The Last Entry for Summer 2011: Tallinn and Vilnius

We had a great time!!

Trakai Bog

We are off until Friday. Georgia and I started the day at our usual location and did a little studying.

Then we walked around with Dan. Visited an antique store on University Gatve that had a really fascinating collection of antique cameras. We looked through them and then Georgia and I went to a basket of some gem necklaces –not the expensive ones to finger through. A lady came out and said that these are not to be touched because kids break them. I asked how is one supposed to find a necklace they liked if they were all tangled up and together. She did not have the answer to that but insisted that we do not touch them. We decided to make her day a little better and left.   

After lunch we went to Trakai Bog. I did not find where this is and this probably explains why the place has 0 visitors. Irina has been here a while ago and she directed us to it.

When we arrived there was a small area where a mass grave for 1446 local Jews is located. Apparently when the news came that Nazis are in the area, some local citizens decided to take matters into their own hands and help out a little. And they did. Kids, women, men, the usual. Very nice raspberries close by.

The bog, itself is about 5 minutes from Trakai driving.. There is a 3.4km trail around a bog – parts of it on the wooden boards, parts through the forest. This was the busiest forest we’ve been to in terms of animals – we saw 2 lizards, multitude of frogs, and even a work of squirrel chewing something up high up on the tree. The smells were great. We saw lots of different berries – even ripening linden berries. Isabella frequently got off the stroller to do her own picking. 

It gets a bit on a boring side after a while but Dan ran to the forest and grabbed a car.

When we came back to the city, we went for a walk with the kids. At the large square near the KGB museum there was a great number of families and kids blowing bubbles on the lawns – all sorts of bubbles. Kids were running around popping them. That was so enjoyable! Kids had a blast.

On the way back we stopped at some kind of alternative art center after hearing sounds of the drums. There were 5 drummers inside. Georgia and Isabella were very excited and jumped on the sofas that were lining up the wall there for a while. 

Another little bit of exciting news today. We did a photoshoot a few years ago. Recently the photographers got back to us to ask for a permission to use Georgia's picture for a Tavo Vaikams magazine. We said OK. That's so funny - a little American girl is on the cover of a Lithuanian magazine.

Druskininkai, Grutas, Česnuli, & Merkine.

Today was a very busy day. First we drove to Druskininkai looking for the exhibition of one of the largest private collections of Lithuanian coins that Dan heard about at the Taurus hill event. Unfortunately there was no information about where this collection is present. We asked at the Tourist information office, and at several museums, but no one knew. We walked around the lake and went to Grutas park stopping at the Armenian restaurant on the way.

The food was OK, but what was interesting was that the owner set up a table outside for himself and his mom. He was talking to someone on skype in Armenian. While his mom was making some ethnic dish for the family at the table. They were next to the outdoor grill and in the full view of the outdoor pavilions. A place that allowed to keep an eye on what is cooking and who is eating. As we walked around waiting for our food the old lady gave a large carrot to the kids, and then some candies afterwards.

Grutas park has gotten a few additions. And the price is now 20LT per person which could probably explain maybe 10 visitors we saw our entire time there. We spent quite a bit of time at the playground and a little zoo in front to give kids a break after dragging them around all this time. At the historical part the owner had gathered large quantities of Soviet memorabilia including all the national statues of Lenin, Stalin and more. Cultural accounts generally sound good and there is a certain sense of humor with the overall approach. There is no obsessive-compulsive quality about it like Sarumaa castle exhibition had.

For example waiters at a coffee shop are dressed like in Russian pioneer school girl uniforms. If it was that hateful, why go with this element? So there is this certain duality in approach. We passed a middle aged lady wearing a pioneer scarf and speaking with someone on the phone excitedly. She said “My pioneer scarf had been made in Erevan in 1982.” To many people this period of time was their childhood or their children’s childhood. And hate it or not, certain elements were inseparatable to it.

