Day 35 - TV Tower, and Usupis-Antakalnis walk

Did not write for a few days. New things to report are getting more and more scarce as our Vocieciu-Vilnius-Pilies circuit is repeated for the n-th time. We are paying homage to our homeless guy who follows the same track day in and day out multiple times a day. When I see him again, I'll snap the picture from the front. Maybe someone would recognize him. I wish I knew why he is doing it. He is a big guy and I am aftraid to come up and talk to him. He also did not take a shower for a few years. He is not too old - maybe 40-45. Does not look like an alcoholic. What really bothers me is that he too was a kid one day, and his parents loved him. Potentially. And now he seems to be a waste of a human being. You look at your kids and just hope that this fate would spare them.  

On a happier note, we went to the TV tower yesterday during lunch. There was a Nazi-looking elevator attendant. We rode with a family of two kids aged about 12, with their grandma and mom. One of the kids was snickering. His grandma slapped him. It was not a friendly "Stop it" slap. Good thing Georgia did not see it or she would be asking questions. Anyway, back to the happier note :).

It was nice to see the town from up high. It is interesting to wonder why the city grew like it did. It is very small but pretty spead out and there are still plenty of green areas. Dan says there are lots of new roads and buildings. It is nothing like the ocean of buildings we saw in from the hill-top viewpoint in Jaipur. Glass covered platform on the TV tower rotates with a creaking sound and it is kind of amuzing too.

We made a tactical mistake and did not feed Georgia lunch prior to coming. We were hoping to eat at the tower, but ambience suggested that they have still be serving the leftovers from the Soviet era so we opted out. Georgia was not expecting it and having taken a one look outside, insisted that we go out and grab some food or "she might get too weak." So we went to Acropolis mall and had lunch at serve-yourself restaurant. The one in Tallinn is better and better tasting too. Dan wondered if an idea of an eatery like that would take in US food courts. 

Georgia and I checked out the Russian Orthodox church near the Gates of Dawn. It had a service going on with beautiful male and female chorus. Georgia was really impressed. She said "everyone likes it and they are bowing, I would like to bow too."

As we passed Pilies earlier we saw a guy play on Kang Cymbal - looks like 2 cymbals stuck together. The upper one on which you play has protuberances and dips for the different tones. Incredibly beautiful sound. And it looks pretty being played. Incidentally the street is full with college kids playing/singing something every few meters.  

In the evening, Dan and I walked through Uzupis and past Antakalnis back into the old town. The old town is very hot, even in the evening. You feel the heat emanating from the building as you approach Pilies. There were lots of black visitors in town today. I would imagine that those who are from the hotter areas Africa might find the climate to their liking.  

Day 33 – Vilnoja lake, at last

Sunday morning looked promising that Palanga weather would not return. We were out of any food that Georgia would consider for breakfast so we walked over to Cili Pica on Didzioji gatve. The waitresses there were very friendly at this ungodly time of the morning (9am). They were particularly taken with Isabella. One of them asked if she could hold her and Isabella smilingly obliged. The waitress picked her up and carried her away, towards the kitchen area. Dan and I just sat there not sure if we should continue staying excited or run back there to get our kid. But she came back in a few minutes with a bun (and the kid). They were very nice to Georgia too – brought her a chocolate drink and pencils and paper to color.

We walked towards Gedimino prospect planning to check out the little farmer market that takes place there on Sundays. It was OK. One lady was selling bright yellow samosas. Nothing something you would see this far out North. I tried one, and it was very good. It would be nice to try to reproduce it back home. It is essentially a kibinai with dill seeds and lots of turmeric.

We also stopped by at Mano Guru to check out a little organic farmer market that takes place there on Sundays. It has maybe 5-6 vendors selling vegetables, cheeses, and meat. It may be all-organic but the range is in line with what is sold on the markets. When we were there, there were only foreigners at the place. Still, it is a very good idea on the part of the restaurant owners. The place would likely stay empty at on Sunday morning/early afternoon anyway so it is a good use of their real estate and additional advertising as well.

