Day 49 - Daytripping

Today we decided to take a drive to see the scenic delights outside Warsaw . On the list there was Żelazowa Wola, a place where Chopin was born, Lowitz the cradle of the Polish Christianity, and love inspiring Arkadia park. These descriptions were carefully researched on the Internet and did not come from my behind, though after today trip it is clear they had come from someone else's back parts.

Żelazowa Wola had a large and promising parking lot. Immediately upon our landing, a Pole came over and collected 6ZL for parking. We are more and more convinced that a more dignified way to earn living than begging or becoming a policemen would be to become the parking toll collector. Any random person could do it. We strolled to where he pointed, which was supposed to be a beautiful park with Chopin's birth home on it. Our printed and online sources indicated that this place is home to frequent recitals. The only recital we heard was the sound of the drill. The park was under reconstruction. There are two massive construction projects on both sides of the park which were producing all the noise. The birth home itself is a small house at the end of the long valley for which you have to pay at the entrance of the valley. Having been taught by example at Rundale so-called Palace in Latvia, we did not pay and were not sorry when we did reach the home. We considered some handicrafts at the parking lot. Some guy had adorable devils, but based on the prices he might be raising money to fund NASA. It was beyond non-negotiable.

So next we went to Łowicz. The start looked very promising with a pretty town square faced by the key structures. The churches were huge. However they were all closed, so we decided to move to the second part of the program which was visiting the "quaint village with the most unique souvenirs in the whole World." We spent several hours walking around in the noon heat and looking for the village. But other than an impressive and extensive array of a typical provincial shops there was nothing interesting to look at.

So on to the last location. Arkadia had the familiar parking toll collector happily collecting the dues from 6-7 cars parked nears the entrance. We looked inside the park but did not see anything remotely romantic, maybe it becomes apparent after you pay for parking. And maybe not. So we decided not to take the risk.

We tried one more thing - Kampinos National park which boasts a real sand dunes and bogs. But having encountered the same parking rule, it just did not seem like fun anymore. Plus, as much as I could understand the park attendant, she said not to expect the big sandy beauties like on the beach but just a little sand covered by the roots. And we could take the stroller to the park down the wide road used by the car vehicles. We were not that impressed with Byelovezhe Puscha, the last remaining virgin forest in Europe. And this, by all indications was not going to even come close. So we headed back to Warsaw.

Georgia was amazing the entire trip. This amount of time in the car is hard for any adult not to mention a 3-year old.

We drove to Lazienkowski park. It looks like a version of the Central Park. We dragged to the nearest coffee shop to feed Georgia and me and went straight back to the apartment. It is was nice to relax at last.

After a break we went out again to take a look at all the fun that was gathering in the square. Georgia had fun splashing in the mermaid fountain again.

They built out stage on the market square and a bunch of young Jazz musicians were testing out the equipment. The pianist and bass player were very good. There were so many people. And more were coming. It was nice to see so many dressed beautifully. We went to confirm that our breakfast watering holes would be operational tomorrow while picking up odd street bite to eat here and there.

Next we went to the market in the "New City." They still had the booths up. There was maybe 20 visitors there now. What a waste. To get them out of their misery we had some smoked cheese, and regular and blood sausage sold for symbolic prices. And we also had kvas. Georgia tried the latter and to our enjoyment really loved it. She nearly downed a cup all by herself. Some of her most impressive accomplishments this summer relate to her opening up to trying eating different foods and liking most of them.

By 8pm, we were ready to call it a day. The market square had filled up completely. The concert was so so. Each next piece sounded like the one before. And it was very loud. But at least we had the best seats in the house. They sensibly finished by 9pm. Now we will pack and prepare to go back to LT tomorrow. It was very nice here.

Day 48 - Warsaw Zoo and Podwale Piwna Kompania

We started the day by walking down Krakowskie Przedmiescie a few blocks to get to the same hot bun place we spotted yesterday. On the way we witnessed a joyous sight: not one, or two, or three, but five girls immaculately dressed in white carried trays with hot buns into the bun place from several directions. They were only one kind of buns – blueberry but they were still hot from the oven. Having a cup of coffee with a blueberry bun at 8am while watching the city wake up and go to work is a wonderful way to start a day.

