Vilnius, Lithuania

Off to Vilnius, Lithuania.  As you all know, my research is minimal, if existent at all.  But I did Google 'what to do in Vilnius' while I was planning.  And the Googles said, not too much.  So, I shortened my stay there to add in an extra stop in Lithuania.  Well, Googles lied!  I loved Vilnius!  What a beautiful city, like Krakow, not ravaged by the wars.  So many churches!!

I also managed to figure out a better system of uploading photos so there are going to be a lot of them in this post.  

Walking tour!  10 am start.  My apartment was about a 20 minute walk from the starting point and I left enough time for some wandering/picture taking.

The first cat I've seen on this trip.  He seemed fairly 
nonchalant about his importance.

Teapot holes, not bullet holes!

This symbolizes a 'Hands across the Baltics' situation that
started in Vilnius and stretched all of the way to
Tallinn I think.  I am supposed to find this symbol in 
Riga and Tallinn too.  Maybe?

The tour started at the 'miracle tile'.  Which is a stupid place to choose considering it is right beside this giant, super obvious from miles away tower.  Plus, I had to ask what the 'Miracle Tile' was about.  It was nothing, I don't even remember but it was recent. 

This statue is 'The Lamplighter'

Uzupio is a made up country in the middle of Vilnius.  Quite close to my apartment.  I heard two stories of how Uzupio started.  It is located just across the river from Old Town.  According to the guide, it was a terrible, unsafe part of town so of course, it is where students lived.  They were arty so they started cleaning the place up with art installations and fixing up the buildings and came up with their own democracy.  The other story is that a bunch of drunkards came up with the idea at a tavern while drinking beer.  Those two stories are not mutually exclusive since I believe students can also be drunkards.  So, let's agree that both are perhaps true. 

Border control and gift shop!

The Uzupio constitution.  Worth expanding
(how did this go in upright!?)

The bridge to Utupio

Hello

Jewish Quarter.  Almost nothing remained but it was the Soviets
who took it apart, not the war. Am I remembering correctly, 
that Lithuania was neutral(ish) territory during the war?

Who's this guy?  No idea, I just like this photo.

I learned almost nothing, well, I retained almost nothing that I learned on this tour but the tow was so pretty.  And we walked past so many churches! And it was still early so I just kept walking.

First to the market. Kind of a combo of local market with some tourist coffee shops mixed in.

Postcards and coffee at this hipster coffee shop. 

I had to go in to say hi to this guy!

This is where the shopping floods gave way.  I am now 
carrying two little pots of honey for the next three weeks.

Since the floods were started and I didn't have ark building
capabilities, I then bought a beautiful hand made purse.

Might as well get into some of those churches. 
This is the one the guide said was worth a visit if 
we only had time for one.  

Cool!  Stained glass reflection, church is not on fire.

What do I need less than honey and a purse?  A painting.  

So, honey, a purse, a painting and then some earrings.  Amber, because amber! Money be damned.  

This is a shrine within a bridge over a street connecting?

The walls are covered with hearts 

As I was walking around I was so hungry.  I normally carry some snacks with me but this time I didn't have any.  If I ever develop an eating disorder, we can say this was day one.

I still like to light a candle for the catholic grandmothers 
(and the atheist one too)

This just reminds me of my
 imaginary boyfriend's fictional boyfriend
(Ilya Rosanov -shut up, I don't care!)

Sometimes I just know a calendar shot as I take it.

Bird art is everywhere.  No so much actual birds however.

This guy is everywhere too.  I saw one in Warsaw
with an art sign beside it but I was on a tour
and couldn't get to it to find out what, if anything it is about.

This was where I was staying.  It was much better
looking inside.  But the door lock didn't work so I just 
left it unlocked.  I wasn't robbed while I was out or 
murdered' while I was in so... good call.

