Lithuania

Sweet, tangy and packed with probiotics, gira has long been a go-to winter tonic – and is now making a comeback in craft breweries and kombucha-style artisanal brands.

In Lithuania’s Dzūkija National Park, losing yourself amongst the pine trees while hunting for mushrooms is an occurrence so common it has its own word: "nugrybauti".

For nearly 40 years, daring smugglers transported nearly 40,000 Lithuanian-language books into the nation each year when it was forbidden under Russian rule.

Czech Republic, Lithuania and Romania are all newly high on this year's World Happiness Report – and score especially high when it comes to happiness for people aged under 30.

War and Soviet occupation robbed Lithuania of its unique culinary history. Fortunately, there is a growing number of chefs and cooks committed to remembering it.

What began as a tongue-in-cheek April Fools’ Day joke has evolved into one of the smallest republics in the world, with its own government, constitution and currency.