Roman Holiday: Lithuania capital turns Italian as virus stops travel

With virus travel restrictions preventing summer holidays abroad, Lithuania's capital is offering a low-cost alternative by mimicking the look and feel of different countries at weekends. | Visitors check out the legendary Italian Vespa scooters and Italian Alfa Romeo cars at Town Hall Square in Lithuania.

France, Japan and the US are among the more than half-a-dozen nations that Vilnius residents can get a taste of without leaving the Baltic city. | Italian Vespa scooters at Town Hall Square.

Last weekend Italian music filled the Old Town, while local restaurants offered Mediterranean dishes as green, white and red flags fluttered nearby. | An Italian music group performs at Konstantinas Sirvydas Square in Lithuania.

Aurelija Baniulaitiene, a Lithuanian civil servant who came with a friend to an open-air restaurant, said the southern European atmosphere helped her "leave the lockdown cocoon". | People sit in cafes during a tourism event to mimicking the Italian holiday experience in Vilnius, Lithuania.

In the weeks to come, the theme will change to India, the United States, France, Spain, Germany and Japan. | People sit in cafes during a tourism event in Lithuania.

A short walk away, in a former Jewish neighbourhood, jeans designer Milda Paukste used pieces of denim to stitch an outline of the Italian peninsula on a sheet laid out in the street.

In the nearby Town Hall Square, hundreds of Lithuanians admired a collection of iconic Vespa scooters and Alfa Romeo cars.

Visitors check out the legendary Italian Vespa scooters and Italian Alfa Romeo cars at Town Hall Square.

Lithuania itself re-opened for tourists from most European countries earlier this month after containing the spread of the disease. | A woman wears a Venice carnival mask.

Reported COVID-19 deaths stand at just 71, with case numbers at 1,720 in the eurozone nation of 2.8 million people. | Lithuania's capital is offering a low-cost alternative by mimicking the look and feel of different countries at weekends.

Many European countries are beginning to re-open their borders but health concerns are hindering efforts to bring visitors back and the travel industry fears steep losses. | A woman wears a Venice carnival mask.

Women dressed for the Venice carnival .

People sit in cafes during a tourism event to mimicking the Italian holiday experience in Vilnius, Lithuania.

In the capital's Bernardine Gardens, the entrance gate invited visitors to enjoy "An Italian holiday in Vilnius". Inside the park, a children's entertainer was disguised as the video game character Super Mario, an Italian plumber. "This is great for kids after the quarantine. A nice opening of the summer season," Justina Sapokiene said as her five-year-old daughter played with the character in his trademark red overalls and a blue shirt.