We returned home, got our swimming gear and went to Vinoja park picking up Alicia on the way. We had a really good time there. At 11am when we arrived there were very few people out, mostly residents of the cottages overlooking the lake. Statues in and out of the water, clean sandy beach, and perfect temperature. They even sell buns of several different kinds. It gets deep pretty fast and is great for dive-ins. Boys climbed some of the statues and sunbathed and jumpted from them. We all had had a really good time and could hardly drag ourselves away at two when the place filled-up.

The charge for the lake is 10LT per person. But when we arrived, the gate guy was just getting organized and only charged me as Georgia, Alicia and I were going down to the beach (children and seniors are free). Dan and Isabella came down a bit later and he was away somewhere.

After Vinoja, we went back to Kavine Pusynelys a few km away. Interestingly, since our last visit a few weeks ago, several things are broken or missing on the playground. These kinds of places probably require constant upkeep. Alicia enjoyed the view.

Back in the city at 4pm. It rained while we were away so it was pleasant and cool. We tried to do our usual route but the kids rebelled and after 2 final buns from Svejais Bandeles (they have really nice working hours now) we went back home and called it a day.

Day 32 and a few before –Palanga

Skipped a few days. There was nothing new to report in Vilnius and then on Thursday, July 29th we went to Palanga with Irina.

On the way we stopped by at Karpyne. It is a wonderful fish-themed facility a bit past Kaunas. There are plenty of activities to keep busy for ½-1 day. Lots of really creative woodcarvings. Fishing, outdoor games, swimming. Playgrounds, as in most of these places, are really diverse and impressive. There are some fruit trees and berry bushes so covered in fruit that you could hardly see the leaves. You can also pose with beautiful ladies and fish.

In Palanga we were staying in Hotel Zvilinas. It is located in a nice area between Basanavichaus avenue and the Botanical garden, close to the beach. We stayed at the apartment. 20-30 years ago these must have been The Luxury: it was a 2 story apartment with enormous living room with 2 glass walls, soft furniture, bookcase/TV stand wall, and then some. There are 2 spacious bedrooms upstairs and 2 more bathrooms. It must have been some really high-end party members. But it has not been updated in many years. The furniture is falling apart and kitchen appliances are pre-historic. But the place is kept in pristine cleanliness.

Our stay was pretty similar to our last year’s stay except the weather was less cooperative in the first 2 days, and turned good on Saturday, but we were leaving anyway. This is how it works: you get on the boardwalk and it is warm and sunny and the sky is clear and blue. You run to the apartment to get the bathing suits and then get out on the beach. The sky suddenly fills up with clouds and it starts raining. You run back indoors and the rain stops. We did it four times in the first two days. At least we lived really close.

On Friday afternoon it was particularly cold near the sea. We were tired of changing back and forth so stayed in our bathing suits and accompanied Georgia and she ran in and out of the water. This with other people passing by in rain jackets and windbreakers and hats.

We walked to all the usual places. Not a lot of changes. There seems to be consolidation of the junk food eateries. Not in terms the quantity of the eateries themselves but in the stuff they sell. Now most places have: cotton candy, kebabs, waffles, hot dogs, popcorn, roasted nuts, chebureks, and other stuff.

What struck us this time was the lack of safety/monitoring on the various children’s amusement areas: we saw a 4-5 year old being thrown from a go-cart (he was screaming pretty bad but otherwise seemed OK). Georgia went inside the inflatable maze and there was no one inside watching. The kid could fall and break their neck and no one would notice (especially if the parents had had one too many on the way. Dan faced his fears and went with Georgia on a giant Ferris wheel and spent his time counting the cracks that were painted over.

We met up with Dina, her sister Julia, and Ilyusha on Friday and paid another homage to the Ukrainian restaurant. It is consistently great. Nearly 100% of the clientele is with kids. We also checked out a few places along the way – Armenian, Cuban, creperie during the weekend. Nothing too memorable. In the evening, there is live music in half of the decent-looking restaurants on the way. You can walk down Basanavichaus sampling performances along the way. Most of it seems to be either tired old “talents,” or the new talents trying to break in.

Near the pier there is a cool type of ad for a beer company. There is a set up like in a brewery shop. There are actors there dressed up in period clothing. You can put on similar clothing or just hats and scarves. They all get around you; pretend to drink, play accordion and party. Sort of like how you can make period photos in Wildwood and similar places but with other people in it. Crowds gather to watch each new partier. After much convincing Dan decided to face the fear of tackiness and posed with me. Hurray!

On Saturday, the weather was really good. We spent a good amount of time walking along the beach while Georgia playing in the water again. We contemplated staying but based on the logic of this place the minute we would have paid for apartment it would start raining.

As we walked on the pier we saw lots of kids with large inflatable planes around. Turns out the company was giving them out to the kids who could recite a poem. Irina went with Georgia and “put her in the front lines.” Georgia recited a Lithuanian nursery rhyme that Irina taught her and got the prize. We are very proud of her. What we are even more proud of is that given when we suggested that she give the plane to Irina’s daughter who was upset that she could not be with her mom, Georgia agreed. It takes a very special kid to give up a won prize so quickly. The advertising itself was pretty good – the bright orange tip of the plane could be seen all around the beach and in the water.

Later in the afternoon we went to HBH playground. Had dinner and hanged out with the kids in the park. And then we went home and dropped off Irina on the way.

An update about Isabella. She has 2 teeth, can crawl, and says "mama," "papa," and "JoJa." She is also not into the stroller very much and prefers the backpack carrier or hands. Georgia has the boon keeping the stroller warm for her.

Day 26 - Just a regular day

Worked out of the Coffee Inn on Vilnius gatve. It was incredibly cool and pleasant day.

Tried out a new French bakery on Traku, a few stores up from Svejais Bandeles. Its baked goods are relatively expensive (6LT), but very very nice and worth it. Svejais Bandeles had gone completely crappy - you have to search with a microscope for the stuffing in their pastries. Same thing is happening incidentally to kibinai and soups

Nothing much else to talk about otherwise. Checked out that Academy gallery - their prices for lithographs are a bit better than the rest but still like our apartment owners aspirations - in the clouds.

Day 25 – Vilnius Cathedral Crypt

This weekend is particularly striking in terms of the late night partiers. The nightlife was going on downstairs even as late as 3:30am even though most of the establishments had closed. Isabella was up at 5 and we got so see the wavering remainders sit themselves on the benches downstairs or on the grass. At 6am, the alcoholics usually take their ladies on the bottle picking tour of the surrounding garbage cans. And at 7 the street dies down until 10-11am.                                                     

This morning we planned to go to Calvariu market to check whether they had started to sell the first apples of the season. We do see apple trees with plenty of largish looking apples on and off the trees in the backyards.
                          

As we came out of the building a Russian woman approached us with a printout from the Old City Apartments. She and her family just arrived by train and were looking for the office or the apartment. We tried calling, to no avail. Then we walked with them to the address of the apartment they rented on Boksto 8 (do not recommend – very un-restored looking street, heavy traffic and no people. And everything was closed there too). So we sent off the poor family back to the city hall square with their suitcases to wait for the information office to open up. We walked up the street to see if we could spot anything. But there was nothing there either. At last the people from the company called back our cell and told us where these people should go. It was nice to know that they will be finally settled. This timeliness thing is particularly typical to the place. A mental note to us is that if we are arriving somewhere unusually late or early, we should warn the people where we are going. We ran into them 2 times more today, it is a really small city :)

We checked out Calvariu market and the apples were not there yet. Apricots are already gone. Plums and chanterelles are in full bloom, sort of speak. We stopped by at Alicia’s on the way and Georgia asked to stay – she was pretty tired of walking in the heat.

We walked back and had lunch downstairs as we were waiting for Irina. The timeliness thing is a factor with her, but it is hard to be upset with Georgia being so excited when she gets to be with “Irinchik.” She takes her for a full ride and gets drinks, snacks, and cartoons from her whenever they are together.                         

We just barely managed to catch the 2pm tour in English of the Cathedral crypt. We checked a few times and were told that there is a tour on Sundays at 2pm. We were told to show up at the ticket office if we wanted to go. When we came we were told that the group had already left (at 1:50) but the ticket lady said that another lady would walk us there. We rushed to give Isabella to Irina who entered the church with Georgia and ran downstairs.

Only a small portion of the crypt is open to public. It is nice looking but nothing thrilling. There are a bunch of modern looking narrow coffins and a large section dedicated to the coffins of Barbara Sigismuntene, Elizabeth Sigismuntene, Audust Sigismund and someone who just asked to have his heart buried in Vilnius. The thing that impressed me was how fragile the cathedral appeared underneath its huge, solid while on the ground exterior. There were concrete boxes to strengthen the building set up in various places but overall with its high arches and thin-looking walls it did not seem like a super solid structure. The other thing was the pagan altar that was brought to our attention by the tour guide. This used to be a pagan temple to the god of thunder and probably, even millennium ago, even though this place looked vastly different, it was a gathering place where people came to pray and worship. Not altogether different from similar places in Jerusalem.

Here is some additional information about the Cathedral:
http://www.lituanus.org/1990_1/90_1_04.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius_Cathedral

Earlier in the day we went to St. Paraskeva Church. Georgia was very impressed with the fine image of St.George killing a picturesque dragon with a fair maiden waiting nearby. That church too used to be a pagan temple. And the square in front may have looked very similar too - with the sellers of the souvenirs and other stuff in the front.

After the tour we went home and got some sleep. After that we reunited with the kids and Irina and got dinner at Wok the Walk. In the evening we walked around but did not go into any more backyards.

Check of the "Nightwatch Truck" on the right.

And this is my kind of a cup on the left.

Day 24 - Kaunas, Lake and Trakai

In the morning Dan did his usual Saturday run and saw a portion of the treasure trove being sold. There are probably many more where this came from but the laws of the land are not very condusive to reporting. So these end up in the private collections, or out on the fleamarkets and history is lost.

On the image on the left the dog is doing pretty well.

After that we went to Kaunas. Gotta go somewhere. Did our usual walk down the Laives alley. If Vilnius would take at least 5 years to get on the road to recovery, it is questionable if that was to ever happen to Kaunas. Some establishments did not survive the winter, like Vilnius. We found a good new one, though Senamesteis Sriubas. In this heat, a cold soup is a welcome and satisfying meal. Especially the good ones that they have.

The one other thing that does not change about Kaunas is its brides. On a Saturday morning through afternoon, you are sure to find 3-4 in the old city hall squre of all kinds and levels of tackyshness. Taking the habitual pictures next to the fountain, sweaty bridesmaids, smoking best men. 

Next we went to Trakai. We were going to swim in Trakai lake but as we saw the surrounding lakes are we approached Trakai it became clear that there will not be any parking in the little town. So we pulled over near one of the surrounding lakes where two other cars were already parked.

The lake was very nice with pretty warm water and sandy bottom. The surroundings were not so much. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and apparent demise of the park rangers few people are consientious enough to clean up after themselves. There were loads of bottles, plastic bags, and other goodies all around. We all stayed in the water for about an hour and then dried up and went on to Trakai. While we were drying up, another family took a place next to us. Georgia commented that it is nice nice that they had something to eat. So they treated her to some ice-cream. Even she knows now that it is nice to be a kid.

When we arrived to Trakai we saw that we were right about parking. But Dan had a secret place that he discovered during one of our last visits - church parking on the main lake. Unfortunately main road was under contruction but he accidentally found a side street that went right into the parking lot. We were also lucky that a wedding party was getting into their cars and leaving. As we passed the church, we heard the wedding music playing inside and looked in. Another bride was coming out and had a cameraman and a photographer coming out before her. I whispered to Georgia to keep quiet. But as the best woman came out, Georgia could not contain herself: "Wow, look at this giant lady!!" We dragged her off with much embarrassment. The lady had it coming not only through the obvious but by also wearing bright purple and yellow bodice.

