Vilnius

 April 1st

Vilnius (pronounced "Vill-nee-uhs") is known as the city of churches, because despite having a population of only about 600,000 people there are 48 churches.  Before the Second World War it was also known as the Jerusalem of the North because 40% of their population at the time was Jewish.  The capital city is located on the Neris River (the second longest in the country) & Vilnia River, both of which run to the Baltic Sea.  The Lithuanians have a legend about Duke Gediminas (the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1315-1316 until his death in 1341) and the founding of the capital known as the Iron Wolf Legend.  As such, the Iron Wolf symbol is used for the city of Vilnius, sports teams, and even the Lithuanian military.

As far as today, after breakfast we were on the tour bus for a city tour of the Old Town.  We began at the Catholic Sts. Peter & Paul church, with its spectacular interior decorations, for which it is famous.  Construction began in 1668 with funding by patron Michał Kazimierz Pac, commemorating a victory over the Muscovites and their subsequent expulsion from Vilnius after six years of occupation. Construction was interrupted when Pac died in 1682, and per his request, he was buried under the entrance. His brother finished the building and had it consecrated in 1701. 

Inside the church there are some 2,000 pieces of stucco which designed by Italian Masters that took 7 years to complete.  The unique boat-shaped chandelier was brought from Latvia around 1905 to symbolize St. Peter.  The church dome was damaged by bombs during WWII, but it was rebuilt to its original design.  Even during the Soviet period the church was never closed, though no one seems to truly know why the Soviets  allowed it to remain open. The all-white interior requires repainting about every 20 years to keep it fresh and clean looking. 

From the church we walked through the Old Town which was added to UNESCO Heritage List in 1994.  Sometimes referred to as the City of Baroque as most of the buildings are in that style. We visited the Gate of Dawn, which I believe is the only remaining gate and city wall section, and is an important location in Lithuania for Catholic pilgrimage. Our next stop was St. Casimir's Church, recognizable for its pink façade modeled after the famous Il Gesù church in Rome.  Similar to Lithuania's history, the church has changed hands many times since its inception.  When the Germans occupied Vilnius in 1915 they converted it to an Evangelical Lutheran site, it was returned to the Catholics in 1919, but was damaged during WWII and closed down.  In 1963, the Soviets converted it into a Museum of Atheism and in 1991, it was finally reconsecrated as a church. 

We did get to visit the outside of the Vilnius University Library, which has an old, fancy door. Personally though, it was a disappointment not to go inside as it houses over 5 million books, almost 2x the entire country's population! Although higher education is no longer free in Lithuania about 60% of Lithuanians have a university degree.  

We wandered past the Presidential Palace and on the way Simona bought us the famous Lithuanian Šakotis ("tree" or "branch" cake) to try.  Calling it 'cake' seemed generous to my American taste buds, it reminded me a bit of waffle batter or maybe funnel cake batter without the powdered sugar. 

Saint Anne's Church, with its stunning red brick exterior, is Vilnius' version of La Sagrada Familia. "The church has remained almost unchanged over the last five centuries and is one of the most beautiful and probably the most famous buildings in Vilnius. It is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture and is surrounded by many legends" (source).  You can only go inside during services, but were told the outside is the famous part, so nothing lost in only seeing it from the street.

Our tour of the Old Town ended at the 'plaza' next to the Grand Duke Gediminas statue with The Cathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislaus (a.k.a. Vilnius Cathedral) in the background. 

 We had an hour of free time for lunch before leaving for the tour of Trakai Castle, so I decided to trek up Gediminas' Hill to see the views from the Castle Tower (the hill on which the Iron Wolf was said to howl).  There is a funicular to take you up the hill, but why pay when you're young and healthy?  The climb was steep, and due to some sort of construction I had to walk the entire way around the hill to find the detour-path, but the views were beautiful even on a slightly overcast day.  

After departing the hill, I decided to visit the interior of Vilnius Cathedral and then grab some lunch at the nearby Rimi Express (their prepared foods section was extensive and what I tried was tasty).  I ate it on a bench in the park near the church and must have looked like the other locals on their lunch break because these young girls came up to me and started talking to me.  I have no idea what they were saying and although I'm sure she knew some English, when I told her "sorry, only English" she apologized and left.

    Back on the bus, we were soon headed to Trakai Castle.  Located in the town of Trakai (pronounced 'try-kay'), about 70 miles from Vilnius, the castle sits on an island in Lake Galvė. Since Trakai was one of the main centers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the castle held great strategic importance. It was built to protect against German Teutonic Knights in 1377, and was completed around 1409.  It was neat to see, but not that impressive for me, I'm just not that interested in knights and medieval living.  However, Trakai was the medieval capital of Lithuania until it was moved to Vilnius in 1373, so it does have that claim-to-fame. 