Next we checked with the information office about getting to the Zoo. Apparently it is right across the bridge from the Old Town, about 20-25 minute walk away. The bridge is being repaired so it is pedestrian traffic and local buses only. Nice and quiet.

The Zoo is the best one I have ever been to in terms of the user experience. The place is immaculately maintained, the animals' living enclosures are small enough that it is possible to get around the Zoo in a half a day. But they are generally big enough for the animals to have some opportunity to stretch out. Except the tigress – it was housed in two adjacent cages slightly bigger than those in Kaunas, but it had a friend – a German Sheppard it grew up with. There are plenty of areas to sit down and grab a bite to eat. The pavilions with smaller animals like fishes, reptiles and birds are small and diverse enough to capture the interest and not appear boring. The playground is the most intelligent and interesting that I have ever seen. We spent over 2.5 hours at the Zoo, a record for Georgia and she still seemed pretty willing to continue.

Georgia fed ducklings for a little while and then sternly told us that we have to go before we get screamed at by the security for feeding the animals. She certainly had the experience getting screamed at by the various employees of museums and exhibitions.

Dan did some feeding this time. The male peacock that was in the middle of his performance of exposing all the feathers in his tail lost out to a piece of bread.

The Zoo is located in the part of Warsaw that is called Prague. It is supposed to be the new and happening area, like the meat packing district in NY. After the Zoo we tried to find the that area but failed. But I liked the working class neighborhood, bohemian or not it had an interesting and unique character. Targowa street resembled Santiago because it was very wide and filled with multiple shops, street vendors, beggars. Zabkowska street, in contrast, was barely repaired, with scenic little shops with amazing smells, narrow streets, and dilapidated courtyards. The single gallery of the area is in the former vodka factory to add special scenic element to the area.

It started to rain and we decided to go back. On the way we stopped in an eatery with a very well pronounced proletarian character. We thought it would have nice local Polish fare. But when we came in and saw the old aluminum plates, borscht with macaroni swimming inside, the little window to get your food, and old people who filled up all but a few metal tables and chair, we decided to try our luck in another place. The smell of the place also encouraged us to keep going.

A short walk after we were happily settling into the same place we went for lunch yesterday. It was great to sit down and relax with a good bite to eat. Georgia, the little trooper, ate the chicken soup for the second day in a row without complaining, while we busied with a more substantial fare of sausages and enormous ravioli covered with bacon bits and oil.

Next we took a short break at home while Dan was on a phone call from work. By 4 pm we walked out to the Nowe Miesto, or the part of the city outside the wall. We found ourselves navigating there to for the last two days. There was a little market place in the old Rynek of that part of the city. About a dozen booths featured the local beer, kvas, cheeses, meats, and handicrafts. The stuff looked pretty appealing but there were no other visitors. Mind you it is Friday and people are at work and the place is a bit out of the way, but still it was a bit of a downer to be the sole visitors. We decided to try back on the weekend or later in the evening when people come back from work.

We took a 2 story horse-driven tram around the old town. Georgia had been asking about it for some time and we finally gave in. It was nice to sit down and watch the city go by. Georgia enjoyed pointing to the frescos, carvings, and castings, which normally were hard to see from the ground, especially for her. She held my hand very tight and whenever I reached out to see something more tried to pull me back in so that I won’t fall out.

After that we walked around some more before dinner. We tried the narrow street where we found the Museum of Caricature. Dan wanted to walk into an alley that seemed interesting but some Polish woman stopped him saying that “it is zydiwsky area and no one is allowed there.” She laughed too as she said it too. Once again I would not help feeling that the obligatory lip service that is paid to the honor the memory of the Holocaust reaches very few ears indeed. And given the chance more people than not would join hands to finish the job so admirably started some 50 years ago.