We walked around the lake and had kibinai and kvas from a street vendor. Kibinai tasted almost like ours at home. What a weird concept. It was very pleasant and not very hot anymore. The kids spent some more time in the lake next to the castle. There were more wedding and bachelor and bachelorette parties. The party whose coming out of the church we ruined got a follow-up from us as they were crossing the bridge to the castle. As they started walking towards us Georgia said, "here is a beautiful bride, and here is a princess, and here is a queen, and here is a ..." and then she stopped, with her mouth opened because she was asked not to comment on that and similar ladies. But the rest of the party must had already made that comment in their heads, so we lowered our heads and kept on walking.

Here is a particularly striking and beautiful example of the bachelor party - note the guy on skis on the tour around the lake.

By observation I think that the requisite items of a Lithuanian women's wardrobe are white linen dress, white linen shirt, and white or/and brown linen pants. Anyone reading is welcome to comment on the truthfulnes of these statements.

Isabella really hates driving and she let us know that during all the drives. On the other hand, Georgia wanted us to tell her fairytales all the time to drown down the "noise." Dan has gotten enough of it and asked for someone, anyone, to keep it down. Georgia, the sweet heart, obliged. She stuck out her tongue and tilted her head and said "Schitaite chto ya dohlaya." - "Consider me dead." It was really funny and made us laugh.

Day 23 - Long, thick, and black and the backyard rejection

As the first part of the title suggests, Isabella and I went to the market this morning. There was a bucket full of them long, black, and thick things that seemed really out of place in the produce isle. Incredulously I asked the sales person what they were. She was quick to accuse: "Lady, you really don't know anything about the beet varieties. I was relieved to know that I now know a little more. Next time I'll bring a camera when I go, these are meant to be shared.

Today was a lucky day. I got the pictures of two of our characters. Unfortunately the homeless guy was taken from the back. I was afraid he might do something crazy from the excitement. Rosita was happy to pose. She straightened her dress and scarf.

We worked out of the soup shop of Gediminas 9 Mall. It is air-conditioned. It's awesome! 

Georgia said several funny things today: Alicia said to her: "It is so hot that I am dying." Georgia looked at her with great curiousity and asked "How?" She really wanted to learn more about the process.

Then there was a homeless guy with a board saying that he needs money. Georgia asked Irina why he is begging. Irina said that maybe his house burned down and he does not have a place to live. Georgia asked why houses burn down. Irina, already sorry that she got on this slippery slope, said that sometimes people smoke in bed and fall asleep with a cigarette burning. Then they both decided that it is unliked that this is what happened because the guy looked fine. So Georgia asked for another reason. Irina said that sometimes fires start when kids play with the matches. Georgia had huge eyes: OMG, we play with playdough and matches! Irina was stumped, she said that it is conceivable that the guy is lying and he is not homeless at all. Georgia seemed to like this explanation the most.

In the evening we went out with Alicia and Irina and then afterwards just walked around. Got up the Gediminas tower hill to look at the city. It has one of the prettiest old towns compared to Tallinn and Riga and the worst preserved one. Only a few main streets are fixed up and even there, there a empty abandoned buildings ruining away. And off the main streets, there are countless other buildings and courtyards. I don't see it getting any better in the next 5 years at least.

It is interesting to watch the people come out on the streets in the evening. Definitely more attractive women out in the finest of their finery. Some new moms are crammed into the tight clothing and makeup that says: "I am so hot, there is no way he would dump me for someone else hotter and without the kid." I heard that in Russia the demographics are even worse and women have to try even harder to win over and keep some prospective alcoholics.

We wandered into a new backyard. I guess our couture failed here as well because a lady on a balcony facing the backyard started screaming to get out or she would call the police. We tried to be polite about it and eventually Dan switched to English asking her not to be rude. Some gears switched in the lady's head and she said "bitte shan." Great! We should have responded with "Hail Hitler" and continued our walk. The non-funny thing is that people like that are probably sitting in every backyard and walking the streets. And if you scratch a little, below all that finery, is the same age-old thing. I always have a blog entry like this. We rationalized back our good mood and went home.

P.S. Sorry - will upload the pictures tomorrow.

