Vilnius II – The Gediminas Legacy: Prospektas to Kalnas

Travel

Drama HQ Vilnius
Drama HQ Vilnius
Gediminas is a name that crops up quite a bit in Vilnius – the main street, the central castle and tower, restaurants, etc. Gediminas was the powerful ruler who consolidated the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the early 14th century. Gediminas Prospektas, the city’s main avenue, runs from the north-west down to Cathedral Square & the Old City. The several previous names of Gediminas street (including Adolph Hitler Avenue) reflect ongoing periods of foreign rule (Polish, Nazi German, Soviet Russian). Gediminas Pr as befitting the major avenue in Vilnius contains most of the important buildings, the parliament, financial houses, international hotels, etc, as well as a busy “eat street” sector. Walking the length of Gediminas Avenue allows you to take in some of the Centras district’s most interesting sights. Foremost amongst these for me is the facade of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre with its fantastic, striking sculpture of three dark-garbed ‘witches’ (they looked like witches to me(?), like something out of Macbeth) in dramatic pose.

V. Kudirkas Monument
V. Kudirkas Monument
Further up on the opposite side is Vincas Kudirkas Square (named after a famous Lithuanian writer), a pleasant, calming patch of greenery set back from the street enabling visitors a respite from all that shopping and sightseeing. A fine, modern, linear sculpture of Kudirkas takes centre stage in the eponymous Square.

Lietuvos Basilica & Bell tower
Lietuvos Basilica & Bell tower
The eastern end of Gediminas stops at the large Cathedral Square (Katedros aikštė) which contains several significant architectural structures. The first ones you come to are the early 15th century Vilnius Basilica and its bell tower. The basilica, the most salient Catholic structure in Lithuania, is very grand in scale with white columns and domed roof in the neoclassical style. Although it is impressive and worth a look inside, I was more intrigued by the accompanying bell tower several metres way from the facade entrance. Bell towers like this, 57m high and free-standing, are fairly unusual outside of Italy. I was immediately reminded of Pisa and the Leaning Tower. This bell tower of course lacks the unique feature that makes Pisa so world famous, it’s exaggeratedly angled bent. The Vilnius bell tower is not however 180 degrees straight up, so it was suggestive of some comparisons with Pisa! Sharing the Square with the cathedral is the Gediminas monument (a relatively recent addition), an imposing sculptural representation of the Lietuvos warrior-king, unmounted, atop a very solid block of granite. On the other side of the cathedral, in the park near the National Museum, there is yet another sculpture of Gediminas which differs in form and style from this one.

Anglijos Ducal Palace
Anglijos Ducal Palace
To the right of Vilnius Cathedral (almost backing on to it) is the white Palace of the Grand Dukes. The palace is an attractive and impressive reconstruction of the original medieval rūmai (Royal palace). The Ducal Palace was part of the old lower castle and had an integral historical connexion with Poland. During the era of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth it was the centre of political power for both Lithuanian grand dukes and Polish kings. Later, after its glory days, it fell on harder times – at one point being quasi-demolished, then occupied by the German Wehrmacht during WWII and by the Soviet Youth Organisation. The current palace building is now a museum. Unfortunately our tight schedule precluded a visit inside, we had been allocated enough time only to do either it or the upper castle (the castle tower).

Gediminas Tower
Gediminas Tower
The castle tower, to give its full official name, Gediminas Pilies Kalnas (that man again!) is raised up on a hilltop above Cathedral Square. One of the local guides explained that, owing to Lithuania being a pretty flat country, hills, like this one, are commonly described as ‘mountains’. This concept is reinforced linguistically, the Lietuvos word for ‘mountain’, kalnas, is the same word used to delineate a ‘hill’, ‘hill’ is synomous with ‘mountain’ hence the Kalnas in this case, in reality merely a mound-shaped hill, covers both ideas. There are two ways up Castle Hill: riding in a funicular transporter (for a fee), or slogging it by foot from the park below, climbing a curved ramp-way with lots of loose, rough stones on it. The ramp slope is a fair distance to walk, but it is staggered, so not too steep. At the top on the hill mound you can observe the residual bits and pieces of the original castle complex (old arsenal, garden, castle keep & the tower – not much else of the original survives). As with the tower, from the edge of the hilltop there are great views of the Neris River directly below, and of the city beyond.