Afterwards we went to Česnuli wooden sculpture park. It was also very nice. Isabella accidentally dropped her bottle into a stream that flows around the property. She made a very desperate wail. Fortunately for her the current was not very strong and it got close enough to the stream bank that Dan was able to get it. Hopefully not to many contaminants. We saw the sculptor author and he offered to buy his book.

Finally, we stopped at Merkine on the way. There is no wooden castle mentioned by the Crusaders anymore, but there is a mound on which it stood. From there one could see the most beautiful views of the countryside yet. Absolutely amazing and totally worth 1 km detour from the main road. We were ready to head back but if we had made this stop on the way in, we would have spent some time walking around more mounds and exploring the area. 

We got back to the city and did a final round on Vilnius gatve route mainly for Isabella’s benefit. Isabella walked most on the way. She has more stamina than any of us and  outlasts us all. Georgia goes from being generous to her whims to being a bit of a baby. It is sometimes had to catch a moment of transition. But overall they both are very patient and well behaved considering how much travel we do per day.

Rumšiškės & Kaunas

This morning we joined Dan on his run to the Tauris hill.  On the way we stopped at Bandeles place for a breakfast bite – what can be better than hot-off-the-oven chocolate filled buns.

Collectors and sellers of mostly junk were no fun so kids and I headed back stopping at a really great playground in the backyard on Basanaviciaus. Did not know they still make them this good here. Then we stopped at Bandeles for the encore. And finally we finished off with some latter (for me) at the Coffee Inn. The day had started out right! 

Our first stop was Ethnographic museum at Rumšiškės. Laid out like the map of Lithuania over a pretty large territory near the Kaunas Sea they’ve placed various structures (houses, churches, schools, etc) taken from the respective areas of the country. Today was Harvest and St. Anna’s day celebration. All Annas were wecome to enter for free. The museum is over 150 years old. It looks like even the vegetation was deliberately designed to represent the flora of the appropriate regions. Much better than its counterpart in Estonia.

At one area there was a sign for a Yurt. We went there without really thinking what we will see. It was a yurt - wood logs on the inside on the dwelling including the floors, earth on the outside. There were long rows of beds inside. It looked kind of cozy. As we were coming out an old lady with a walking stick came inside. She said in Lithuanian, that this is all wrong. There was no wooden floor - just a permafrost. And that there were women and children living in those Yurts next to the North Sea in Russia. Most of them did not make it through the first winter. We came outside a saw the map of Lithuanian resettlements all over the least habitable regions in Northern Russia. I did a bit more reading about it afterwards. The first wave of deportations  and impisonments by the Soviets targeted intellectuals, politicians, clergy, well-to-do farmers and others like them. This was to destroy the brains of the country. Many of those arrested did not actually get to be deported. They were in prison, and as Germans attacked, Soviets killed them off having inflicted the worst kinds of tortures beforehand. That's why there were mostly women and children deported - they were their wifes and kids. Many children did not make it through a month long voyage on the cattlecars without the basic human needs (like a toilet) available. And those who made it faced winter in hell without any basic tools to survive. It is a story of one of the worst ethnic atrocities. It is good that they put in on the map of Lithuania in this museum.

But onto the rest of the day that was more uplifting than this segment here.

We got to one of the regional settlements and spent some time watching the butter being spurned, and then ate it spead on the homemaid bread. The organizers laid out some treats – bread and pork fat and butter and salami, red currants, kvas and local apples. Awesome. The harvest part meant the men were going to mow some rye with scythes and sickles. Barefoot women in local garb saw them off with the songs. We followed until we realized that it will take them some time to get to the right field. And it started to rain. So we continued our tour.  

We visited one church and witnessed real live christening of twins Isabella and Alexandra. At another church of the museum there was a wedding taking place. Views of the sea were really wonderful. It was a great experience – every moment of it was worth it.  

By the end of the day we made it to Kaunas. Did a quick run of our usual touch points. Art is moving forward. Lots of interesting new ideas at the galleries. Prices are also not standing still.

