Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Author: admin

  • Vilnius – Bastion of the Defensive Wall

    This building was constructed to be a bastion in the city’s defensive walls, and it has now been renovated and modernised to convert it into a museum. The bastion dates from the early sixteenth century, but it was badly damaged during a war with the Russians in the seventeenth century. It then fell into disuse and was partly lost, although the legends of its existence continued, and partly used for a random range of purposes including as the city dump.

    Part of the exterior wall, which I’m assuming they left like this during the renovations, as the rest is perfectly repaired. Unless they just repaired this bit badly and it promptly fell down.

    After entering the museum there’s the option of walking out onto the top of the bastion, which gives decent views over the city. Unfortunately it was quite foggy, so the views weren’t perfect, but fortunately I had been up the Gediminas Tower the day before to get photos of Vilnius.

    I don’t know where the museum has acquired its security guard from, but he was brilliant. Friendly, engaging and keen to explain the museum as well as converse with visitors. It’s clear that he really likes to see visitors and I’m sure he enhanced the experience for many people. Above is the view from the upper platform, with the modern cannons.

    There were steps down into the base of the bastion, although I took this photo on the way back up into the museum.

    The whole underground area was much bigger than I expected, in a large semicircle.

    Items which have been found during an archaeological dig at the site.

    These gloves and the bag weren’t found at this site, but they were uncovered elsewhere in Lithuania. They’re from the sixteenth century, so the level of preservation is excellent given that age.

    This is the legend of the Basilisk, a dragon which could turn people into stone. Unfortunately the dragon was stupid, so when it looked into a mirror placed in front of him, he turned himself into stone. However, his howls are still said to be heard in the bastion……

    This was a beautifully put together museum, interesting information boards and lots of details about the city wall and all of the gates which once existed. The staff were full of enthusiasm, particularly the security guard, and it’s a snapshot of the city’s history which was nearly lost for so long.

  • Vilnius – StrangeLove

    This little cafe is located at the entrance to Kalnų parkas and there are views of the park from the first floor (or second floor as the Lithuanians call it).

    Well, how lovely. The staff member was welcoming and willingly explained what all the options were, although I partly stopped listening when she mentioned the pistachio eclair.

    The view over the park from the upstairs balcony.

    I slightly regretted trying to carry both of these up the stairs, along with a load of leaflets and my battery charger. I was nervous of having an incident where at least one of them went flying onto another customer, but I bravely managed to hold onto everything. I then decided to ignore the table nearest to the top of the stairs and traipse across the room to the outside balcony, thereby increasing the chance of me dropping everything.

    A nicely presented latte which had a rich and pleasant taste, and a pistachio eclair which was excellent. The interior of the eclair had flavoured confectioner’s custard and the topping added a little bit of extra texture. The combination of pistachio and coffee is one which works for me. The cost of this little expedition was around £3.50.

  • Vilnius – Days of the Week

    I’ve never seen days of the week expressed in this manner before, but it seems nearly universal in Vilnius. I learned the days of the week in Poland early on, but visitors don’t need to know the local words here, as the days are known by numbers 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday).

    All very clear, it’s a good idea.

    Although, just for reference, these are the Lithuanian words for their days of the week.

    Pirmadienis – Monday

    Antradienis – Tuesday

    Trečiadienis – Wednesday

    Ketvirtadienis – Thursday

    Penktadienis – Friday

    Šeštadienis – Saturday

    Sekmadienis – Sunday

  • Vilnius – Vileišis Brothers Sculpture

    Located near to the Neris River is this large sculpture which was unveiled earlier in 2018, and is rather eye-catching. It commemorates the work of the Vileišis brothers and was sculpted by Regimantas Midvikis.

    Hopefully I’ve got these in the right order, but I think that this is Jonas Vileišis. He was a lawyer and diplomat who lived from January 1872 until June 1942 and for ten years he was also the Mayor of Kaunas.

    This is Antanas Vileišis who was a doctor in the city and he also took part in the distribution of Lithuanian material at a time when it was banned by the Soviets. He lived from October 1856 until April 1919 and is buried in the city.

    Finally, if my logic works out, this is Petras Vileišis. He was an engineer and political activist, and like his brother he distributed pro-Lithuanian material. He became a wealthy individual and he was also involved in publishing newspapers in Lithuanian. He lived from January 1851 until August 1926 and he was initially buried in Kaunas, before nine years later being moved to a cemetery in Vilnius.

  • Vilnius – Caffeine Roasters (Pilies)

    I went to one of these in Riga, they’re a relatively large chain of coffee shops in the region.

    I liked this particular coffee shop as it is located alongside a bookshop. Books give off good karma.

    Some delicious looking cakes….

    The latte was served very hot, unusual for countries outside of the UK, but tasted fine and there was some latte art. The chocolate tart was excellent, rich and full of flavour. Cost around £3 in UK money and the service was polite, if perhaps a little pedestrian.

  • Vilnius – The Dylan Report

    Another in my series of posts for Dylan…..

    This week I’m in Vilnius, which is the one with the red dot. Spot who is in Norfolk at the moment  🙂

    Look at what they have available to drink!

    A double decker train! Like the one we went on in Luxembourg.

    Underground tunnels at the bastion (which is where people would go when they needed to be safe).

    The railway museum.

    A clock that used to be at the railway station, there’s a newer one there now.

    Someone has stuck a calculator to the wall   🙂

  • Vilnius – Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights

    The Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights changed its name just a few weeks ago, having previously been called the Museum of Genocide Victims. It’s a complex name for what many people seem to just call the KGB Museum, since it’s located in a building which was the headquarters of the KGB for fifty years.

    Many Russian museums employ middle-aged or elderly women to protect the galleries, and there have now even been displays around the world based around these guards. They have a reputation for sitting and looking miserable, but they’re actually usually really proud of the artwork which they protect.

    Anyway, in Latvia and Lithuania this still happens to a certain degree, but there seems to have been a real change to a more positive customer service approach. Every museum I’ve visited in these countries has a friendly staff member at the ticket desk, but this museum seems to have maintained a staff member at the desk who seemed quite disappointed to see visitors.

    The uniform of a member of the Soviet political police.

    I found this really interesting, it’s the 1975 and 1976 guest registration book from the Gintaras Hotel in the city. The hotel, which was located near the main railway station, would have also been monitored closely by the KGB and their guests often kept under observation if they were deemed a risk. I’m fortunate that the Ibis doesn’t keep such a book, or at least it doesn’t to my knowledge.

    In the middle of the photo is a prayer book which was made by female prisoners at a labour camp.

    And in the middle of this photo is a rosary which is made from bread, dating to 1954.

    This is a 1991 diary on the left, which is when Lithuania became independent and the KGB quickly left, and a telephone in use at the same time on the right.

    The phone which was used by the chairman of the KGB in Lithuania.

    An example of the secret camera which was used by KGB agents. It looks quite clunky and obvious, but the lens is hidden in a button and would be hard to spot.

    This is the grave marker, complete with dead moss on it, of an exiled woman sent to the Krasnoyarsk region of the Soviet Union. Her son later brought his mother’s remains, and this cross, back to Lithuania for her body to be reburied.

    This is a good idea, there’s an observation room and a bank of black and white screens where you can watch other visitors in the museum.

    This is labelled as the execution chamber, with what is meant to be an area that was investigated now left with a glass floor. The model of the execution chamber rooms doesn’t coincide with the actual floor layout, which I found confusing. There’s also very little information in this section of the museum to try and help visitors interpret what they’re seeing.

    Bullets in the wall of the execution chamber.

    The toilets facilities in the cells.

    One of two corridors of cells, most of which have been left unfurnished and most can be visited.

    One of the cell doors.

    The inside of one of the cells looking in.

    The inside of one of the cells looking out.

     

    The door of the padded cell and the interior, a place where prisoners who went mad from the torture were placed. It’s a grim feeling looking at this cell, although to be fair, none of the cells really emit an aura of positivity.