What was secondary to the visits of most people, but fascinating to me was to learn of the Karaimus (or Karaites).  I don't recall ever hearing of these people before today, but they have Turkish roots (dark hair & complexion but blue eyes) and hold to a religion related to Judaism (they worship on Sundays and do not eat pork).  They have their own language and a 'Trakai' dialect of Karaimus actually developed because of the large community of them here in Trakai. Their homes always have 3 windows on the side facing the street, and you can buy the traditional Karaite pastry called 'Kibin' here in Trakai. 

 My biggest regret of the day requires some back-story.  Earlier in the day, on our tour of the Old Town we had driven near  the district of Užupis.  It's a special artist neighborhood founded on April Fools Day. On April 1, 1997, the district declared itself an independent republic (the Republic of Užupis), with its own constitution and laws.  They have fake border border signage, an unofficial currency and even an anthem.  When we returned from Trakai I headed to my hotel room and wasn't sure what I should do, so I began uploading photos with locations, descriptions and facts, when I realized too late that I should have taken an Über to Užupis!  Once a year (i.e. today, April Fool's Day), they have parades and celebrate their republic, Simona had even told us we could get our passport stamped!  Since mine expires next year there's less danger of a cranky border guarded not appreciating my fake passport stamp).  Alas, I had missed the festivities, and couldn't help feeling that since our visit to Vilnius coincided with this auspicious holiday (said tongue-in-cheek) the day's itinerary should have been modified to let us pop in and see this local oddity.  To placate myself I headed to the hotel jaccuzzi, which I had all to myself, and spent an hour relaxing at the spa downstairs.  We have an early start tomorrow (luggage must be outside the door at 6:45am), so bed time should not be delayed.

Latvia to Lithuania

Monday, 3/31/25 - Most of the day was spent driving, but the views were nice.  Simona was accurate when she told us these 3 Baltic countries are "flat as a pancake". The highest point in the country is a 965 foot hill, no mountains, though they do have lots of lakes, forests, and rivers.

 

We saw many storks in nests up on telephone poles or in very tall trees. Storks are beloved by Latvians and they sometimes build areas that might encourage the storks to build a nest; much as we do in the U.S., Latvians believe storks bring babies.  Before crossing into Lithuania we visited the delightful Rundāle Palace (roon-dah-leh) designed in the Baroque & Rococo styles.  Built by the Duke of Courland, Ernst Johan von Biron, in the 1700s (when the Duchy of Courland & Semigallia were still independent), it survived Napoleon and both World Wars mostly intact!

The architect was the Italian, Bartolimeo Rastrelli (he also helped design the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg Palace). After the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was absorbed by the Russian Empire in 1795, Catherine the Great presented the palace to Count Valerian Zubov, the youngest brother of her lover, Prince Platon Zubov.

 

They used it for many things over the years (besides a palace), but it is now fully restored in the 18th Century style.  Spectacular and spacious, colorful as well.  Seeing how Baroque isn't my favorite, the variety of parquet floors was one of the things I loved most, along with the huge windows and tall ceilings.

We stopped for a quick lunch in Girelė and then were on to Šiauliai (show-lay) to see the Hill of Crosses.  Although the exact origin is uncertain, its roots are related to the 1831 uprising, and when it began it was more of a memorial.  The Hill of Crosses is a difficult place to describe, so I'll do my best through photos and videos.

 Today the site is more of a pilgrimage for Lithuanian Catholics.  I had never seen any photos and didn't know what to expect.  It's quite astounding - there are easily 300,000 crosses, some as small as 3 inches and some over 15 feet tall, and they're all over the place.  Intricate, simple. small, large, wood, stone, metal, plastic, you name it!  "Over the generations, not only crosses and crucifixes, but statues of the Virgin Mary, carvings of Lithuanian patriots and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims. Due to the symbolism of cross-crafting during the Soviet occupation, UNESCO named Lithuanian cross-crafting in the lists of good safeguarding practices and intangible cultural heritage."

 Back on the bus we soon arrived at our next Radisson Blu, in the capital city Vilnius.  To Simona's credit she did give us a lot of good information on the ride. 
A very brief history (that doesn't start at the beginning): In 1569, established by the Lublan Union, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, joined forces.  Sometimes known as the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it was among the most populated and largest countries in 16th-18th century Europe.  Because of this, other European powers wanted to split them.  In 1795, after successive partitions by their neighbouring powers, Prussia, Russia and Austria, the commonwealth permanently ceased to exist. Even between the world wars the Baltic nations were still fighting off Russia.  Thus, Latvia became the first Baltic country to declare independence from Soviets ( on March 13, 1989), and in 2004 they joined the EU.