Besides most of this rivalry is fueld by influencers living in Vilnius.
Aš gimiau Kaune.Tėvai mokėsi Kaune.Dabar gyvenu Vilniuje.Tėvai architektai gavo darba Vilniuje ir persikėlėme i Vilniu.Kai ,manes ,paklausdavo vilniečiai,kur aś gimiau,atskydavau -Gimiau Kaune.Sakydavo-O,ponička iś Kauno🙂
Great video! But you said it - kaunas people elected a guy that supports russia in the war against Ukraine. One organization said this couple days ago - "The morals of kaunas people ends with fixed potholes" Think this just sums up all you need to know to understand difference between Vilnius and Kaunas :)
I just have to remind people what is the place where people carry carnations to cemeteries on May 9th proudly wearing the ribbon of St George. Yes, you are right, the place is called Vilnius.
@@ZhylvisLT lol, that was arround 100 people total. Would assume bit more people voted for crab than 100 :) dont even start - the elections clearly showed your morals and what is important to you.
@@MultiZipas only thing those elections showed is how many damage previous governments had made. Another thing this whole situation with Matijošaitis has shown is how easily manipulated our society is. Motijošaitis is businessman and there was multimillion case on stake, no one from those who criticises him would dump that much of a their money. And he never even said that he is pro-Russian, this is made up story.
Vilnius is polish Klaipeda is german Kaunas is the true traditional lithuanian city but as someone who s from kaunas i gotta say i love klaipeda its a really unique city thats kinda different from the rest of lithuania in a way with its different architecture and culture plus it has a beach so thats a win win
As someone who lives in the province, I dislike both. Too big, takes hours to get anywhere and will charge you an arm and leg for basic lunch. Even though Kaunas is somewhat smaller than Vilnius, it doesn't really help when all the roads don't go straight and have to go around rivers and hills, navigating it is a nightmare. Out of all major cities only Klaipėda is easy to get around, but only somewhat - though not that big and mostly flat, it is quite long across the coast, and when rush hour traffic comes and it's 3 main streets get clogged - you will be stuck for a while. I don't have much experience with Šiauliai, but in general there's not much reason to visit northern Lithuania, so I never do
As a vilnietis, I used to romantize Kaunas, since I only used to pass it with a bus going from relatives in Žemaitija back home to Vilnius, wich occured only once-twice a year. Kaunas had the "vibe" for me, at least trough the window of a bus. But as I grew up, more and more negative things came trough the glass of a monitor about Kaunas. Slave-like soviet "tetos", who adore thug mayor and think that rulership is a thing - they think if not Crabiyoshaitis, then Kaunas would have stayed the same, like in a time capsule. The evil scientist Vaitkus, who runs for president, also is from Kaunas. F**in Orlauskas is from Kaunas. A lot of redpillers come from Kaunas surprisingly. Oh and when it comes to basketball, kauniečiai turn from Jekyll to Hyde, the arrogance towards other basketball clubs is astonishing and the excuses after losses against other teams are already a folklore.
@@ZhylvisLT there always come more good people than bad, doesn't matter from where. The thing is, Kaunas used to be represented as THE lithuanian city, a source of patriotism, but nowadays it behaves more anti-lithuanian than any other place on our lands. Oh and Antanas Kandrotas - Celofanas is also from Kaunas... What an unfortunate coincidence, kaunieti.
@@bladerunner4425 look, Paleckis is from Vilnius, Janutienė is from Vilnius, most of the 5th column is from Vilnius and its region. Vilnieti, pats smirdi, bet kitus šūdais teplioji.
@@ZhylvisLT but Vilnius never was "the heart of Lithuania", was it? It was never called a patriot city? In fact, kauniečiai always called Vilnius anything but Lithuania: Portugal, Poland, Belarus, Russia... And after all of it, you're the ones today, who actually SMIRDI.
@@bladerunner4425 It is the heart of Lithuania weather you like it or not. You can't call Vilnius the heart of Lithuania because even the predominant public language isn't Lithuanian.
@@milikas Wrong Kaunas has Krabas as mayor he hasn't pulled his buissness out of russia and the residents of Kaunas keep voting for and seem to don't care plus there are way less flags of Ukraine in Kaunas then there is in Vilnius if they are anti-ruZZian they wouldn't vote for that bastard