Our Stay in Vilnius

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March 25, 2009

I am so far behind in this travelblog. My intentions were good but we have been unable to find an internet connection. Hopefully, tomorrow John will be going to a lawyers office to attach this to the blog. For anyone out there who is kind enough to be interested in this, I apologize for the delay. It is a curious thing to write.

We have been in Vilnius since late Sunday. At first, the city appeared as a very depressed area. Many of the buildings are in deteriorating condition. In many instances, this is the result of the prolonged Soviet occupation. It is a period that is not remembered with a fondness by the residents of Vilnius. In the Eastern Block countries, the Soviets sought to build utilitarian buildings demonstrating none of the beauty of the countries previous architecture. They are also structures that have no longevity. According to the guide books, the stucco used here is a combination of cement and crushed marble. Many of the buildings are being renovated. As in Austria, there are a lot of baroque style buildings. Here there is also Gothic architecture which is the oldest of all.

As I had said, we housed 10 minutes from the Old Town of Vilnius. The main square is called Cathedral Square. Lithuania is primarily a Catholic country with hundreds of churches. It was involved in the counter-reformation. Whereas, Latvia and Estonia converted to Lutheranism, Lithuania remained Catholic. There are hundreds of Catholic churches and a few Russian Orthodox churches in and around Vilnius. This has also had the largest Jewish population in Europe. In 1897, Jews constituted 39% of Vilnius residents. Before World War II, there were 100 synagogues. In the 19th century, it was chosen as the center of development of the European Jewish language, Yiddish. Between the world wars, it was chosen as the headquarters of the Yiddish language scientific research institute ahead of Warsaw and New York. On the eve of World War I, there were a total of 240,000 Jews in Lithuania. At the end of World War II, there are 5000 Jews in Lithuania. It is really horrifying.

The oldest building here dates back to the 14th century with the founding of Vilnius. There is an upper castle and a lower castle as well as a basilica. I just learned that basilica means “royal” and a cathedral can only be declared such by the pope. Between the cathedral and a bell tower, there is a 18 inch X 18 inch tile with glass mosaics imbedded in it. It is a magic tile; it is called the miracle stone. You are to make your wish while standing on it and turning clockwise. Yes, we both did it and I won’t tell what the wishes were. The bell tower has gone through many reconstructions. On the top is a clock with no minute hand; the bell tolls every 15 minutes.

There is a peculiar bridge into a district in the old town. On the ironworks and handrails of the bridge are padlocks. Each is engraved with the names of couples who have declared their love. It is a very odd sight. It looks like bikers forgot to take their padlocks with them after detaching their bikes. I am such a romantic.



They take great pride in strange things here. There are little angels placed throughout the city. One is wearing roller skates. It is kind of a seek and find. They were also the first to erect a statue of Frank Zappa. It is his bust on a pillar. They thought that he might come and visit if they did but he never did.

We went to the supermarket call Maxima. It is smaller than the IGA in Rangeley but is well stocked. Oddly, they do not have any types of food wraps (i.e. saran, wax or tin foil). You must purchase your plastic bag. I could not find any paper towels or facial tissue. We have also not been able to locate a bakery. We have asked and no one knows where one may be. The breads here leave much to be desired especially coming from Austria. We were guided to a wonderful laundry where you hand in your cloths and four hours later you pick up the most beautifully folded clothes I have ever seen. No ironing is necessary. That lady knows a lot more than I do.

We have enjoyed many delicious Lithuanian meals. I have enjoyed their cold beet soup, anchovy cabbage quiche, veal roast, wild boar, curd filled crepes, and turkey. There is every type of ethnic restaurant here. Since I have no kitchen or hot plate, we are going out to dinner frequently. I have not been able to find an open food market.

John has taught 2 classes so far. The law school is a distance from the historic university. There are almost 40 students enrolled in his class. 75% of the law students are female. It is a very stiff competition to get accepted and they only take the best and the brightest. I have spoken with the female students and they are very proud of their accomplishment. I never realized what a fantastic teacher my husband is. He had the students totally engaged. We were told that the students are hesitant to ask questions. John invited them to question him as they so judged and they delighted in it. I am finally learning about bankruptcy after 35 years of marriage. It still confuses me but I am gaining a better appreciation of it. I just had to brag; I am very proud of him.

John will teach another class tomorrow and hopefully be able to find a way to get this blog on line. We leave for St Petersburg tomorrow night. We are taking an overnight train. We leave at 6 pm and arrive there at 8 am. What an adventure this is.

John thought that he had completely transferred the text to the travelblog. So much for our computer skills. It is now really March 28 and we are happily in St. Petersburg

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