We finished the day at Podwale Piwna Kompania on Podwale 25. It is absolutely the best restaurant we had been to this whole summer. An entire courtyard filled with tables, fast service, and really good food in enormous quantities and at very reasonable prices. I am going to list all the dishes, please feel free to ignore, it is mostly a message to myself to re-read and cherish in the future. For starters we had beer and grilled smoked cheese. Definitely to try at home. I had my favorite – the blood sausage. It was fried too, which is the best way to have the blood sausage. Dan had Peanut Honey BBQ ribs which filled the entire plate and rested on a bed of side dishes. Dan’s mom had a duck which was also very good. Her side was a roulette made from the old bread pieces that were somehow put together with herbs and some adhesive (maybe an egg?) into a sausage shape, and baked, and sliced. And even Georgia completely focused on her fish, and for once ignored the French Fries completely. She also offered her fish to all of us to try, which is a nice new development.

After that we could barely drag ourselves to the mermaid fountain in front of our apartment and watch Georgia run around and splash. After watching her play for a bit we decided to call it a day and went back in. It was a really good and busy day.

Tomorrow we are planning to get out of the city. I am also preparing myself for what will happen on Sunday – when Asya’s hospitality will become unleashed. But there will be a ray of sunshine in the sea of consumption – on Monday I will make my first felt hat.

Some more cute sights of the city. This is the entryway to the restaurant past the old city wall. Only the wall is Polish, restaurant is Thai, and the name is Indian.

Sculpture on the College of Drama balcony.

Day 47 - More Warsaw

We started the day at the Coffee Heaven - the first joint on the way that seemed to be serving the breakfast fare and was open. There was a crowd of tourists behind us in line and the staff of 4 where 1 worked despite the lack English while the other 3 stared. Finally we got our food and sat outside to eat. Coffee was good, everything else so so.

We started walking on Krakowskie Przedmieście planning to cover as much as possible as we saw Dan off on his planned runaround. On the way we walked into what we were looking for - a fresh bun place. We could not resist getting one. Coffee Heaven no more.

At noon, Georgia, Dan's mom and I sat down at St. John's church for the organ concert. The Catholic priests that run the place have a well organized hook up where one rounds up the people outside, the other sells them the ticket, and the third escorts them to their seats. They also lock the doors on the inside once the performance starts. The organ is about 40 years old and enormous. I am not sure whether the problem is with the reconstructed building (it was warm inside unlike in most old churches) or the organ itself, but the sound from past notes was audible even while the organist started on the next round of notes. It was making some pieces caucophonous and unpleasant. St. Casimir in Vilnius is a totally different game. Georgia and I had enough after the first two pieces by some unknown Polish composer and started trying to get out, but the place was locked. Luckily the final piece was a world known one (damned if I know the name) and we could listen to it.

We ate a nice lunch at Zapieciek and went home. Georgia was ready for her lunch and I wanted to read a novel. Dan's mom got out for a walk and Dan went for the second round. At around 2:30 we got a call from the apartment office saying that they have to move us right now because the next resident is coming for our apartment. I just had enough time to pack us when they knocked on the door. The good thing is that they moved all our stuff to the next floor where the next apartment was.

If I thought the last one was luxurious, it now seemed like a dirty hole compared to this current apartment. A huge living room connected with the kitchen and dining area. Three windows are facing the market square. There are 3 bedrooms on the floors above. And three full bathrooms. All the furniture is brand new and beautiful. And the brown friends do not seem to have made it this high. It is so nice that when Dan and Dan's mom got here they did not want to get out once it was time to get out for the dinner walk.

We did get out after all and walked around from 4 till 8 with a dinner break in the middle. The city is so large it is difficult to cover substantial areas on foot. We got as far as the printing facilities for the paper money and other secure papers. We wanted to go out at night but were too tired to. Now it looks like we had made our time switch afterall. Then again it is an hour back - 6hr difference with EST so it is nearly midnight again.

