Day 21 - Kaunas, Pazaislis, and more Vilnius fun

In the morning we went to Kaunas. Like the last time, we started with the Zoo. The parking spots outside were filled - there were crowds of families going in. Most were buying their kid a balloon with some animal on it. We went for the ice-cream. Don't know if it was the overcast weather or what but this time the zoo hit home like In Your Pocket guide wants it to. Somehow we missed it last time, but with a few exceptions (goats) animals are kept in poor conditions.

The lion and lionness stay in pens 2 lengths of their body long and wide. There are no trees or toys. Bears stay in miserable enclosures made up of crumbling cement and containing foul looking water for them to swim in. Many of them are dirty. Most of the animals were walking back and forth repetitively, which is a sign of distress. And yes, the porcupines from last year are dead. However there are plenty of snack and gift shacks all over the place.

The only animal who seemed to be in good spirits was the sea lion. He was putting on a show of his own. Plunging in the water and gracelessly getting out, washing his face in the water, snorting, and going back in.

Somewhat depressed we drove to the next point - Pazaislis monastery on the outskirts of the town. Despite centuries of abuse, the main church had been restored and is a magnificent sight. Frescoes and beautiful Italian carvings are still there. There are indications that there is a big underground section as well. Unfortunately off limits to the tourists. It is now a functioning monastery and there are nuns scurrying around both the open section and closed sections. They also have extensive grounds with a fruit garden. Georgia got to see her first real haystack.

On the way back to Kaunas we stopped at the Kaunas beach. The water was 17 degrees Celsius. Not so bad. Georgia walked on the sandy beach barefoot. There were just two other families sun bathing but at the marina there was more action with the motor boats. We are looking forward to our July trip to Palanga.

Finally on the Vilnius gatve of Kaunas. It became even more desolate and provincial. Hardly a person on the street at 2pm. If Vilnius hardly had any new developments in the year past, they had even less so, the city is becoming more and more descrepit. The rain caught us on the way and we stopped for lunch at an outdoor restaurant. How come every single eatery in the country, even in Kaunas, figured out how to make the cold borsht and I cannot get it!!

Anyway we reached the town hall square and stayed around for a bit to watch the number one action in town - weddings. There is never fewer than three when we come. Georgia enjoyed looking at the beautiful brides and equally beautiful bridesmaids. And then we went back to Vilnius.

Now that was a place to be. The town was teeming with people. Saturday was the main night of the Cultural Events marathon and there was something taking place at the same time all over. After walking around and sampling various outdoor concerts, we settled in at St. Johns to listen to the violin concert. The church was completely full. We lasted through the first sad piece where the pictures of old Vilnius were shown on the big screen in the front. St. Bernard's church was livelier. They had a band performing there with a lead female singer who had a beautiful voice. It is a pity that the church is still in the same poor state it was years ago.

Next we noticed green carpet arrows in the direction of the college of Fine Arts of the Vilnius University that was right next to St. Anne's. We went in and for several hours wandered through the college rooms, studios, and courtyards which were filled with the pieces of art created by the students. There were some really amazing pieces and some that made me feel for the parents who are paying for it. In general this portion of the university is not very joyous to look at. Maybe it is so to inspire some artistic expression. One of the places we really liked was the beautiful library where the final papers of the students were exhibited.

This is a really neat exhibit: a portal made with identical radios. You can change any station on any of them. They broadcasting stations when we were there and it had a predictable, though interesting sound effect:

After that we continued walking around and sampling other performances well past 10:30pm. In addition to the official performances, anyone who could play anything was showing their skills on Pilies and elsewhere. Near the White Elephant 3 other hapless venues tried to compete. There was the folk concert in the courtyard of St. Katherine's, Shakespeare performance in the courtyard of Vilnius g. 41, and a rock band at Vilnius 39. However the White Elephant had the best speakerphones so everything else had to compete the rare moments of relative silence between the songs at the White Elephant. The old town was filled almost to the bursting point. We would have liked to walk around some some (this was supposed to last until 4am) but we were too tired having been up and about since 8am. Another testament to how well our apartment is positioned and how good the old building is - it is completely soundproof to the sounds outside and inside.

The guy who is selling the paintings of cats on Pilies had this one. Dan and I differred in opinions about what's below woman's butt. Open to your interpretation: