Not Staying Home Today: A Walk Around Vilnius

Hello Everyone

I'm going to stop doing the "first impressions" thing. I'm going to wait and do a little discovery before I say anything not nice about anyplace I go. Yes, there is a lot of graffiti everywhere, and it is just terrible because this is such a beautiful city. I hope that they are doing something about getting a handle on it. Obviously, the places I visited today were free of it, but go one block either way, and you start to see it everywhere.

Having said that, I'm going to move on. Because I took a walk through the city today, and it is beautiful. I should warn you that there are going to be a lot of pictures of churches - because they are everywhere! But there are some big beautiful pastel-colored buildings, and quaint restaurants, and signs, and it is one of those places that keeps pulling me in one direction and then another. You know what I mean. I'm walking toward something, and all of a sudden something catches my eye, and now I'm headed in a different direction. I am easily distracted. You can imagine the words, "Oooh, what's that?" - running through my head every few blocks, and there I go camera at the ready.

The hotel turns out to be a good bargain, and the room is big and comfortable with all the amenities including free WiFi and breakfast included. So I headed to breakfast this morning - OH, I forgot to post it on FB, so here it is:

What a spread - hot and cold dishes - (you have to be careful when you ask for sausage in foreign countries (I learned this with pizza as well) - sometimes you get hot dogs. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just the taste buds in your mind expect something different. As you can see, I loaded up for the day ahead - not one to skim on a good meal when I have a long day of sightseeing ahead (actually, I never skimp, period). Anyway, this was only a sampling of all that was available.

I'd read everywhere that most of what you want to do and see in Vilnius is within walking distance, and that is pretty much true. After all the walking I did today, there were still areas I would like to explore tomorrow, especially since most museums are closed on Mondays anyway. There are some parks I caught a glimpse of towards the end of the day that look inviting, and there is also a river walk.

Vilnius has a lot of history, and if you are interested, you can get some really good info here:
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Vilnius

But here is some in a nutshell:

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 539,939 (806,308 together with Vilnius County) as of 2014. Vilnius is located in the southeast part of Lithuania and is the second biggest city of the Baltic States.

The first known written record of Vilnius as the Lithuanian capital is known from Gediminas' letters in 1323.

Vilnius is known for its Old Town of beautiful architecture, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Its Jewish influence until the 20th century has led to it being described as the "Jerusalem of Lithuania" and Napoleon named it "the Jerusalem of the North" as he was passing through in 1812. In 2009 Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture, together with the Austrian city of Linz.

Well, I had to go out and take a look for myself.

I mapped out a route from my hotel that would take me to the closest sites first, and then make a circle that would eventually bring me back home in the late afternoon.

So, my first stop was St. Nicholas Church, just a few blocks away -
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Church_of_St._Nicholas,_Vilnius

Since today is Sunday, most of the churches I visit today will be having services or services will have ended by the time I visit. That was the case here. I got there just as services were ending, and I was able to take my photo of the interior without disturbing anyone.

Unlike other cities, all of the churches I visited today allowed photography without flash, and none charged to enter.

Yesterday when I arrived, I headed right past the church noting I would be back today, and headed for the closest restaurant to get something to eat. I was pretty impressed with the square, but it was just a taste of what was to come.

This looked like a woman in a very big dress.

And this is Town Hall

Walking past the Town Hall, I came to another very large ornate church, St. Casimir's Church -http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Church_of_St._Casimir,_Vilnius

There are a lot of unique shops and hotels in the area as well:

Most of the tour guides were avoiding that very large opening you see in the last photo which made me very curious. So, I walked through and this is what I found on the other side: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Greek_Catholic_Church_of_Holy_Trinity_in_Vilnius


I think I saw this clock in a Disney film???

Back through the gate and more stuff:

And right across the street was the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit - http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Orthodox_Church_of_the_Holy_Spirit,_Vilnius

The Orthodox church in Riga did not allow photos, but they were allowed here.

the remains of Saints Anthony, John, & Eustathios

Next up is the church of St.Teresa's Church -
http://www.inyourpocket.com/vilnius/St-Theresas-Church_58716v

And right next door is the Gates of Dawn - http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Gate_of_Dawn

A religious service was going on while I was there. You can actually access the small chapel through a stairway on the right-hand side. I tried to get up there, but it was filled with people from top to bottom.

So, I started heading back, and saw this along the way:

As you can see, there are lots of churches in Vilnius in various stages of repair & disrepair

The river walk I was talking about - will check out tomorrow - leads to the park

As I was walking this way and that, I saw that church on top of that hill, and decided to go check it out. It also meant having a better view of the city, so up I went:

Another view of the river before I head up the hill

A view from the top

The church turned out to be a ruin, but a magnificent one at that.

So, I headed back via another route, and this is what I saw, first, The Bastion of the Vilnius Defensive Wall - http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Wall_of_Vilnius

And more stuff;

And another church - The Russian Orthodox Church of St. Parasceve -
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Church_of_St._Paraskeva,_Vilnius

And more stuff:

There were people selling flowers everywhere

Then another church - this one was the Church of St. Anne -
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Church_of_St._Anne,_Vilnius

Then some more stuff:

Students painting St. Anne's Church fm another angle

An advertisement for art....

Reminded me of Las Cruces, NM - three crosses on a hill

The University of Vilnius is a complex of building right in the middle of everything - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilnius_University

Most of the campus was closed, but I was able to take a couple of pics: