Vilnius

18th September.

It's another warm sunny day, so after checking in to the hotel and dumping my bags, head out to the old city of Vilnius. The hotel is just across the road from the apparently famous Gate of Dawn. It is the only remaining gate of the several that once allowed passage through the city wall and above it is a chapel with a Madonna icon which is widely venerated. I think it was on the itinerary of the Polish pope.

Gate of the Dawn

My understanding is that although Vilnius was the centre of the Lithuanian kingdom in the medieval period it had become a predominantly Jewish/Polish city by the late 19th century.

According to Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vilnius

 "By 1897 the population was 40% Jewish, 31% Polish, 20% Russian, 4.2% Belorussian and 2.1% Lithuanian. Jewish culture and population was so dominant that some Jewish national revival leaders argued for a new Jewish state to be founded in a Vilnius region, with a city as its capital. These national revivals happened in Vilnius because it was one of the most tolerant, progressive and liberal places in a region, legacy of the tolerance deriving from the years of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania."  and "In the years 1920-1939 Poles made up 65% of the population, Jews 28%, 4% Russians, 1% Belorussians 1% Lithuanians. Lithuanians therefore were a very marginal minority (less than 3% immediately after World War I, and less than 1% later in the 1930s)."

The Nazi holocaust killed almost the entire Jewish population and the following Soviet occupation caused most of the Polish population to leave. Another beautiful city with a horrific history.

From the Gate of Dawn, it is a lovely stroll through the old city, dominated by baroque churches. I think the old city is more of a working city than that of either Riga or Tallinn and not quite so dominated by tourists although there are plenty. 

St. Casimir's, The First of Many Baroque Churches

By late afternoon I am in the main Cathedral Square. Makes me wonder what all the other churches were for. How many massive churches does a city need? Were they ever all full of worshippers? The cathedral itself is magnificent and there is an associated bell tower. 

The Cathedral and the Bell Tower

Classical front of the Cathedral

Inside the cathedral this king appears to be going in
to battle with a furled umbrella

Unlike St Isaac's in Saint Petersburg, this one comes with plenty of health warnings and in signing the guestbook I am confirming that I have read all the warnings, agree not to do any of the forbidden things, and accept the consequences. It is a fair climb to the top through the complicated wooden structure of the frame which holds the bells, which are all driven by electric motors! There is a great view from the top and as I am climbing down 5pm arrives and all the bells start ringing. They don't send me mad but they are loud and they can't be ignored!

One of the Bells

Wooden structure of the bell frame

View of part of Modern Vilnius across the River

Back at ground level, the Lithuanian army is rehearsing for some event, marching up and down, banging their drums and playing their bugles. Noticed that a lot of the people in the Baltic republics look quite Nordic, with naturally blond hair and blue eyes. In the case of the women there are quite a few Paris Hilton look alikes and I wonder whether what appears to be natural blondness is just due to better hair colouring than in Russia. But I don't think that applies to the guys in the army. Do they select the men for the ceremonial stuff for their good looks,  blue eyes and blond hair?

Lithuanian Army

Not long after the army finishes marching up and down,  I see a hot air balloon rising above the square and then another until there is a whole bunch of them. I feel there should be an appropriate collective noun for a group of balloons, maybe fall back on the patent jargon catch-all of a  "plurality" of balloons?

Balloons rising over the Bell Tower

Walk down to the river which is very pleasant and across to the other side where most of the buildings are new. Quite a contrast.

The Vilna River

Modern Apartments on the other side of the River

Later in the evening, walk into the main tourist area in search of dinner. Forto Doras looks popular and does local food so I go there where I share a table with a German couple, both retired, about my age who have come here with a foundation for promoting democracy. We have an interesting conversation in which they share their views about the intense nationalism in the Baltic republics and their fear that it could prove very destructive. They point out how small the populations of the three Baltic states are, Estonia <1.5 million, Latvia 2 million and Lithuania 3 million. I hadn't realised the numbers were so low.  Tiny even by Singapore standards,  about 5.5 million

19th September.

Went to the station to get my ticket to Kaunas tomorrow  (22 Lita, about US$8.2  ) and discovered that there is a small railway museum in the station. It doesn't compare with the one in Beijing but it has a few things of interest. 