Weddings are on as usual. It is a bit sad because it looks like the main highlight of Kaunas life are weddings. They must be so boring and repetitive. And with divorce rate in this country why do people still continue with this useless extravagance. We saw one couple who wanted their wedding pictures to be different in the sea of mandatory City Hall shots. They were seated outside at one of the roadside restaurants. While they were having their goblets of orange juice a videographer and photographer were running around recording this historical moment for all the eternity.

In the evening we met up with Alicia’s crew and had a dinner at Marcelutis Sletis. Waiter was sublime. If he applied his convincing skills at a sales job, he would be extremely successful. He got Andrey to open up all the way. It was good and relaxing to be all together.

Isabella was like an energizer bunny – running around the place – I think this time we saw every single room on all 4 floors. But she finally collapsed towards the end. And we are about to call it a day too.

Question to the Lithuanian Speakers

What do these mean?

On the bridge:

OK, here is the explanation: this is the number to call to get some advise if you need emotional help. They have two lines - kids and adults. Not sure what adult one sounds like. But kids one most likely has one of the museum ladies working overtime and night shift. And whatever she did not have the chance to share about the person who is calling, their personal life, and parents, they would have ample opportunity to learn if them call. Joking of course... but it is sad how few people actually treat kids as humans here. All those little distractions in the restaurants and rest areas are not because kids are that much loved, it is just easier to get them out of the picture.

Here is what appeared to be a graduation cerenomy for the military college graduates in front of the Presidential Palace:

This means "When will Lithuanian FBI and constitutional court stop using Soviet methods? Where is batman? President and people = free reign of corrupted officials." I guess it makes more sense in the context..

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

 Somehow the days had gone by and I did not put up any posts. Here are the highlights of the last three days.

On Wednesday we went to Vilnoia lake park after work. The day was so hot but by the time we got to the lake it got pretty cool. I did not brave the swim but everyone else did, shivering. The lake has beautiful statues sticking out and around it. And the area around it is very clean. Lots of families with children. As we were leaving the audience had started to change to the younger drinking crowd.

On Wednesday we went out for lunch to Coldunine (Ravioli) place on Saviciaus. It is new and right new to the wonderful bakery from last year – right across from Graf Zeppelin if anyone is looking for this level of detail. The inside looks starchly clean and homely. Waitress is painful to watch. She was running around without any order or system. She would come out to bring a fork on one table and then soup on another table. Took our order in English nodding and claiming to understand and then brought one soup out to Dan and clean forgot about us – we ordered three. Unless they figure it out, this place is doomed. That place does not have anything but ravioli and soup, both of which take no time to cook.

Speaking of food we went to Shriuba Namai at Gedimino 9 for lunch on Thursday. Totally different experience. Waitresses looked like ballerinas. The food appeared on our tables instantaneously and disappeared when we were finished to be replaced by the next dish. Georgia said that she cannot shake out salt out of the shaker and a hand appeared to replace the shaker in moments. Seriously this was awe-inspiring.

On Thursday our stinky homeless guy was trying to sell some book to the staff at Coffee Inn. He was screaming something in Lithuanian and shaking his staff. I thought I could make out “Devil.” Pretty scary. Normally he is pretty calm. On the positive side it looks like he took a shower. I may have written it before but he was and could still be someone else’s kid. He could be in mid-thirties but it is hard to tell with dread-hat and perpetual sunburn.

There was a really bad thunderstorm in the afternoon. We always have windows open on both sides of the apartment and when it started, they were knocking so hard that we had to close them all. It sounded like a poltergeist. Kids were at Irina’s house and they were scared when neighbors’ laundry and other small things started to rain down on the ground. When we came outside afterwards we saw that many trees were knocked down or lost a good portion of their branches. The funny thing, I was reading about canoe trips on Neris prior to that. And one of the things site talks about is beautiful shingle (seriously, check it out). I get it now – if you happen to be canoeing during a storm like this, you probably will get beautiful shingle raining down upon you. 

 

On Thursday evening we went to Sushi house for dinner. They said that preparing it will take a half and hour. We looked at the empty restaurant and asked what we could change to speed it up, they said “Nothing.” So we went for a walk on Vilnius gatve while it was cooking. When we came back we understood why they needed so much time. Nearly every bench of St. Catherine’s square was filled with people eating sushi. That’s a comforting thought considering our daring request for sashimi. We sat next to the school and ate watching families passing by for their evening stroll.

Isabella is growing fast. She is trying to say more complicated words and strings two words together pretty often. She has funny way of going to sleep. She sleeps on a mattress next to our bed. When we come in to check on her in the evening we find her sleeping next to the closet, near the door,… one time on our bed even. At night she occasionally wakes us up by knocking her head against the wall, closet doors. I get up and carry her back to bed.

On Thursday Georgia did a beautiful comic picture story about what happened to her this week at Irina’s house. Very very nice. She is proud of it.

But on Friday she decided to call it a week on studying and we went for a walk around the city center. Finally went inside St. James on Lukiskis. It is not very pretty inside. Separate elements are nice, but overall impression is that of some kind of heaviness. It must have gotten knocked up pretty bad on the past.

Tuesday, Sushi Inn

Today we went to the National Museum to look for some really rare, totally amazing coin that was found during the construction of the lower castle. We did not get to the coin but we got to the creature of the museum. That genetically perfected type told us no pictures allowed whatsoever other than the Grunwald battle model. And no, not even the the little pieces of cardboard with the information about the exhibits.

We rebelled and got some administrator who said that it is OK to take the picture of the information about exhibits. I suppose that’s no Louivre and exhibits like coins and metals decay from exposure to the camera radiation, and you know how hard those are to come by… So we kind of lost interest in the rest. We did see the Homecoming exhibition that talked about thousands of deported Lithuanians. Very controversial topic this one so I’ve leave it as it. Suffice to say that there was no Homecoming for the other large group of Lithuanian citizens about the same size helpfully disposed of by mostly locals. And there is no mention of that either.

So, to get to the good thing we went to the Sushi Inn for lunch. They did not have any raw fish or soup, and Philadelphia cream cheese was just lightly touched to the roll, but they were good. And ½ price of their orgasmic counterparts across the street.

After work we stocked up on some picnic items that we promptly consumed in the car and went to Pushkin park. Pushkin was a bit like Peter the Great. He stopped by in a lot of places. The park was OK. A bit on the boring side. Belmont park is must bigger and better. We came back to continue our walk in the city.  

America America guy is back. Georgia almost bumped into him. We froze because the guy has this really loud voice that carries around 5 blocks and everything he says sounds like a scene. But fortunately he was talking to someone else and did not notice her. Now only Rosita is missing.

Monday, supermarket Japanese

No highlights - worked all day. Came out during lunch to try some Osaka sushi. 4-piece Philadelphia roll was 17LT (or $6.91). They also offered 8-piece Philadelphia roll, for 34LT for the math experts out there. One InYourPocket review said the experience of their Philadelphia roll is orgasmic. We weren't sure that we were up to uhh.. that thing, during lunch, with the kids and nanny involved. They could have asked for theirs you know. So we settled on the WOK.

However we did get our lucky break during dinner - Alicia's guests came over. We got pizza and cold beet soup and Inga brought a few supermarket rolls - cucumber and egg. She too is feeling deprivation. Georgia downed most of them. We know what we will eat for a week when we are back.

Merkinė, Medininkai & Belmont track

Today was great as well. We decided to go to the ruins of the Pavlovo Respublica. It was an interesting and, for a brief period of time successful experiment in democracy and utopia. On the way we stopped at a very nice church at Turgeliai. On the grounds there were some tall tree stumps. Georgia immediately requested to be put on top so she could pose from this pedestal. We obliged and then some lady from the neighboring yard started to scream that this is a sacred place and you cannot do it. I guess any further desecration from up there (use your imagination) is out of question.  

We got off the pedestal and kept going. Merkinė ruins are very nicely overgrown. Most of us were wearing skirts and were not equipped to go through the thick bushes of nettle. Dan was the best dressed. But curiosity was stronger than a few stings and we got to a few of those buildings. Oh, how we miss having a metal detector. They were awesome, absolutely delectable ruins. With crumbing cellars and everything. And most certainly not the safest structurally to hang around for the complete delight.

Isabella is wearing a proper treasure collecting attire... at least on her head :)

Next, Irina suggested Medininkai castle ruins some 15 km away at the Byelorussian border.

The castle wall and some of the buildings inside are already restored. But the work is still continuing and a lady who was impersonating the dog picture on the gates growled and did not let anyone in. Maybe she is a sister of the Turgeliai’s lady. We walked around a well walked path around the perimeter of the wall. Very pretty. Dan carried Isabella on his neck. As we were leaving we saw that the dog lady was not made of stone after all and let in an old LT sedan with some suspicious people in it. Maybe they will help her to dig for treasure.

There is an old St. Casimir’s church nearby that looks like Pagoda.

On the way home we stopped in the forest on the way and tried some berry picking. The forest was disgustingly dirty: broken bottles, boxes, you name it. It looked like a dumping ground. We got back in the car and drove a bit further and tried the other side of the road. Same thing. Really disgusting. I hope it does not happen to Kernave.

The next stop was Belmont. It is incredibly well developed area with restaurants, playgrounds, waterfall, ponds, gazebos, and other niceties to enjoy your time there. Very popular spot for the weddings or at least taking pictures for those who cannot afford the full package. We saw that a number of new things were added to the complex since our last visit.

But the real treat was the walk at the Belmont park along the Vilnyale river. It offers lovely views and a number of amusements along the way: hanging bridges, sundial, breathtaking cliff for watching and climbing, and more. Totally awesome. Georgia did tremendous amount of walking today. She has quite a stamina. Practically no whining.

Isabella decided to call it day even though it was 6:30pm. We thought we could wing it and rushed home. But then she woke up. And so we went outside for a walk and she walked for an hour outside, and we played at home, and now it is 11pm and she is still playing…

Saw a nice shed along the way. Dan said it is a good subject for demotivational poster: "Try as you might, end result is the same" :) Maybe we should offer it to demotivation.com

Kernave

Nice weekend, except kids are refusing to call it a day.

On Saturday we went to Kernave forest. We tried to settle down on the big meadow near the swing but it was completely filled with tents. We got a little worried and drove over to the two little lakes. There were just a few fishers there and we quickly chased them away by starting to unpack our loud bunch from the cars. This was a much better place because there was a large covered table enough to sit and shade everyone. And more importantly there was a place to set up the BBQ – complete with some bricks.

It was awesome – we went berry picking – blueberries and raspberries. Israeli Dan was very unsure about eating them without washing. He tried to go exploring on his own but he was quickly brought back to the camp by calling his cell phone and asking him to stay put. We walked around the forest, and then had some BBQ and celebrated Natasha’s and Andrei’s 29^th anniversary. 

As we were leaving, Alicia spotted some red leaves along the road and asked to pull over. It was massive quantities of wild strawberry – both the forest and field variety. We spent some time making sure it did not grow up for nothing.

After that we moved over to Kernave, and did a bit of walking around and climbing the mounds. Some additional buildings were erected since our last visit here. They are in the “old style.” There was also a functional well. We tried some really nice tasting water from it.

Dukstos Oak Park was the last stop on the way. Supposedly it was one of the most important pagan religious sites and it still had the main altar stone with some runes on it. As per suggestion of the predecessors we left some cookies and coins for the forest gods, and their local representatives.  

We dropped off Alicia, got some food from the supermarket and called it a day.

Unfortunately the camera ran out of battery early on so practically no pictures.