Day 46 – Arriving to Warsaw

Dan and I are sitting in the outdoor café in the Rynek Square of Warsaw with our laptops. He is having a beer and I am having a tea with endless side trappings. It is drizzling out in preparation of the heavy thunderstorms planned for the rest of our stay in Poland. Georgia and Dan’s mom are at the apartment getting ready to go to sleep. My Mac, which is does not know it yet, but will be retired upon return to US is not picking up the wireless in the square. But Dan is connected so maybe I will be able to push this blog entry out if I finish it before his powersucker runs out juice.

Today we took off a little after 7am. We planned to stop on the way at Bialystok. The trip was exciting and filled with adventures.

First, as we got in the car, we found that Dan’s mom accidentally threw out our food for the trip (pretty much all the perishable contents of the fridge, plus some freshly made pancakes, candies, fruits, and other delicacies into the trash container. On the worse note, the gifts for the Polish relatives suffered the same fate. And the trash container had been recently emptied and all the goodies landed on the bottom. Dan was able to get back the gifts. So that wasn’t so bad but Dan’s mom was pretty unhappy about it.

On a note to be followed up later, Dan asked how much money everyone had. In case we get pulled over by a cop.

Next, as we were exiting the city, I was questioned about and found that even though I packed 2 rolls of toilet paper and a pack sterilizing pads for the kitchen, I forgot to pack the map. So we had some exciting time trying to figure out where to go so that we don’t end up in Byelorussia. The GPC was really helpful in Riga but for Poland did not offer any other options than through Kaunas.

Finally, as we were getting ready to pull into the nearest settlement to get some food and maps, Dan got pulled over by a traffic cop. Dan’s prophetic question earlier was getting realized before our eyes. This was a “SchoolBus” type of pulled over – the cop was driving towards us and turned on the happy lights as soon as the eye contact had been made. We were going about 50km over the limit for the area and the cop’s fine-tuned body machinery had made that determination on the spot. Dan made his very first in life negotiation out of the speeding ticket. The cop seemed to be uncomfortable to be in a predicament brought about by Dan’s morning remark. So he asked how Dan’s wife would feel about a speeding ticket. Dan said that she would call him a goat, or “kozyol,” which is more colorful. The cop could relate to it. They settled for 150LT, Dan gave him 200, the cop returned 50.

Having paid the dues to the road toll collector, Dan continued at the same speed and soon we arrived to Alytus, where we got some food, directions, and now that it had been made necessary, the money.

Soon after that we arrived to Bialystok. We stopped at Dan’s uncle Marian. It is always good to see him. Even though he is 90, he is holding up amazingly well. He sang an old Byelorussian song for Georgia, did the swap of goods with Dan, and treated us all to really awesome cheesecake and peaches. Then his daughter-in-law Asya got into the game and in the spirit of last year wanted to keep us for dinner, supper, and anything else that comes later. She came in laden with bags with food for us to take to Warsaw so that we would not have to shop. And she brought some more food to consume during lunch. It was clear that she analyzed their reception last year and determined not to allow any more mercy. I have never seen this amazing level of hospitality. Especially considering we drop in there once in a blue moon.

I went out with Georgia on the playground to escape the Armageddon at Marian’s place. When we came back, I found out that we were given a respite until Sunday when we will pass Bialystok again on the way back from Warsaw. Possibly because her husband Alik is away until the weekend and cannot join in on the fun. So I have something to look forward to in terms of starting the dieting for in preparation. Not like the latter is doable in this country.

Finally, after 3 more hours of driving on the roads that intermixed between a 2 lane highway for a few kilometers, a one lane filled with trucks and tractors, and finally a single lane shared by the vehicles going in the opposite directions.

We are staying in the 1 bedroom apartment right on the old Market square in the heart of town. Turns out that the company we worked with apartmentsapart.com had made a mistake by telling us that there is Internet connection in the apartment. In reality only the apartments that face the square have the connection, and ours faces a quiet backyard. I discussed it a bit with their rep and they promised that tomorrow we will get a 3 story apartment 2x the size, that has some rooms, which face the market square. For the same price. Maybe it was my fragile state that did it, and maybe it was Dan’s mom who came in a bit later and asked in perfect Polish if there is anything she could do, and maybe it was Dan who also strolled in and asked in a very “you better be prepared for the consequences” way if everything was OK. The apartment we have now is luxurious, starting with the location, impeccable entry way, and all the trappings inside. The only minus are the little brown friends who live in the kitchen. But with all the buildings in the square having restaurants in them it is probably an unavoidable evil.