Water heater in the Railway Museum is exactly the same as the ones on the Chinese Mongolian and Russian trains still running. The mug is the same as the Russian passengers were using. So much smarter than my plastic one from Wal Mart

Most of the information is in Lithuanian and English. Strange, since many of the exhibits are either from imperial Russia or Soviet Union days. I can understand why the significant Russian minority might feel excluded; it looks deliberate. If Silicon Valley can have signs in English Spanish Chinese and Vietnamese,  why can't Vilnius manage Lithuanian, Russian English and maybe even Polish? I can understand the backlash against the Russification during the Soviet era but repeating the injustice in reverse doesn't look likely to create a happy, harmonious society.

From the railway museum, head back into the old city and find some of the city wall which looks remarkably new. I guess there is a narrow line to be drawn between re-creating a medieval city square as they have done in Riga, which is undoubtedly better than what was there before, and re-building a city wall and bastion. Where does it turn into a medieval theme park.

Suspiciously new looking City Wall

Continue to explore  the small streets off the main tourist drag where there are still many buildings looking for some loving care and attention.

Typical Side Street with Beautifully Restored Buildings

 Stop for a bite to eat at a small restaurant with tables outside. I wanted to try the stuffed potatoes, "Zeppelins" but the waiter tells me they will take half an hour so I settle for the mushroom soup which proves to be a good choice since it is clearly made with real mushrooms, hopefully like those I have seen being sold at the side of the road; the waiter assures me they are fresh. "It is the season" he says.

At the end of the  street there is a map showing that this was one of two ghettos created by the Nazis into which all the Jews of Vilnius, about 30 000 were incarcerated. The able bodied and skilled were put in one ghetto, the, old, infirm and children were put in the other. This last group were murdered within months and the ghetto was closed. Those in the other ghetto survived longer, doing work to support the Nazi war machine but as the war drew to a close they too were murdered. Only a few hundred of the Jewish population of Vilnius are thought to have survived. Before the war Vilnius had over 100 synagogues; now it has one.

The Great Choral Synagogue. The only one remaining in Vilnius

The historic University of Vilnius is in the centre of the city and includes among its buildings yet another spectacular baroque church. For some reason I had never associated Baroque with this part of Europe but it was obviously incredibly popular. Its over-the-top  extravagance, flamboyance and flowery exuberance have never particularly appealed to me but I can't help but admire the imagination of the designers and the  craftsmanship of the artisans. I often wonder what the nobles or priests who sat down one day and said "Lets build a baroque cathedral", either a new one or a rebuilding of an older edifice were thinking. Was it to glorify God? To glorify the church, glorify themselves, to convince the locals of the power of God and the church or to prove their power and wealth to their rivals? Mine's bigger and better than yours! Was it just something that was expected of you if you reached or inherited such an exalted position in society?

An Extravaganza of Baroque

And an Impressive Organ

The baroque cathedral occupies one side of a beautiful courtyard in the university and it is obviously a functional university with groups of students wandering around and lecturers wearing academic gowns. This may have been a special day since there are tables laid out with coffee and nibbles.

Also in the university complex is a bookshop with wonderful ceiling frescoes, done in the 1970s I think,  and even more amazing frescoes in a room of the  Centre of Lithuanian Studies. Amazingly these weird, almost nightmarish, paintings intended to show an age of chaos and disorder  were done during the Soviet era when such  unconventional artistic expressions could send you to a mental institution. Can't imagine many British vice chancellors taking kindly to the idea of such murals in one of their departments. 

Ceiling Frescoes

This guy had a weird imagination

Did this or the three dancers in the Riga Park come first?

From the university, I  went down to the  cathedral square again where the army were doing their ceremonial duties for real, with a raft of dignitaries watching and lots of military police keeping the rest of us out of the square. This time they had sailors as  well as the army.

Hello Sailor

After they finished I went up the funicular to the remains of the castle at the top of the hill. Fantastic view but not much to seen apart from the views. Walked down. Wouldn't want to try it in icy or even wet weather since the rounded cobble stones were not foot friendly even in the dry. 

Castle on the Hill

Walking back towards the hotel I came across a small street parade but never found out what it was about.

Street Parade

Street Parade

In the evening went out to a place suggested in the free guide, not far from the hotel but once away from the tourist zone, the streets look quite grey and forbidding. I think too long living in Singapore has convinced me that any building without illuminated shop windows should be painted in bright colours and floodlit as being of historical significance. Walk past the place once before realising my mistake. Inside, it is a very blokeish bar where everyone is drinking pints of beer. I order a beer and the sausages which are good pub grub. Just after sitting down with my beer the larger of the two barmen strong arms one of the patrons out through the door. The now ex-patron leaves quietly. Not sure whether this is in the face of overwhelming force or the ejection is a put up job "pour encourager les autres". I resolve not to complain.