Discovering new Europe -- by night
By CNN's Richard Quest
VILNIUS, Lithuania (CNN) -- I am on the wrong side of 40 and probably too old to be going out with students pub-crawling and clubbing.
But I wanted to find out what they thought about the New Europe. What do young people who were in their teens during independence make of this change.
So in Vilnius it was time for a night on the town. It is appropriate to do this in the Baltic countries because they are rapidly getting a name for themselves as the places to party.
A plethora of cheap low cost airlines and cheap accommodation means many Brits are heading that way to hold stag-nights, hen parties or simply go there and get drunk.
Not for me. I was there to discover. And Tatiyana, Gayba and Ernesto were my guides for the night!
Our evening started off in one of Vilnius's poshest bars, the Skybar.
Elegant, with youngsters lounging in comfortable modern chairs high about Vilnius looking down on the lights of the city.
The bar is at the top of an old Soviet hotel, which has been completely renovated. It is one of the "in places" to be ... and appropriate for our start says Tatiyana.
"To me this bar is a great metaphor for the changes that have happened in Lithuania." She says.
"If you had come here 10 years ago you would see grumpy grey faces. No smiles. Today, you walk in and see smiling faces and a really great atmosphere which is felt in the Vilnius of today."
To those familiar with sophisticated bars of major European capitals this may seem go great deal, but to a former communist country the fact such bars now exist and are flourishing is very much a symbol of success in their new system.
But Skybar isn't to everyone's taste. We move onto somewhere more earthy. Stereo 45. Where I am now starting to feel decidedly older than my 40+ years among the gyrating younger men and woman, who seem to be doing contortions on the dance floor. (My mother warned me about these sorts of places!)
Gabya is having none of my hesitation. "This is the kind of bar where you can be yourself."
Ernesto, her boyfriend chimes in drawing on the fact that Lithuania is about to become part of the EU and making the point that the EU means "I am going to be able to travel and show people who I am. People will be able to improve themselves every day they are in the EU. This is the chance."
Cynics might say by now it is the booze talking, not the politics, but it is a refrain repeated again and again as we move onto other bars.
We have now been joined by several more people. We are a party in our own right. Laughing, drinking, making our way through the near deserted streets of Vilnius (it was a Thursday night after all.)
Finally to the inappropriately named University Bar, which seemed to share little in the way of any seat of learning I have visited. More gyrating youth. More laughter. More dancing.
And more comments that echo a theme of the young I've met tonight. "Lithuanians can be Europeans," one says....then follows up with a shriek "We are Europeans, we have problems but we can work together with Europe to create something new and better."
It is intoxicating stuff -- and I don't mean the alcohol.
Having read numerous articles about the problems of the New Europe -- immigration, customs, taxation, politics and so on -- this was the Europe I had come to discover.
Younger people who were not blind to the difficulties ahead but were determined to make the most of the changes about to take place. That is what this New Europe is all about.
Oh, I went to bed. Exhausted. I am too old for this sort of thing.
And lastly: Please keep your e-mail questions and comments coming.
A selection appear on the Web site (click here) along with my answers. The e-mail address is europeanquest@cnn.com