We walked around and settled in something like “In Pana Michala” restaurant. The local non-alcoholic beer is practically identical to the real thing and tastes amazing. Even Georgia was willing to try. The food is nothing to write home about.

The city has a really friendly pleasant feel, similar to Vilnius. We really did not get this vibe in Riga. People are walking around here pretty late with their kids, everyone is casual and comfortable. In Riga, there were too many shaven heads and Bentleys, and ladies primed up as for the job. Here is it just relaxing. Every few meters there is someone playing some instrument resulting in a nice cacophony of sounds. Our coffee shop just lost the electricity and even that did not slow down the lively conversations all around us.

Day 45 - Ordinary day

There is really nothing to report that is different from all the other days. We did not do any new restaurants or discover anything new about the city. So here are just a few pictures. We are going to Poland tomorrow and will stay until Sunday. Supposedly we will have Internet connection in the apartment we are staying at in Warsaw but it could prove to be as good as in Palanga.

Day 44 - More Usupis and felt hats

Georgia declared today that she is going to the playground with grandma in the morning. So that left me at home. I stayed for about an hour and then got out as well. I've gotten used to walking in the morning and without it, the morning seems empty.

I walked up to Stikliu street and spent some time in the store that sold felt clothing. I am not into this kind of stuff but after a while I started to see that it is really beautiful and unique. They have interesting designs where the felt is somehow attached to silk scarves. They also have fantastic hats, gloves, and bags.

Then the owner turned to me. In a very decisive way she said that there is no need for me to buy any of this stuff if I could make it. And I could make it if I take a 5 hour course they offer at the store. And I would be walking out with my own hat for half the price included as a part of the course. Not to mention the new knowledge that has been known to give some people adrenaline rush. And the course is next week. So I signed up. Really looking forward to it.

For lunch I've made some cold borscht and got orphan kibinai. My cold borscht is at an impasse. It does not suck exactly, but it would take divine intervention to make it better.

Then we went to get new glasses for Dan. This is probably the last time we are doing it here since the prices are very close to those in the US. Still his vision has significantly decreased in one eye and to get the skinny lenses in US with all the trappings would probably cost an arm and a leg.

When Georgia woke up we went to Uzupis. Dan's mom showed us a beautiful basement shop of the music boxes and French perfume. I missed it last time because I did not understand the sign directing the visitors to the door in the alley, and so ignored it. Then we discovered a nice little park on a hill deep inside Usupis. Dan's mom confirmed that she never ventured this far in this neighborhood. We also found a brewery that sometimes sells its delicious beer and kvas at city fairs. Will be definitely back.

In the evening there was a band playing in front of the city hall. So pleasant and relaxing. Then Vitalik came with his family. We made a full carb and fat run starting with pork fat and mini-sausage drops from Latvia, to ravioli with butter and unstuffed ravioli with condensed milk, to crepes, to the "cow" candy with marshmellows. We were getting happy and sedated. Georgia ruined the fun by getting ultra greedy with her toys. Poor Ilyusha was very disappointed and started to want to leave. So we had to call it the night. But we shall continue.

Days 42-43 - Riga

We are back from our weekend in Riga. It was awesome. Since we already were there last year, I will not get into a lot of detail but just mention the highlights.

The ride there was really fast. Georgia slept the entire way. We got there in less than 3 hours. We were staying at the same hotel BB-Riga. If we will come back here, it won't be the same place. In addition to it being pretty out of the way and located on the street with major hooking activity, the staff has a "can't do attitude" that's a bit annoying. We changed the itinerary a few days ago to spend one day less here, and they did not keep a record of that. So when we came, they went into full problem mode talking to each other in Latvian with very concerned looks for a good half hour. I kept asking if there was a problem and they kept saying no, no and continuing to talk. For all I know they could be talking about the cliche topic of about the market situation. Later I came to ask for a remote for our TV and the same story repeated. The guy at the reception had a concerned look, called somebody and spoke to them for a while, leafed through the notebook, searched in the drawers. Eventually I did get the remote, but why do they have to go through these motions?

