East Still

Trip Start Aug 23, 1996
1
401
450
Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Lithuania  ,
Saturday, October 11, 2008

And then we attempted to drive to Vilnius. We opened the GPS up, it new Vilnius, but not via the way we wanted to go, so we gave it the flick, pulled out the map, and away we went. A couple hours later, we were fighting the traffic in Vilnius, and amazingly, we found our hostel !!!
 
Pre-concieved Ideas
 
Before I went, I was told that beer was cheap and all the women were beautiful
 
Vilnius
 
We took a walk in the evening of arrival. I was expecting to see pissed up Poms everywhere, just like Riga, but there weren't any !!! Now according to the book, this is the most preserved city in Europe. Judging from first sight, the writer had never been to L'viv !!! It appeared nice with loads of churches. The Cathedral however was fairly plain.
 
The next morning, we left and went to a flower market. Nobody was interested in the live ones, only the plastic ones !!! And all around was something better. Babushkas !!! This was better than Ukraine or Latvia. Maybe they bred here !!! Onwards we went, through the only remaing gate and back to the Cathedral. Inside was just as boring, but there was a JP2 plaque to add to our collection !!! Behind it was the remains of a castle. The local council do no let you walk up to it, instead they make you pay to take a funicular !!! The views from the top were ok, but there wasn't much left to be seen. Back down, we walked around through the city, looking at many different churches until we came upon the main Russian one. Inside was a glass topped coffin with three 500 year old monks inside, and they were all wearing socks. Questions swam in my head. Were their feet manky? Did their feet stink? Were they cold. As I am unable to comunicate with the dead, I didn't get an answer. I did ask a Babushka as she spoke to them, but her English was as good as my Lithuanian !!!
 
Just up from there, I realised why I am not a big fan of religion. Above the old gate was a religious icon. I managed to get in before a crowd appeared, however Lucy wasn't as lucky. She was pushed and shoved aside as they wanted to get there. As I was trying to leave, I was even elbowed !!!
 
Once out, we made our way out to the old Jewish Ghetto. Before WWll, there were loads of Jews, but now they were pretty much gone, and all that was left was a plaque and a bust. Pity.
 
But there was a grimmer side. We walked into the Genocide museum, to see how the Soviets had treated the locals. Down in the basement were various cells. There were holding, interogation, torture, solitary and padded !!! They did give the prisoners an exercise yard, but below that was the execution room complete with bullet holes. It made me think about my own family that I have never known, who stayed behind in Poland. Did these Jews survive?
 
We did consider going to the ballet, but if you had seen the monstrosity of a building, you would understand why we didn't go. It was souless !!! Just up from there was Three Crosses Hill. Just like the Hill of Crosses, the Soviets had blown up the old crosses, and their remains were below, but like a phoenix, it arose from the ashes and three new crosses arrived. The sunset was quite nice as well.
 
And basically, that was our time in Vilnius
 
And Finally
 
So to answer my first question. Beer was cheap if taken away, and the women? Well my Mum always said, "check out the mothers to see what they grow into", and looking at them, no thanks !!!

