Day 6 - Getting a few blocks further

Today we walked out fully prepared - rain boots, rain jackets, sweaters and it is was good thing too. Even though it rained less it was pretty cold - possibly mid 40s.

The first order of business was to check whether it was possible to walk up to the Gedimino tower on foot. Last year the walkway was closed and only funicular access was available killing half the fun. We failed in that task. In addition to re-starting the work on the front of the lower castle (actually very cool - they have 3 cranes up there with people during the day), they are also expanding the cathedral square into the park so there was much construction going on around the walkway. I extrapolated that the walkway would be closed. But turns out during our afternoon walk that it is open and it may be possible to get up by walking.

We walked leisurely stopping here and there. There is a no stroller rule for the morning walk.

The second order of business was to go to the toy store on Vilnius gatve and get Georgia some more paints and play dough. By the time we got to the post office to do some research for Dan, Georgia decisively claimed that the bathroom was needed and now. We ran into a Double Coffee. Our first foray here this summer. She instantly forgot what we came here to do and sat down to study the menu. We got a stuffed croissant (not recommended) and hot cocoa for her, cappuccino for me.

While we were sitting there, there was a serious business discussion going on at the next table. There was a young couple and a young real estate agent discussing a possible deal in LithuRussian. It was funny to hear "blah-blah-blah" + "a separate master bathroom." I wonder if the agent spoke like that because the couple was Russian Lithuanians. We do hear people mixing up these two languages though younger people usually speak purer Lithuanian and use Russian for the expressions where certain emotional impact is necessary.

It started raining outside again. We watched a family across the street without the raingear deal. They had a double stroller and a bigger kid Mom took over the stroller and dad launched the kid on his shoulders. They ran out of view. We forgot about them but in about 3 minutes they ran inside the Double Coffee and started chaning the kids into some dry clothing. Georgia and I felt like a veteran hikers properly prepared for the hardships ahead.

By the time we were done it stopped raining and we got as far as Gedimino 9 before there was another bathroom call. I am beginning to suspect that it is a trick. We walked around the mall afterwards. There is really little to see. The last floor is still unoccupied. There are few open spaces on the other floors as well. The only thing that was really interesting was the bookstore. It was all Lithuanian and we only got as far as the children's section but it was really awesome. They must have such enormous supply of local illustrators that each book was a treasure trove of pictures in many different styles.

We walked over to the square next to McDonalds and called Dan to join us to lunch. We went to the soup and bun place on Gedimino. It was nice. On the way we saw some policemen on police Segways. This looks really cool. Incidentally Segway renting place on Vilnius gatve is really popular and we see people on these things practically every day.

In the afternoon the apartment owner came over with her husband to do the cleaning. They are great: brought new toys for Georgia, extra soap, towels, table liners. It is weird to figure out what it is we are responsible for since there was toilet paper, paper towels, and other similar things already there when we came. They also tried to bring over a couch for Georgia's room but she did not allow it and asked for it to be taken away. Poor things. They dragged it all the way up here. The owners were really talkative - I guess they are working their garden all day long and don't get much of a chance to speak with anybody. Or maybe they are like that with everyone.

Georgia and I went out while Dan still had to finish a few things. We fed the doves and went to the temporary textile exhibition in the building on Stikliu gatve. It was one of those weird incogruous things we saw on our last visits here. Several rooms of strange textile artifacts of questionable artistic value. Like semi-circular wood frames with threads pulled through to make it look like it is a human figure in threads. Yeah, I can see a deep meaning and be impressed for about 10 seconds. Georgia wanted to climb on top and use the thing like a seesaw. Zero other customers and bored to death attendant who has to keep an eye on this goodness for 8 hours a day.

We walked a bit more on Stikliu gatve visiting different stores. One of them,"Silvero Salonas 925" on the corner sucked. The stuff looks nice enough from the outside but inside there were eagle eyed women who last took shower in the time of the Soviet Union. They followed us around drowning the view of the goods inside with their aroma.

There is a brand new little nook that used to be a broken down backyard last time but is now a place with three vintage clothing stores. Don't know if the venue is a long term proposition on this street but it looks good now.

We met up with Dan and went up to check out Usupis. On the way we passed the Church of the Holy Mother of God. It was freshly plastered and they uncovered sections of the original walls. The view is awesome. Of course we left our camera at home. Next, there was a chanting crowd in Usupis Cavine and one customer was taking off his pants. We stopped to see the end of the show but that was the end. After that we walked around the Cathedral square and went home to get our car. Initially we planned to just get some drinking water but we ended up getting some stuff for dinner. So, sorry, no culinary updates today.