Then we walked to the city, stopping on the way to get some candies and marchmellows from Laima (a major reason for the trip), ice-cream, and coffee and delighful pastries from the kiosk on the first square on the way.

Apparently in our last two visits we somehow skipped about 30% of the old town. Now we discovered Jacob's streets and other surrounding areas. Without a question, it is one of the prettiest cities in Europe. I also think that living in one city for so long, got us more in tune with looking more carefully at the details and trying to find the beautiful smaller places that are not so apparent when you just hit the main tourist stops.

Some of the other things we found was that a river used to flow right through the middle of the old city. It was covered in the Middle Ages. Must have been very interesting with all the sewage floating around. The basements around the former river bank most likely still have the evidence of being next to the port. We walked into some archway with high-end retail places and saw the sign hanging and some pictures.

There is a whole row of streets of un-restored storage facilities of the city. With multiple floors and little windows through which to load the goods, these are some of the more authentic witnesses of city's ancient history. Though, unfortunately, most of these are nothing but a shell of the outside walls.

We also found Juffin's 12 restaurant for the fans of Max Frei out there. Supposedly it was named so after the book came out. The location and decor seem be very close to how the place is described in the book. The author of the book even provided the review of the place. We circled around the place twice but decided not to go in. To be honest, the "standard" Italian menu that hangs outside did nothing to entice us.

Instead we headed to RozenGrals for lunch. It is a beautiful medieval cellar restaurant. It used to be directly connected to the former river bank. Inside, the setup is impeccable with enormous chairs, old weaponly and tapestries. And perfectly trained staff in the medieval garb. We wanted to go to there during our last trip. But we were with a dog, and they don't allow that. Though no one would even notice a dog in a semi-darkness only lit by the candles.

The menu is huge part of the experience. Some of the names of the foods and semi-historical commentary make you want to try to systematically consume every item: Favorite salad of Jacques De Molay Ls 9,60/Salad for Jacques De Molay, the Great Magister of the Order of Knights Templars which was made of roast beef, Parmesan cheese spiced in herb vinegar (13-14th century). Though the waitress almost ruined the mood. When I asked for an "Apple drink with honey and mint leaves," thinking it would be some kind of the special medieval drink, she said "Oh, the compote." But the rest was great. They brought freshly baked and still warm bread in the individual linen bags. Could not resist swiping the menu to relive the experience after the digestion process is completed.

On the square near our hotel there was a street fair. The artisans were selling lots of different handicrafts, linens, toys, jewelry and such. Lithuanians do a far better job as far as the esthetic beauty of those things is concerned. The dresses were kind of ugly, the pottery all utalitarian, and the prettiest of toys exported from LT. There were a few places selling sturdy pieces of wood shaped a bit like Irish mazes, but simpler and often not more complex than swastika, which they had some of as well. When we approached one of those stalls with Georgia, she asked what those were for. Without giving it another thought I said it is a coaster for the teapot. The other customers gasped, the seller was offended. He said those chunks of wood are to be hanged around the windows because they bring luck. I guess you have to make sure it is not too windy or this thing will knock your windows right off for luck. The specific kind of luck like health and love is written on each piece of wood. I apologized as much as I could. In acknowledging his making peace with my faux pas, the seller added that you could use them for the purpose I had mentioned, but it won't guarantee results.

We walked back to the hotel to unload the candies and rain jackets. The latter was a mistake. When we got back to the old city and spent some more time walking around, it started to rain. We ran back with a periodic stops at the coffee places on the way. There seems to be the absolute rule of the rain as it applies to the coffee shop. You could stand in the archways and entryways of the houses for all you care without seeing any break in the rain. However, the minute you walk into the coffee shop AND order, the rain stops. It instantly resumes the moment you walk out. Tested in Vilnius and in Riga.

