Days 13-14 - Random shots

Nothing super dramatic to report over the last few days. Just a few random shots and pictures.

In the mornings Isabella and I walk outside early in the morning. It is nice to see the city at this time. It is pleasantly cool and pretty empty except for the occasional swiper, garbage-bottle-picker-upper, or (rarely) a working person on a way to work in this ungodly hour. We feed the doves in the square next to St. Paraska's church. On our last stays the old town used to be littered with the broken bottles in the mornings, especially the playground, but not this time. It is fun to go to the market and see the vendors set up and get the first pick of the berries. She is sitting in the backpack and smiling and waving at all the passersbys bringing reciprocal smiles to their gloomy faces.

On Tuesday late afternoon we went over to Alicia to say goodbye to Andrei and Natasha. They were very sad. We agreed to meet up next year for a huge birthday bash for Alicia.

On the way back it started raining. We got lucky to run for the cover of the Cathedral. It was nice watching the thunderstorm from there.

On Wednesday afternoon Georgia and I covered a lot of ground. First, we went to the exhibition in the city hall – the poster had a picture of a king on a horse and we figured it would be something similar to last year. But it was so-so, and there was a cover of 4LT as well. The kings, uniformly had red bushy eyebrows and sneaky light eyes. Georgia liked Mindaugas the most, he was the least sneaky. Then we checked out the tiny crypt under St.Casimir’s church. Inside were some medieval frescos done in what appears to be coal. The style is very interesting. They also have a relic of St. Boboly or something like that. It was clearly displayed piece of an unidentifiable bone with some dried meat on it. It looked pretty disgusting. I wonder how the procedure goes for chopping up the saint for the distribution.

Next we wandered into several different stores/worshops/galleries on Stikliau. The felt shop, is a bit less interesting this year because the hat design has changed to that of a beret, and it is not as pretty. They also have lots of felt lampshades, kid’s toys and similar stuff. It is interesting to see what bold new horizons they would explore next year. We also visited the stained-glass workshop. They have amazing things out – beautiful designs on glass enclosed in the very complex shapes made up of copper. Georgia never asks for anything in the stores but here she asked if I could get her “anything”. However, their prices were equally amazing. Even a plain uncolored piece of glass you would stick in a bowl for a decorative purpose, is between 6 and 12 LT. It is probably cheaper to get a batch of these in a fish area at Petco. The seller registered my shock and explained that multi-feature pieces like stained-glass flowers are never done by the master nowadays, but the master comes up with the design and the students implement it. It does not seem to be logical but maybe I am missing something here. We also saw a beautiful store called Elemental where there are highly decorated ceramic animals were sold. We kept passing by and admiring a hippo but it is gone now.

The street was completely blocked by police cars and limos parked in the wrong direction. Apparently someone really important was being entertained in Stickliau restaurant. To give credit to this city, there were no crowds outside, no reporters, just ordinary typical people traffic.

In the evening we walked around a little bit more – Isabella was pretty fed up with walking today and would only tolerate being carried in the backpack. We checked into the micro brewery Būsi Trečias on Totoriu 18 for dinner and were not disappointed. The service was fast, staff pleasant, and the food is good-tasting. We tried a few beer varieties and would definitely recommend this place. They had an awesome dish called "Musicians from Bremen" - potato pancakes with layered chicken and beef and pork patties, with mushroom sauce. Will have to try it at home too.

We sat outside where they also have a nice play area made up of an old Russian-style fireplace where there is a platform covered in a blanket and lined with pillows that you can sit on. They also have an L-shaped old sofa and an old Russian Refrigerator Moskva. All the fun things for the kids. At night we saw Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Used bookstore near the Dominican church. Notice how they say "Previously Loved Books"