    This solitary confinement cell was filled with water in the bottom section and the prisoner would have to stand on the small circular raised platform and try not to fall into the water.

    Another solitary confinement cell, which had en-suite facilities.

    The duty officer’s room, with the 1975 security system still in place.

    These cells were known as the “boxes” and they were where the new prisoners were placed. It wasn’t until the 1960s when the KGB decided that a little luxury needed to be brought into these proceedings, and they put in a seat to sit on.

    The building in which the museum is located has a fascinating, and bleak, history, so a visit is recommended. The necessity to change the name from the Museum of Genocide Victims was really because there is very little mention of the Jewish lives which were lost, and much more of a focus on the Lithuanian resistance fighters. That’s an entirely interesting story on its own, but I’m still unsure why they just don’t call this the KGB Museum.

    There’s a lot to see in the museum, although the execution cell set-up is confusing, and the staff member at the reception desk looks like every visitor is trampling on her dead cat. Anyway, the positives of the whole visit greatly exceed the negatives, and it tells the often forgotten story of the Lithuanian resistance really well.

  • Vilnius – Dirty Duck

    I’m not sure that I can count this as a genuine Lithuanian experience given that the pub name is the Dirty Duck. However, it’s in Lithuania, so that’ll do.

    It’s a sports bar and there’s live music, but I carefully checked to see that there wouldn’t be any bands or the like on during my visit.

    The whole design is quirky, but there’s a fun feel to the pub.

    Some of the beer selection.

    I’m not entirely sure which dark beer I ended up with, as there were a few named on the menu and I didn’t know what any of them were. I’ve only just got the hang of the dark beer options in Poland, it’s not a quick process to pick a favourite. I’m pretty confident though it’s as the glass suggests, as that beer matches the price on my bill, which is Vilkmergės Tamsusis.

    With the beer, the friendly staff member asked if she should just surprise me and that seemed a good idea, with her choice being a rather good one. Lots of deep flavour, slight notes of coffee and Greggs. I’ve made the Greggs bit up, I’m just missing them.

    I had rather low expectations of the cod and chips when I ordered, but I thought I’d give the food a go. The environment is quite dark, as is perhaps evident from the photo, but it’s clean and comfortable.

    The food exceeded my expectations, it was well presented and at an appropriate temperature. The batter was bubbly and had a great flavour, without it being mushy or greasy. The cod came away in flakes, with the French fries being just as I’d want them.  The portion size was generous and the service time was around ten minutes, so I wasn’t left waiting.

    Overall, the whole visit was better than I thought it’d be, as it’s no doubt designed to appeal to tourists and that’s not always positive. However, it all worked for me. The food and drink cost around £9, I was quite happy with that pricing given the location. The atmosphere in the pub was calm and relaxed as well, with a community feel which suggests it’s not just visitors to the city who are the customers.

  • Vilnius – At Night

    Photos of Vilnius in the early evening….

  • Vilnius – Žalgiris Stadium

    This is the former home of the Lithuanian national football team. It’s obviously not now, as they’ve knocked it down, which seems a reasonable compromise for those who don’t like football. The national team now uses the LFF Stadium in the city, which has a maximum capacity of just over 5,500 which doesn’t really seem ideal compared to the 15,000 which this stadium could hold.

    The story of the country’s new national stadium is bordering on farcical and seems to have been constantly delayed. The EU offered to put funding into the project which was then sent out to tender. Two companies submitted bids, but one did it electronically and one did it in a sealed envelope. The sealed envelope bid was rejected, even though it was cheaper, although a court decision ultimately said this was legal. There are plans to start work on the project in late 2018, way overdue.

    There are a few remnants of the former stadium still visible, which I’m assuming will be demolished in due course. The stadium lights are though still in place, I wonder whether they’ll be part of the replacement buildings. There are apartments, hotels and shops planned for the new site, in an area of the city which is undergoing some considerable transformation at the moment.

    This is what is planned in the future for this site.