Have I mentioned that I keep buying fridge food and then carrying it around between towns.  I am almost certainly going to die of food poisoning on this trip.  I have been eating some very sketchy ham slices for at least three cities now.  I finally threw away the last few pieces yesterday when I could not pretend that they were still okay.  The convenience store egg salad I had in my bag all sunny day in Warsaw was probably the one that should have killed me though. But it didn't, at least not yet!

The next morning, I had to pack. With my new stuff.  I am at Tetris level of packing now.  It is tight.  And trying to protect that painting.  Ugg.  But it will all be worth it when I get home.  I hope you all enjoy your post cards cause that is all you are getting. I cannot fit gifts into my bag, except those for myself I guess.  

See you in Siauliaia next.  

Warsaw

I arrived in Warsaw late and I was exhausted after that awful day.  So I went to bed and read my book.  And then the next day, I didn't stray too far from home.  Just out around the neighbourhood to get some food.  I had booked a walking tour but I changed it to the next day. 

Day two in Warsaw, I had to make up for lost time.  Starting with a 10 am walking tour of old town. 

A lovely walk to the meeting place. 

Meeting place, Sigismund's column.  Past king.  He was Swedish.  European royalty is complicated.

Unlike Krakow, the heart of Warsaw was completely destroyed during WWII. All of the cool old buildings there now are rebuilds.  But there was an architect in charge who made it his mission to recreate as much as he could despite being under soviet rule after the war. 

Some remnants of the City walls still exist.  The Soviets
Used a lot of the bricks for rebuilding.  

Our man, Sigismund.  This statue survived the war,
but not the column.  He was found in a ditch.

Here is the column.  Riddled with bullet holes.

So, remember I mentioned the pigeon thing in Krakow.
Apparently it's a Polish thing.  And it isn't about
The number of pigeons.  Before the war,  there was a 
Crazy pigeon lady.  She was one of the very first 
People to return to the city once the war ended.
She was a symbol of the rebirth of the City and 
Country as people came back to rebuild their lives 

Our guide in front of Madam Curie's house 
Where she grew up.

After the tour, I just wandered around until I found a perogy place (so, i wandered for like 30 seconds).  I had discovered that potato filled perogies are not the only option like they are in North America.   Some smart Polish immigrant needs to fill that hole in the market.  But I digress. 

I had to order a minimum of nine so I got nine different non-potato perogies!  What a time to be alive!!!

I forgot to take a picture until after
I had already eaten three of them

Look at that hideous dress!  
Yellow and covered in perogies 

I started heading back to my apartment along the river.  But first, since I was passing it aneay, I popped into the royal gardens behind the royal palace (rebuilt completely with donations from Polish citizens because the Soviets would not pay for the reminder of the pre-occupation).

To the river.  

The guide had mentioned that across the river was Praga.  A previously scary, now cool district of Warsaw that had escaped some of the destruction during the war.   We could see the steeples of the church was was apparently worth a visit.  I was walking past the bridge anyway...

Praga, as it turns out,  is not that interesting.   But the church is nice.  I couldn't get a full photo without the sideways view so here it is in bits.  

Sorry, you're getting sideways anyway. 

That was a lot of walking that day.  Back to my apartment and my book. 

The next day I had an early afternoon train so I Ubered to the train station early ish and stared my backpack in a locker with the intention of heading into old town to explore a bit more.  I had some Polish zloty to spend or it was going to waste.  

But, once my bag was stored, I went outside and it was pouring again.  The weather has been so unpredictable.   It had been roasting hot on one day, and cold and raining on the next.  Or even hot, then rain turning within a minute.  Anyway, by the time it stopped raing, it was too late to do anything but sit outside and eat my leftover perogies.

Oh, and the station was attached to a mall.  So i used my zloty to buy some pajama pants.  My Iceland roommate will appreciate it, I'm sure.  I forgot to pack some. I spent a bit more but I can't remember on what??

And that was that.  Off to Vilnius in Lithuania.   And the next post. (I am writing and posting this on my phone on the train so my editing may be haphazard.