Good Friday in Vilnius

By accident I found myself in Vilnius for the Catholic Good Friday, trying to keep Lent in a very upmarket fish restaurant that an old friend had chosen. 

The last time I was here was for his 30th birthday. Now he is 45, married, a father and works in a hedge fund. 

He is full of hope that Ukraine can recapture Crimea and tried to explain to me using Google maps. He thought the Ukrainian army can seize the isthmus that links the peninsula to the mainland.

I'd like it to happen but I fear that the Russians will seize the whole coast. So think some anonymous British senior defence figures, according to a man called McTague in Unherd. 

But what a joy to be back in this city. It could be the setting for a vampire or werewolf story. The feeling of being in a fictional country in a book read in childhood. That's the pleasure that travel supplies, the sense of escaping reality. And, as you know, reality is unreal anyway, so perhaps travel helps you find reality.