In the morning Dan replicated his morning run to the local collector hill with the same negligible results as in Vilnius. Meanwhile Georgia and I got up, packed up and got out to the coffee shop across the street to get the B (the breakfast part of the bed-and-breakfast) taken care of. The hotel gives you vouchers for breakfast that you can utilize across the street. There, an extremely unpleasant woman had put in a saucer a few least attrative pastries from the vast selection that was available. By that time Dan joined us. He asked if we could pick other ones and the lady said no. He asked how much is one our voucher and she said 3LVs. So he said we are picking our own pastries. For all we know, someone already tried to eat these. So we made her pick out the pastries and coffee for us based on what we wanted. They were really inexpensive and super delicious and we could have gone for the seconds, but she was so unpleasant and sour faced that we decided to keep going.

There was hardly a person one the streets and most of the stores and museums were closed. So we decided to head back and stop in Rundale and Mezotne palaces on the way.

Rundale had been likened to the Versailles of Baltics and Versailles it is not. Apart from looking pretty from a far, it is a tasteless imitation on the closer look. The stairs and carvings are wooden but colored to look like plaster and marble. The tiles on the fireplaces in all the rooms are the same blue color, regardless of the color of the wallpaper and the rest of the room. It is like someone ordered a mass quantity of blue tiles for the whole palace. And there are plenty of tasteless decorations on the walls intermixed with a few gold-gilded-frame paintings. Anyway, it was pretty sad. They charge to visit the garden separately, and after taking a look outside the window, we decided that it would have been a better idea to spend a few more hundred dollars and go see the real thing. In that light we decided to skip on Mezotne palace, which was supposed to be a more modest of the two and continued our journey back to Vilnius.

There, we were greeted by the crowds of people getting out from the unauguration of the first Lithuanian woman President. Will see if she makes things better.

It was raining for the rest of the day and we stayed in relaxing.

Day 41 - Uzipis

Today was a good day. Georgia and I walked almost as far as Antokolis via Uzupis in the morning. After the neighborhood gets off to an ugly start pretending but failing to be Montmartre, it gets pretty interesting with lots of old wooden houses. We would keep going but with my sense of direction I was not sure if I could figure out a way back. On the way back we stopped at a few stores and galleries. They seemed to be the true followers on the MiniMax rule - minimal attractiveness, quality, artistic value (fill in the rest), maximum price.

Lunch at Gusto. Keep going there and wondering why afterwards. The food really is not that great. Prices are high. Using the cold borsht as the universal measuring stick, it costs 7LT and they serve it in a small bowl with potatoes covered in dry dill on the side. Why on earth in the middle of the summer in Lithuania are they serving the dry dill? And this time we personally reviewed the bathroom. The smell, like the sights on the women's beach in Palanga, will haunt me for a while.

In the afternoon we walked to Alicia. She is still not OK from her poisoning. Dan's mom spent some time emptying out her refrigerator. One of the problems could be making it worse is that she does not believe in the expiration dates on the food. We gave her a few things last week hoping they would be applied towards the cats, but Alicia has been eating them instead. Like a 3 week old sour cream from the market. We left some electrolyte mix and more pills.

There was some folk dancing and cheering in front of Klaipeda hotel. We also saw another bachelor party in the old town. The friends of the groom decided to dress up in the sailor shirts, while the groom himself was wearing the fleet cap and other trappings. With all the sailor stereotypes, the effect was really hitting home. And perhaps it was supposed to be that way. Vilnius has a pretty big gay community.

We are off to Riga tomorrow. I am not taking my computer so will have the update when we come back on Sunday night.

Day 40 - Big Japan, lame Exhibition

In the morning we were waiting to go to the airport to pick up Dan's mom. Georgia was super excited, she was dancing and singing the whole morning. Could barely get her to sit down for 20 minutes to do her puzzles and letters. Alicia came at around 10. She had a lousy stress-related stomachache and was not looking very hot. We gave her Dan's last meds.

Then Dan, Georgia, and Alicia went to the airport and I went to the pharmacy to pick up more meds and then to the University book store to check out some books in English. They have a really impressive English book collection but practically no science fiction.

