I can tell when Ton really likes a city, and she likes Vilnius. After yesterday she spent some more time reading about the city and this morning she handed me a long list of additional places she wanted to go to today. As the day went on I had to watch her as she was really absorbed in taking pictures and if I didn’t keep an eye on her I would lose her. Finally during the course of the day we walked over 6 miles and she never said a word about the distance. Today was a good day for her and for me.
The first place on our list was St. Annes Church. Vilnius has 28 major churches in the old town, but St. Annes is considered the most beautiful. Napoleon was supposed to have said while invading Lithuania in 1812 he would like to take this church back to France with him. Instead he used it as an ammunition depot and prison causing significant destruction to the interior.
The interior is interesting as it has two chapels, the small one faces the street, and the main chapel is entered from a courtyard. They are both pretty. All of the woodwork that made up the altar, nave, and confessionals were taken out by the communists, and the wall of the church were painted over. Fortunately, most of the woodwork was still in Lithuania after they gained their independence so the church has been pretty well restored. They are currently working on restoring the paintings on the walls.
The next stop on the list was the Gate of Dawn. This is the surviving city gates from the walls that used to surround the old town. It is famous for a statue of Mary which is now enclosed in glass. On our walk there Ton was taking many pictures and she remarked to me that it is nearly impossible to take a picture in Vilnius without having a church in it. She told me that it reminded of her hometown with Buddhist temples replacing the churches. Another plus for Vilnius.
As we were crisscrossing the town we came across a section of street with hundreds of small pieces of art attached to the walls along the street. This street is called Literati Street, and the section covered in art was done in the late 1990’s by over 100 Lithuanian artists, to honor over 100 Lithuanian writers. The art is inspired by the writing of the authors.
Ton wanted to return to the Uzupio Republic for some more pictures after we visited the Gate of Dawn. When I looked at the map I realized that the Republic was only a couple of hundred yards from St. Annes Church where we had started the day, but was nearly a mile from where we were. Fortunately Google picked a different route going back and she was so absorbed taking pictures that she didn’t notice we were back tracking.
We found some new areas to explore in the Republic, but after covering a few miles we decided to take a break. We picked a restaurant near the river. I ordered an excellent Lithuanian Dark Beer, and Ton had cold beet root soup which is a national staple of Lithuania. I was skeptical as I like neither cold soups or beets, but when it came I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I also confessed that we were almost back to St. Annes and pointed it out to her.
Our last stop was near the market from yesterday to look at one of the huge street art pieces that Vilnius is proud of. When I put the address in we didn’t realize it was across from the market we had lunch in yesterday until we arrived. We hadn’t noticed it yesterday because of the rain, and it is 3 stories tall.
We headed back to the hotel for a break. While I was resting Ton picked out another Lithuanian restaurant for us to try. She particularly wanted to get a potato dumpling dish that is called Zeppelin by the Lithuanians, because it looks like a Zeppelin. When we received the menu the listing for the Zeppelin said large portion, and they were not kidding. One Zeppelin, and a potato pancake had us both stuffed for the night.
We had a great day wandering inefficiently thru Vilnius.