The castle part (the lower castle) of this fortification is long gone leaving only the (upper) tower, which possibly explains why it is referred to officially in Lietuva as Gedimino pilies bokštas (Gediminas’s Castle Tower), a kind of compromise on the original entity – it is also known as Aukstutines Pilies Muziejus (Upper Castle Museum). The national flag (or variations of it) has been raised and lowered from the tower top at regular intervals over the last five centuries (reflecting Lithuania’s fluctuating fortunes at the hands of external aggressors – Russia, Poland, Soviet Union). Patriotic Lithuanians cherish the flag and the castle tower as the enduring symbol of independence and nationalism. Across from the tower on the mound is another remnant of the earlier fortification. The tower (as it survives) is not terribly spacious, and houses a small museum. Most visitor interest, once inside the building though, is in negotiating the 78 steps which allows you to survey commanding views all around Vilnius.

Bronze sculpture of Lithuanian hounds
Bronze sculpture of Lithuanian hounds
Below the modest ‘mountain’ of Gediminas Castle is a large, attractive park (Bernardine Gardens), a tranquil green space with fountains, statues, an alpinarium and ponds. Try to spot a very cute bronze sculpture of three Lietuvos hounds (Skalikas) on one of the pathways. These gardens, backing on to the slim Vilnelė River on the east side, are an ideal location to stroll through or recline in.

Vilnius I, Senamiestis & Užupis: From Old Town to Artistocrazy?

Travel
GW Bush plaque GW Bush plaque

At the Town Hall in Vilnius we met up with Martina, a local student who was our guide for the walking tour. Martina’s tour took us down back alleys and lanes to lots of little out-of-the-way places, cafés and delapidated churches with tiny niches of green space around them. Apart from guiding us to see some of the best features of this small, attractively green city, the tour provided through Martina’s commentary an introduction into the way Vilnoise (and Lithuanians) think. We heard some little anecdotes that gave us a good insight. One of these involved George W Bush’s 2002 visit when he gave a speech strongly supporting the tiny country’s sovereignty. Lithuanians were so impressed with Bush’s words that they etched them on to a commemorative plaque at the Town Hall (Miestas). The Lietuvis government’s pride at being singled out for special notice by the US President turned to dismay however several months later when they discovered that Bush had recycled the self same speech, word-for-word, to all the other European countries he visited on that European tour. A bitter disappointment for the government in Vilnius, but despite this deflating backhander I noticed that they still kept the plaque up!

DIY decoration wall DIY decoration wall

Later in the walk we passed a long external wall decorated with paintings, pieces of ceramics with writing on them and other adornments. Martina explained that this practice was common to the city and told us about the visit to Vilnius by Thomas Harris, American author of Silence of the Lambs. Harris was apparently unimpressed and less than complimentary in print about Lithuania. Despite the adverse assessment the locals still posted Harris’ article up on the wall! Puzzled, I asked Martina why they would do that. The rationalisation she gave us was that because Lithuania is a small country, every mention it gets, even if negative, it is still recognition of “Little Lietuva” from the outside world, and therefore worthwhile for them to record it on the wall! This very quirky, acute awareness of their own smallness suggests to me that some kind of collective ‘complex’ prevails.

Border-crossing: Užupis across the bridge Border-crossing: Užupis
across the bridge

We explored the southern part of Pilies Gatve where Martina gave us some tips on which shops in the street have the best deals on amber (a Lietuvis speciality). Leaving the district of Senamiestis we crossed over a little bridge on the Vilnelė River into a whole new world – or so it would seem! The east side of the river is called Užupis (literally, “other side of the river”). As you walk over the bridge (keeping an eye out for the mermaid sculpture on your left below the bank), you will see a sign proclaiming “UŽUPIS RES PUBLIKA”. Outsiders might call the enclave of Užupis an artists’ ‘colony’, except that the locals call it the artists’ ‘republic’! It orginated in 1997 (pointedly on 1st of April!) when Užupis’ bohemian residents unilaterally declared ‘independence’ and formulated their its own (jocular) ‘constitution’, flag (the palm of a white hand), president and government, 11-man army, passport stamp issue, etc – democrazy(sic) gone mad some might say!

The origins of the Republic idea stem from 1995 when Užupis artists randomly adopted Frank Zappa as a sort of weird, hip “patron saint”, erecting a statue of him in the neighbourhood. Not that the experimental American rock musician had absolutely any connection whatsoever with Vilnius or Lithuania, but the local arty types just apparently took to him and decided to honour his memory.

Republican sculpture park Republican sculpture park

The “Free Republic of Užupis” is not officially recognised by anyone (outside of the avant-garde neighbourhood itself). I suspect that the city authorities (back across the river in Vilnius) accept it and humour Užupis”separatism’ because of the obvious financial payback for Vilnius tourism! Užupis is a sort of more grass-roots, wackier version of Paris’ Montmartre! Art works of various shapes and sizes, some of them, like the numerous manifestations of graffiti popping up everywhere almost organically. Užupis is flush with quirky, modernist sculpture parks & quaint little bookshops. Overall I got the impression that Užupis’ artists and residents don’t take either their art or the ‘Republic’ too seriously. And of course Užupis, as befits a community that endorses democratic modes of expression has its own DIY decoration wall for budding artists.