Day 22 - Revisiting the old places

A lot of these posts is going to have 'again' on it. But even though we keep revisiting the old places most are never the same. Lots of eateries did not survive, lot's more were opened, most of the things that were crumbling had crumbled some further. People go from nice to mean and back.

For lunch we went to Restoranas Sriubos Namai in Gedimino 9 Mall. In addition to being air-conditioned, the service rivaled that in Estonia and soups were all great, especially Italian cold tomato soup. Georgia had some of each and really enjoyed them. Isabella munched on Georgia's crepe. I anticipate that Isabella will soon start competing with the rest of the family for food. She ravenously goes after anything we happen to be eating and lets us know that she will not take no for an answer. Just the other day she grabbed the dough from kibinai from the plate, stuck it into her mouth, and informed us that she will scream if anyone tries to take it away.

In the afternoon Georgia and I started out on our tour of Usupis in the blistering heat. The first stop Rimi. Given that it was the afternoon, like the proper two ladies, we got some sweets with our water. We ate them in the shade on the grass next to St. Casimir church. Next, we walked up St. Casimir gatve and visited the Artist's club. It does look like a proper high end hangout for a actors or artists without being overly pretentios. I wonder it that superlong bar inspired one in the certain Frei book. Does not look like they have a menu but as far as bar is concerned is promicing.

After that: Subacius gate. Older lady emerged from the entrance to the museum wearing yellow robe and carrying a bucket. We assumed that she was a janior and asked whether the museum was open. While emptying her bucket full of small stones into the trunk of her Volvo, she said it has been under reconstruction for the last two years, and will be for another two, unless the European Union gives them some money. We wished her luck and went around to look at the gates. They now have construction gates around them, possibly to keep down the number of janitors. The gates were open and we could see our lady scurrying around the empty contruction site with her bucket.

Some of the backyards around the gate are very scenic, though there is higher concentration of alcoholics in the area. We found a cozy coffee on the corner facing the gate. It has free Internet and fans. Will check it out next week.

Onto Usupis proper next. About 30% of establishments are gone. The rest are selling a lot of identical little nicknacks that locals call art. Georgia enjoys more now going into interesting little stores or maybe it is the temperature outside. I guess my couture was off or they are pretty desperate here because the store clerks kept following us around. Pretty anoying. St. Bart's was closed, unfortunately, it is my favorite place here.

The one place we both enjoyed was the atelier of a seamstress. Georgia said, "mom, do you love me?" I said, of course. "Then we must go down and visit that shop." So we went inside and I explained to the seamstress and older guy who was there that Georgia has never been in one of these places and wanted to see it. The lady and the gentlemen were very nice. She jumped up from her sewing machine and showed Georgia the machine, the changing room, and pretty dolls they have in the window, while the guy was marvelling her looks and good behavior.

As we were walking along the river to the mermaid bridge I found a coin: 10 silver Russian pennies from 1909. Just lying there on the path. There was some guy nearby washing his underwear in the river. Doubt it was his through. Dan was really excited about it. The coin that is. We went back and looked some more but that was it. I thought back to the Subacius gate. The yellow lady is probably digging up a hidden treasure.

Dan joined us, while Irina hanged out with Isabella. We went to Chinese on St. Michael's for dinner. The service and presentation were fast and excellent as two years ago. But to our tired old palates the taste was a bit on the bland side. The portions are huge. We emerged patting down our heavy expanded bellies and carrying doggy bags where the owner had stuck everything down to the last piece of cucumber. Cold lithuanian soup is a bit easier on your stomach even if accompanied by potato pancakes with sour cream and bacon.

On the way home we stopped by the new basement beer bar-shop on Sticliu, next to the felt store. It is a beautifully restored basement with ancient city bricks lining the walls. There are fridges with beers and kvas from the breweries all over country lining the walls. There is a stand with a multidude of mouth watering beer appetizers. And, off cource, there are comfortable chairs and other bar paraphenalia. If we are ever to build our house, it would be sufficient to only reproduce a basement like that and forget the rest. Even if all the bricks are fake. Forgot the camera, but not to worry. We will be back, time and time again. I hope that as far as revisiting things goes, this one would not change for a while.

