Wednesday, in Vilnius...
Had a slow start after the big day yesterday, it is hard to keep up with myself dear reader. Not so much to do with age, but more to do with the way that we are living. We spend very little time sitting still, maybe first thing in the morning for breakfast, for a cuppa in a cafe, in a park for a snack, lunch on some steps or a bench and dinner somewhere. Other than that, it’s feet to the cobble stones and walking, walking, walking (don’t know how the pretty girls in their high heels manage to keep their ankles intact!) So the days are long and the sleep is sound - at nearly three weeks on the road my real life seems far away and difficult to think about.
Forgot to mention that on the way back from dinner last night we wandered through an old bohemian part of town called Užupis which was (playfully) declared a republic by some of the creative type residents. There is a small tributary running through and people were canoeing in the late evening while others watched fro the deck of a bar perched above the water. The wrought iron bridge across the river had all these padlocks fastened to it and they had engravings (betrothals?) on them like “Tomas ir Akvilė, 2007 02 14“. Looked fantastic and I think it’s it’s kind of nice to make public declaration - apparently the cusom was started in Latvia so we’ll have to look out for more there. We are wondering what happens to the keys...
Another great thing we’ve noticed is how the shops display their opening hours and have seen a few different ways... One involves a happy face when open, unemotional face when open half a day and sad face when closed, another uses clock symbols for each day, etc. etc.
Set out to walk up and down most of the old town in Vilnius. Planned a bit of a route that took in some old town and some of the significant places of interest and some of the quirky. Thy do seem to have a healthy sense of disrespect of themselves (or should that be a good sense of humour?) Did arrange a rendezvous with Ash for lunch and ended up at Delano which is a big basement type cafeteria-style eatery and tried just about one of each of the available dishes. Rolled out of there (really feeling like having a siesta) and back onto the streets to check out what was across the river and then wandered back through some of the old streets.
Found the university complex of buildings and did a tour the old campus following a map that led us to a number of the old courtyards. There’s even a church, St. John’s (founded in 1387) that faces into the largest of them. Then there’s the best ever looking bookshop (Littera) with 300 year old frescoes on low ceilings that have to be seen, particularly in that late evening light. There was even some English books! There’s also a huge brass door leading into the library that provides a commemoration/celebration/history of the university. Founded in 1579, it’s Eastern Europe’s oldest university - the Russians closed it in 1832 and it wasn’t reopened till 1919. Lots of history here.
The history of the churches and some of the buildings is all a bit sad. Lost to fire, decay, neglect, war etc. and rebuilt numerous times, not much is really original anymore but they are still magnificent. We have also noticed some archeological digs around the place, so folk are still finding out about the local history.
For dinner we found a place in the Lonely Planet guide and wandered down into the cave that is Balti Drambliai vegetarian restaraunt. It was packed but managed to find a table for the three of us up some steep half stairs and into an alcove that seemed like a small space in an old wall! Amazing. Had some nice (cheap) food though.
Had a slow start after the big day yesterday, it is hard to keep up with myself dear reader. Not so much to do with age, but more to do with the way that we are living. We spend very little time sitting still, maybe first thing in the morning for breakfast, for a cuppa in a cafe, in a park for a snack, lunch on some steps or a bench and dinner somewhere. Other than that, it’s feet to the cobble stones and walking, walking, walking (don’t know how the pretty girls in their high heels manage to keep their ankles intact!) So the days are long and the sleep is sound - at nearly three weeks on the road my real life seems far away and difficult to think about.
Forgot to mention that on the way back from dinner last night we wandered through an old bohemian part of town called Užupis which was (playfully) declared a republic by some of the creative type residents. There is a small tributary running through and people were canoeing in the late evening while others watched fro the deck of a bar perched above the water. The wrought iron bridge across the river had all these padlocks fastened to it and they had engravings (betrothals?) on them like “Tomas ir Akvilė, 2007 02 14“. Looked fantastic and I think it’s it’s kind of nice to make public declaration - apparently the cusom was started in Latvia so we’ll have to look out for more there. We are wondering what happens to the keys...
Another great thing we’ve noticed is how the shops display their opening hours and have seen a few different ways... One involves a happy face when open, unemotional face when open half a day and sad face when closed, another uses clock symbols for each day, etc. etc.
Set out to walk up and down most of the old town in Vilnius. Planned a bit of a route that took in some old town and some of the significant places of interest and some of the quirky. Thy do seem to have a healthy sense of disrespect of themselves (or should that be a good sense of humour?) Did arrange a rendezvous with Ash for lunch and ended up at Delano which is a big basement type cafeteria-style eatery and tried just about one of each of the available dishes. Rolled out of there (really feeling like having a siesta) and back onto the streets to check out what was across the river and then wandered back through some of the old streets.
Found the university complex of buildings and did a tour the old campus following a map that led us to a number of the old courtyards. There’s even a church, St. John’s (founded in 1387) that faces into the largest of them. Then there’s the best ever looking bookshop (Littera) with 300 year old frescoes on low ceilings that have to be seen, particularly in that late evening light. There was even some English books! There’s also a huge brass door leading into the library that provides a commemoration/celebration/history of the university. Founded in 1579, it’s Eastern Europe’s oldest university - the Russians closed it in 1832 and it wasn’t reopened till 1919. Lots of history here.
The history of the churches and some of the buildings is all a bit sad. Lost to fire, decay, neglect, war etc. and rebuilt numerous times, not much is really original anymore but they are still magnificent. We have also noticed some archeological digs around the place, so folk are still finding out about the local history.
For dinner we found a place in the Lonely Planet guide and wandered down into the cave that is Balti Drambliai vegetarian restaraunt. It was packed but managed to find a table for the three of us up some steep half stairs and into an alcove that seemed like a small space in an old wall! Amazing. Had some nice (cheap) food though.
1 comment:
Such wonderful adventures and stunning photos! Dave & I off to Townsville for a few days to celebrate the completion of my degree! Looking forward to reading some more of your blog when we return.
Leonie
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