Šiauliai: A Place where Pilgrims Progress to and a Symbol of Lithuanian National Resistance

Travel

Although Lithuania is a small country, even by European standards, its a fair old drive from Vilnius in the south to Šiauliai, a distance of some 213km. Šiauliai (pronounced “shoo-láy”) is an industrial area in the north with the nickname, Saulės miestas, which means the “Sun City“. Driving along the main street of the town, Tilžės Gatvė, its clearly a small place but it looks fairly modern, if the Saulės Miestas shopping mall is anything to go by. We park the Mercedes near Resurrection Square and walked back to the plaza in Vilniaus G for a 150 minute reconnoiter of the town.

Modern public sculpture on Vilniaus ('Girl with Little pipe') Modern public sculpture on Vilniaus (‘Girl with Little pipe’)

The focal point of the township is ‘Cockerel’ Clock Square, one of Šiauliai’s principal landmarks with its Lord Nelson-like monument, a high column. This is the spot in the town which locals tend to use as a meeting point. After observing the various human interactions in the Square, we moved down Vilniaus Gatvė which we discovered was a very long plaza, the busy hub of the city in fact with clothes stores, cafés, restaurants and fast food eateries in plentiful supply. Šiauliai is not a big centre of tourism, the core business for the tourist info centre is to promote tours of the nearby, magnetic Hill of Crosses. Other items of interest in the street include various statues and fountains dispersed here and there (of particular note are the Pelicans’ Fountain and the ‘Girl with a little pipe’).

Down the other end of Vilniaus street is the Šiauliai Markets which are “small potatoes” by Riga’s (Centrāltirgis) standards. I skirted past the cheap fruit and veg and found a clothing and luggage section where I managed to pick up a replacement bag for my broken one and a warm jacket for the inevitably cooler weather further north. Opposite the Vilniaus street markets is a large grassy square called Sukilėliu kalnelis (Rebels’ Hill), where a monument honours local martyrs executed in the failed 1863 Rebellion against Tsarist rule. The city of Šiauliai is nothing flash but its a decent stopover to grab some respite from several hours of non-stop highway driving.

Hill of Crosses I Hill of Crosses I

After hurriedly picking up some lunch we returned to the vehicle and moved on to our real Šiauliai destination. The Hill of Crosses (Lt: Kryžiu Kalnas) is 12km north of Šiauliai. You turn off the A12 on to a road that arcs through flat, open land seemingly heading towards nothing in particular, and then suddenly there it is in the middle of nowhere, a small single building and parking lot which is the site’s entrance. Here, the administrative office has a ticket box and a toilet. An adjoining little pavilion is chock full of religious souvenirs, iconography and other devotional memorabilia.

Once inside the turnstiles, you still can’t see the religiously significant hill, there’s still is a surprisingly long walk along a winding path to get to the actual site. But when you get close to it, it is a bizarrely spectacular sight – albeit one a little disagreeable to secular minds and vampires alike! There is over 100,000 wooden and metal crosses, crucifixes and Christ on the Cross sculptures of all sizes and descriptions piled upon each other on the small hill, so many that they overflow down its sides, expanding the scope of the spectacle. So many crosses – it is of no wonder that Lithuanian people have a forté for Kryždirbystė (cross-crafting)! Despite determined efforts by the Soviet authorities to eradicate the collection of crosses, in fact even by eradicating the hill itself three times, the Hill of Crosses has survived as Lietuva’s national symbol of defiance to foreign oppression (be it German, the Teutonic Knights or Russian) and as the place of pilgrimage for devout Lithuanian Catholics.

Hill of Crosses II Hill of Crosses II

As I was walking back to the exit a silver metallic sign on the path in front of the Hill got my attention: it listed a vast list of things (over 40 points) that you can’t do on the Hill … can’t walk dogs, can’t ride bikes, can’t light fires or make camp sites, can’t smoke, can’t play music or otherwise make audible noises, can’t beg for money, can’t damage the crosses/crucifixes or abscond with the ‘Valuables’, can’t cut down trees or bushes, can’t dig up the ground, can’t pollute the waterways, can’t “spread sectarian strife” (my favourite of the prohibitions!), can’t interfere with processions of pilgrims, and so on and on! However, the sign does stipulate, several times, that the prohibitions apply only to “natural persons” – presumably this means if you are a zombie, alien or artificially created cyberborg, you are free to do whatever you like on the Hill!