Dina and Ilusha came in the evening. It was good to hear more stories about the family and more plans for the coming year.

I am finishing this up on Friday afternoon. Exciting little story from this morning in the next blog. It might even perk up Elena.

Days 20-21 - A bit of a routine

Random interesting things.

On Tuesday they were filming a movie downstairs along the alley walk. Probably nothing major - just 5 people crew, maybe a documentary. And passerbys were pretty civilized about it - no one was stopping, pointing fingers.

Georgia and I went to Radvilu Namai museum near Woo in the afternoon. They have a pretty interesting exhibition of the Lithuanian painters. Unfortunately no information in English or Russian was available so all we could do is stare at the pictures and figure out what they mean. Georgia got pretty bored soon though and graciously offered for me to continue the tour alone. One of the ladies of the museum offered to keep an eye on her while I walk around. It was surprising and very sweet, and even though we were the only people in the museum we declined the offer and went home instead.

In the evening we went to St.Casimir's for the organ concert. The church was full. It was nice to see some tour guide lady, a very committed one, shuffling the benches around and even carrying them across the church to sit her group. Other people came in looking very much like ordinary city residents in the summer - flip flops, summer shirts. There was, of course, a requisite bunch of the connosseurs, dressed in their finest for the occasion.

Georgia managed about 20 minutes of it. As she said afterwards "it was very unpleasant, there was no popcorn." She was probably referring to the annoying little girl who sat on the benches in front of us. Her throughful grandparents loaded her up with all sorts of munchies and drinks. Every minute the little girl was sticking something into her mouth, much to Georgia's dismay, who only had the leftovers of Isabella's pasta soup prior to coming. But wasn't just the food. The music selection is partly to blame too - the pieces were so high that it times the organ sounded like a flute. They really did not leverage off the great instrument or the fine acoustics of the place.

We met up with Irina and Isabella and went searching for dinner. We eventually settled down on Gaby. While we waited (the place is notorious for the poor service and limited selection) I took the kids for a walk to St. Anne's. I tried to show Georgia what Napoleon had meant when he said that he wants to pick up the church in his hands and carry it home to France. I even showed the spot where you can fit the base into the palm of your hand. I assumed that's where Napoleon stood too, considering that he was thought of as a short person, but it is not correct.

We also went to the new organic store on Literatu and got a cheesecake with blueberry preserves on top for dessert - Dina and Ilyusha were joining us later. I also got a cup of mint tea. The kids took turns drinking it as we walked back. The food still had not arrived.

Dina and Ilyusha came. He is sooo big. He is 3 but is Georgia's height. It is fashionable here now to give kids a kind of a loose mullet haircut. It looks much better on the kids than on the adults. He has it too and looks adorable.

Dina told me about her visit of England to see Vitalik who is trying to find a permanent job there. They are determined to move out of LT and look for better opportunities elsewhere. It is strartling to realize that they are where our parents were 20 years ago. But they've got a headstart because they are younger, are not coming out of the crazy country frozen in time, and probably would not require much of retraining to find their place.

On Wednesday, Georgia and I were going to see Usupis in the afternoon but went to sleep intead. So, inputs and publishing of the blog got delayed by another day. Plus I have a bit of the anxiety given that Elena told me that there is no juice or meat in the blog other than in the literal sense.

So I'll add a few more observations hopefully to spark your interest and excitement again. We got the toilet paper with the pictures of and smell of strawberries. It was not intentional - it was the cheapest one in the store, per sheet. It smells heavenly. None of us ever used scented toilet paper so it would be a really new experience. Waiting for the old plain roll to end. Still I wonder why it was the cheapest and what's the catch.

Our good old characters had gone out of character: the homeless guy with dreads who walked the Vocieciu-Pilies-Vilnius gatve in the opposite direction of us examining every dumpster on the way can now be spotted having a cup of coffee outside the occasional coffee shop. The guy who used to ride on his bike singing "America, America" no longer has his bike, and says other things besides his customary selection. And Rosita is nowhere to be found. It is pretty disconcerting. I can only speculate that maybe it is somehow related to the paper or the temperature.