Then they all returned from the airport and Dan and I ran out to get some orphan kibinai because no one wanted to go out. We got the last remaining stock. After Georgia woke up from her nap we went to the Big Japan exhibition at the museum of contemporary art on Vokieciu 2.

It was really so so. The most impressive exhibit was the plastic railroad with some scenery. It was everywhere - on the floor, walls, ceiling, and even outside. It kind of reminded us the real thing. The other exhibits were large yellow balloons with black spots, strange blue eyed androids who we saw all over the city anyway, and a room with 6 screens with pre-recorded movies. One of the movies was a beach shot in slow motion and it created an interesting effect. Georgia got screamed at by the old witch who watched over the exhibit for touching the balloon. This really rattled me. I had an argument with her and did not get very far. I was not in the mood to take it further up her chain and anyway it would not make the slightest difference. She would scream at anyone given the chance.

Anyone interested in a whiff?

Next we went to Gaby to try some Vederai but they did not have any. So on to the Forto Dvaras, which we thought we were not ever coming back to. However we had a really good waitress this time. Sweet, and responsive, and a brunette version of Cameron Diaz from the Charlie's Angels when she does the German song. It almost made the food taste better if not for the homeless guy who walked up to our table (we were sitting outside) and stole the potatoes for my Saltibarsciai. With the enormous potato pancakes stuffed with meat that followed it was a negligible loss.

Next we walked back to put on some sweaters and met with Lena and Oleg from last year. A small city it is. I ran upstairs to grab some warm clothing while Dan and the rest chatted.

Our apartment owners had shown up to clean up the place. When they come, they, especially Nona, usually engage in lengthy conversations. They probably don't get a lot of people to talk to living in the country and spending most of their time in the garden. This time the conversation went into the topic of Lithuania being so multicultural. They both expressed the excitement about it, though they were apprehensive about Russians taking over, as well as Chinese. While saying that Nona revealed that her family line actually has noble Russian blood and she also feels very sorry for the illegal 400mln Chinese who don't even have legal documents. So it was a bit inconsistent. But Gintaras cleared things up by summarizing that during the entire Lithuanian history no group of people ever felt uncomfortable. True, "a few Jews were killed in the war," (I am not paraphrasing, it was the real thing he said), "but their problem was that they got caught in between the two major forces - Russians and Germans." Should have just went downstairs with our sweaters without stopping to chat.

For those who might not be aware, Lithuania was a major killing ground for Jews during the war with the entire population and incredibly rich history distinct from other regions in Europe eradicated. And it was not done just by Russians and Germans. For all the beauty of this place and the country, I cannot help feeling that many people attribute all the atrocities that happened to the occupying Russians, and unlike Germans who knock it into their children generation after generation ad nauseam that Holocaust was committed by them, Lithuanians are not so willing to admit their role. Clearly there were many generous people who tried to save lives but the whole story is never told.

We walked our standard walk to Cathedral square and up Gediminas, and then up Vilnius gatve and went back to the apartment. Next to the city hall there were a bunch of fairies dancing. They had fantastic make up and moved interesting ways. As a few of them got closer, Georgia asked who they were. I said "fairies." They heard, and moved even closer looking even more fantastic. Georgia was amazed and a bit frightened at the same time.

Should do something interesting tomorrow. Thinking of going to Savickas gallery on Traku gatve. Saving the torture museum for Monday.

A few cute encounters around the city:

Dan, hard at work. Notice the innovative combination of headphones from Mac accompanied by the mic from a local non-brand whose headphones kicked after the first use.

Day 39 - Quiet day in the city

There is not much to report. Lots of American groups in the city. You can tell them from afar because they tend to be the most racially integrated.

We did check out the Saldiniai eatery for lunch. Other than scary black potatoes and gelatenous mushroom bun it was actually very good. Georgia enjoyed her rice pilaf together with a hot dog bun. We had the cold borscht (with eggs - a rare ingredient nowadays in the city) and some more buns. All this joy for barely $8.

In the evening we went to Vitalik's house and spent a few very pleasant hours there.