Riga III: a Patchwork of Lutheran Spires, Antipodean Bars & Hipster Cafés

Travel

Dome Basilica
Dome Basilica
We decided to spend our final day in Riga staying close to Centrs and the Old Town, leisurely checking out one or two of the places Martīns had suggested we investigate. One thing Riga has no in short measure is churches, so we decided to have a closer look at a couple of the more illustrious ones. The two we visited were on either side of Ratslaukums. The 13th century Gothic-style Pēterbaznīca (St Peter’s Cathedral) in Skārnu street boasts a spire that was once the highest in Medieval Europe. Unsurprisingly then, it offers the best views of Riga from its tower (€7 entry fee, 2015); Doma Baznīca (Riga Cathedral), a monster of a cathedral amongst Baltic churches, is one of the most recognisable landmarks in Riga with its charcoal-coloured spire and weathercock (undergoing a bit of a facelift at the time we were visiting). Doma Baznīca is also famous for its formidably proportioned organ which contains a staggering 6,768 pipes!

Lutheran spires across the Daugava
Lutheran spires across the Daugava
We looked around for a low-key place to have lunch, and found one that suitably qualified, the Queens Pub, just round the corner from St Peter’s Church in Kalku street. The Pub (trying obviously to appeal to the growing hordes of English tourists) was decked out to try to recreate the vibe of a typical English working class inn – lots of football paraphernalia (club banners and shirts), dart boards, etc. To maintain the mood I selected the most Sasanach thing on the menu, the traditional pie and ale. The ladies in our lunch group, ignoring the faux “Anglo-ness” of the Pub, opted for a drop of Latvijan wine (fascinatingly I discovered on this trip that Latvia is the most northerly place that vintners can successfully make wine!).

The 'overflow' markets
The ‘overflow’ markets
When visiting Riga, one trip to the Central Markets (Centrāltirgus) is insufficient to take in the enormity of the Markets’ scope, so we ventured back for a post-prandial exploration. Whilst walking to the location I noticed something a little odd about the city trams frequently passing by. Many of these government trams were driven by women, but that wasn’t what I found odd, rather it was that most of the female drivers didn’t have uniforms, but were wearing light, summer floral-patterned dresses, the type that they might don for a leisurely trip into town to do the family shopping!

Later on back in Skārnu iela we happened upon a bar that you wouldn’t expect to find in tiny Riga, deep in the north of the European continent. The Kiwi Bar was a surprise discovery, replete with a wide choice of Australian and New Zealand beers on tap. Run by an Aotearoan expat, there was the predictable cultural symbols and icons on display, rugby balls and jumpers and pictures on the walls referencing representatively NZ fauna (ruminant mammals and flightless birds). It’s probably about the only place in Latvia where you can enjoy a Speight’s or a James Squire whilst watching cricket on TV … aside that is, from the Aussie Pub two blocks away in Vałnu street!

After drinks and an Antipodean catch-up in the Kiwi Bar we strolled round looking for a good, authentically Latvian place to eat, doing a spot of window-shopping on the way. To those in the know and interested enough to care about these things, Riga and the Rīdzinieki apparently have a growing reputation for hipness. I do not believe that this enhanced fashionability has any correlation with the fact that Riga has in recent years become the “go-to” destination for English lads looking for a cheap buck’s party! Centring around the fashionably arty street Miera iela (Peace street) is Riga’s version of ‘Hipsterville’, the young hipsters with fedoras, casual check shirts and skintight leggings are proudly there for all to see – typically, sipping an artisanal latte at DAD Café. In a shop window I think I spotted what might be the “next wave” of Rīdzinieki hipster men’s fashions, a whole series of outlandish, faux “gangster-hip” safari suits, devoid of any restraint in either colour or design! My personal favourite was the “cocaine-boss” outfit, a garish number with a pattern of black background and green coca leaves which covers the unfortunate wearer from ankle to neck!

Around Vecrīga
Around Vecrīga
We had dinner in Arsenāla street in the Parliament district in a restorāns called appropriately enough Alus Arsenāls. This name in Latvijan means “beer arsenal” & the layout certainly had the appearance of a beer cellar. It was located in a basement with wall recesses with faux beer barrels protruding from them; an arched ceiling tapered on either side gave a slightly cramped feeling. An alternate perspective of this might call it ‘cosy’ (the restaurant’s website describes it as having a ‘democratic’ atmosphere). It had a good selection of Latvian beers and we shared the alus plate starter (a bit too salty for my taste). For the mains I opted for pork chops with mushroom sauce, Latvian-style which tasted OK. I thought I’d give a local dessert a go, choosing something called ‘Ambrose’, a doughy concoction consisting of rye bread & creamy berries (the Baltic staters are very keen on rye bread, the blacker the better for them!). Unfortunately this turned out to be quite bland and unappetising. Overall I thought the meal was a bit on the expensive side, but maybe in Riga it costs extra to get that “democratic’ atmosphere” they were talking about!