On the subject of coolness. For the most part people behave in dignified ways, as mentioned before, like this is a capital city rather than Kishinyov. But occasional acts do go against this perception. The other day two cars pulled up with a loud screech at 6 am at a 45 degree angle to the sidewalk. 5 people in suits with a boombox emerged. They turned up the boombox to the maximum volume and walked onto one of the side streets. I do not even wonder, why? It is the good thing there was just 1 other car on the street, otherwise all the alarms would go on on all the cars around, and the owners, rejoycefull of hearing their vehicle communicate to them would not turn them off.

What's really cool, is to see the hot air baloons pass so low over the sleeping town in the morning that you can hear the people inside the balloon basket turn on the gas to warm up the air and bring the baloon higher. Even Dan looks like he might consider this sometime.

How many people do you see per day? I wondered about that yesterday. When we came out in the afternoon to go to Alicia's house, within minutes we counted over a 100. In our part of NJ it would probably be around 40, tops, in a day, and only if you walk all around the office and hang out extra on the street walking the dog. It is nice to be living in the city. While in the spirit of things, we also counted the cats gathered around the front portion of Alicia's building. 12. If we checked out the ones in the back, and those that were inside, it would probably equal to the people we see in NJ on a given day.

Day 19 - Eating out

In the morning doves were nowhere to be found. It was drizzling, but, in my opinion, not bad enough for wait for the next feeder to come along. We left our bread crumbs on the group and Isabella and I went to the Coffee Inn on Pilies. At 7am the cappuchino machine did not warm up enough to serve us so we went to the one of Austros Vartai. It is interesting how in the different places they serve coffee differently. On Vilnius gatve and here they actually shake the jug with the milk froth to get the liquid to come down. They they pour that in. The capucchino is occcupying nearly the entire papercup. While on Pilies and Gedimino they pour out the froth. Which settles shortly. So you end up with a 1/2 cup full. And there is no point in arguing. They will tell you that "this is how the machine is set up" and as far as they are concerned, they are correct.

At 8am Georgia woke up and Irina and Christina showed up. For another hour the apartment was upside down. Finally we cleared out leaving Christina to deal with our messes. Dan and I went to the Double Coffee, which substantially decreased in number during the last year. Irina, Georgia and Isabella went out walking. It was such a pleasant and cool day we too wanted to stay out as much as possible.

Around lunch time we ordered and then waited for 30 minutes for our 2 pasta dishes and soup to be harvested. Then they asked if we were sure that we ordered 2 pasta dishes instead of 1. Unthinkingly we said "Yes." So it was another 20 minutes. Isabella got to know all the surrounding plants very closely while waiting. The food was really good though. I especially like the cream of mushroom soup made from the real mushrooms and halved pecans.

In the afternoon, Irina continued walking with Isabella while Georgia and I worked on some artworks. Alicia came in the evening and we went to the new restaurant that opened up in the restored abandoned building next to St. Catherine's. We ordered and I went with the kids to the Coffee Inn on Vilnius gatve. It is about 10 minutes away. We also spent some time waiting in line. So we were back in about half hour and by that time only Alicia got served. Finally in about 15 minutes we all got our food. The selection is pretty poor, the prices are high, and, for shame, they only have 2 kinds of beer and no cider or kvas. The only positive thing is that they restored the building. But at this level of service, quality, etc, it is conceivable that it would be abandoned again. It is funny, but on the way to get the coffee we passed Woo, and I was thinking that enough time had passed, maybe the place had improved. But somehow I do not feel like checking it out anymore. On a more positive note about the area, in the little square in front of St. Catherines there are now noon performances by local and foreign musicians. Occasionally really good.

Next on our tour of eateries was the pretty pink milkshare bar that opened up also on Vilnius gatve next to Segway rental. Inside it is equally pretty and pink. Even the fans inside a pink. Georgia ordered a cherry shake. It was really good and a "Small" portion came in a pretty impressively sized plastic cup. So it is a good place.