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March 18, 2005
Jen and Lisa's Baltic Adventure - Day Four
Today has been the most leisurely of our travels so far, in large part due to the uncomfortable feeling left by the traditional Lithuanian food at last night's restaurant. (Note to self, Polish traditional food made you sick, Lithanian traditional food made you sick, STOP eating traditional Baltic food!)
After breakfasting in our room, we went back to visit the market stalls. Although it was after 11 a.m. by the time we got there, many of them were still empty, so we went to a coffee shop and talked about our plans for the summer. Not surprisingly, we came to nothing conclusive.
With coffee and tea settling my stomach, we wandered back to the market, where Lisa looked for gifts and I looked for myself. (After all, you're happy when I'm happy, right?) She ended up passing on the many wares, but I found a painting that I just loved. Of course, it's too big to tote around the Baltic, but the guy was kind enough to wrap it up for me in a garbage bag. We'll see how it goes.
For the afternoon, Lisa and I parted ways: she's visiting a museum of modern art and I'm getting ready for my interview--which starts in a half hour, so I better get to it.
Update: Well, here I am at the internet cafe again...I just can't get enough. Actually, Lisa wanted to check her email, and I thought this would give me a good chance to upload the photo of the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which we just happened upon during a walk this evening of the northeast section of town. I thought the guidebook description missed the irony of this statement:
Of fifteenth century origin, the church was rebuilt as a three-aisled basilica in 1668...to be a celebration of Vilnius's deliverance from the Russians.
How little did they know just how well they would get to know the Russians over the next 350 years!!
The interior looks cold and grey at first sight, but on closer inspection comes alive with gloriously over-the-top stucco work, featuring cavorting cherubs, rich foliage and exotic plants laden with fruit. The whole ensemble was conceived by Italian craftsmen Pietro Perti and Giovanni Maria Galli, who spent eleven years cramming every available centimeter of the upper walls and ceiling with over two thousand moldings.
Actually, the interior must have been recently painted with a veneer of white, because it positively glowed--I seriously worried for my eyesight (has anyone ever gone church-blind?). We actually dropped in and caught the last 15 minutes of a Friday night mass, where the pious Catholics of the city had gathered to kneel in every conceivable spot (some even chose to kneel directly on the ground with their noses two inches from the wall--some bizarre penance, I suppose). It was strange and fun to be in a Lithuanian mass, but I was relieved when it was over, because I was beginning to swelter in my fluffy down coat.
After the final benediction (I suppose, for it suddenly the entire congregations was voraciously crossing themselves), the people filed out, with some remaining to kiss the various crosses, and an entire line of people waiting to see the priest (to confess?), who was young enough to be an alterboy. Lisa and I wandered around for a bit, gawking at the obscene amount of decoration. We desperately wanted to take pictures, but felt it would be inappropriate given the people still hanging about (and some of the old women looked like they were just waiting to give us a poke with their umbrellas). So we left after a quick gape at the stucco figure of Death "prancing mischieviously" on one side of the main door, said to mark the grave of the military commander-in-chief on whose initiative the church was built.
Now freezing cold (the temperature is only supposed to hit -11 degrees Celsius tomorrow), we hurried along a "bad" part of town that is being renovated, and admired the architecture of the old houses. Then we found a pizza place for dinner. While the service was the traditional Lithuanian "grouchy", the pizza was delicious. Much, much better than the zeppelins of last night.
We hurried home, but decided on a quick trip to the internet cafe before bed. So here I am, with a full update for the day. Tomorrow we hope to hit the Genocide Museum (the city's old KGB headquarters) before catching teh 12:40 p.m. bus to Riga. With any luck, we'll be ensconced in a new hostel by 7 p.m. tomorrow night. The current theory is that we'll have direct internet access there, so no more cafes for the time being.
Comments
Should I be looking for a picture in the mail?
Posted by: Sheila at March 18, 2005 04:54 PM