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001 Lucy Driving, Vilnius 001 Lucy Driving, Vilnius 002 Town Hall, Vilnius 002 Town Hall, Vilnius 003 Beers, Vilnius 003 Beers, Vilnius 004 Fried Garlic Fingers, Vilnius 004 Fried Garlic Fingers, Vilnius
005 Pork Hoc, Vilnius 005 Pork Hoc, Vilnius 006 Cathedral, Vilnius 006 Cathedral, Vilnius 007 Flower Seller, Vilnius 007 Flower Seller, Vilnius 008 Plastic Flowers, Vilnius 008 Plastic Flowers, Vilnius
009 Plastic Flowers, Vilnius 009 Plastic Flowers, Vilnius 010 Babushka, Vilnius 010 Babushka, Vilnius 011 Babushka, Vilnius 011 Babushka, Vilnius 012 Two Babushkas, Vilnius 012 Two Babushkas, Vilnius
013 Town Gate, Vilnius 013 Town Gate, Vilnius 014 JP2 Plaque, Vilnius 014 JP2 Plaque, Vilnius 015 Town Gate, Vilnius 015 Town Gate, Vilnius 016 All Seeing Eye, Vilnius 016 All Seeing Eye, Vilnius
017 Church, Vilnius 017 Church, Vilnius 018 Church, Vilnius 018 Church, Vilnius 019 Theatre, Vilnius 019 Theatre, Vilnius 020 Church, Vilnius 020 Church, Vilnius
021 Town Hall, Vilnius 021 Town Hall, Vilnius 022 Church, Vilnius 022 Church, Vilnius 023 Church, Vilnius 023 Church, Vilnius 024 JP2 Plaque, Vilnius 024 JP2 Plaque, Vilnius
025 Cathedral, Vilnius 025 Cathedral, Vilnius 026 Castle, Vilnius 026 Castle, Vilnius 027 City View, Vilnius 027 City View, Vilnius 028 Flag, Vilnius 028 Flag, Vilnius
029 Castle, Vilnius 029 Castle, Vilnius 030 Castle, Vilnius 030 Castle, Vilnius 031 Che, Vilnius 031 Che, Vilnius 032 Church, Vilnius 032 Church, Vilnius
033 Three Babushkas, Vilnius 033 Three Babushkas, Vilnius 034 Church, Vilnius 034 Church, Vilnius 035 Statue, Vilnius 035 Statue, Vilnius 036 Statue, Vilnius 036 Statue, Vilnius
037 Church, Vilnius 037 Church, Vilnius 038 Babushka, Vilnius 038 Babushka, Vilnius 039 Idol, Vilnius 039 Idol, Vilnius 040 Church, Vilnius 040 Church, Vilnius
041 Dead Monks, Vilnius 041 Dead Monks, Vilnius 042 Mural, Vilnius 042 Mural, Vilnius 043 Church, Vilnius 043 Church, Vilnius 044 Statue, Vilnius 044 Statue, Vilnius
045 Locals, Vilnius 045 Locals, Vilnius 046 Idol, Vilnius 046 Idol, Vilnius 047 Street View, Vilnius 047 Street View, Vilnius 048 Worshippers, Vilnius 048 Worshippers, Vilnius
049 Jewish Bust, Vilnius 049 Jewish Bust, Vilnius 050 Jewish Memorial, Vilnius 050 Jewish Memorial, Vilnius 051 Jewish Memorial, Vilnius 051 Jewish Memorial, Vilnius 052 The Ghetto, Vilnius 052 The Ghetto, Vilnius
053 Hebrew, Vilnius 053 Hebrew, Vilnius 054 Painting, Vilnius 054 Painting, Vilnius 055 Statue, Vilnius 055 Statue, Vilnius 056 Memorial, Vilnius 056 Memorial, Vilnius
057 Lucy on CCTV, Vilnius 057 Lucy on CCTV, Vilnius 058 David on CCTV, Vilnius 058 David on CCTV, Vilnius 059 Lenin, Vilnius 059 Lenin, Vilnius 060 Holding Cell, Vilnius 060 Holding Cell, Vilnius
061 Cell, Vilnius 061 Cell, Vilnius 062 Shredded Paper, Vilnius 062 Shredded Paper, Vilnius 063 Cell, Vilnius 063 Cell, Vilnius 064 Cell, Vilnius 064 Cell, Vilnius
065 Toilet, Vilnius 065 Toilet, Vilnius 066 Cell, Vilnius 066 Cell, Vilnius 067 Corridor, Vilnius 067 Corridor, Vilnius 068 Cell, Vilnius 068 Cell, Vilnius
069 Straight Jacket, Vilnius 069 Straight Jacket, Vilnius 070 Padded Cell, Vilnius 070 Padded Cell, Vilnius 071 Guards Room, Vilnius 071 Guards Room, Vilnius 072 Guards Lookout, Vilnius 072 Guards Lookout, Vilnius
073 Shower Room, Vilnius 073 Shower Room, Vilnius 074 Toilet Room, Vilnius 074 Toilet Room, Vilnius 075 Exercise Room, Vilnius 075 Exercise Room, Vilnius 076 Execution Room, Vilnius 076 Execution Room, Vilnius
077 Execution Wall, Vilnius 077 Execution Wall, Vilnius 078 Three Crosses Hill, Vilnius 078 Three Crosses Hill, Vilnius 079 Lucy & David at Three Crosses Hill, Vilni 079 Lucy & David at Three Crosses Hill, Vilni 080 Three Crosses Hill, Vilnius 080 Three Crosses Hill, Vilnius
081 Sunset, Vilnius 081 Sunset, Vilnius 082 Wrecked Cross, Vilnius 082 Wrecked Cross, Vilnius 083 Wrecked Cross, Vilnius 083 Wrecked Cross, Vilnius 084 Mural, Vilnius 084 Mural, Vilnius
085 Tea Pot Wall, Vilnius 085 Tea Pot Wall, Vilnius 086 Cider, Vilnius 086 Cider, Vilnius 087 Beer, Vilnius 087 Beer, Vilnius 088 Jewish Statue, Vilnius 088 Jewish Statue, Vilnius
089 Jewish Memorial, Vilnius 089 Jewish Memorial, Vilnius 090 Synagogue, Vilnius 090 Synagogue, Vilnius 091 Synagogue Sign, Vilnius 091 Synagogue Sign, Vilnius 092 Hot Chocolate, Vilnius 092 Hot Chocolate, Vilnius
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