Another big breakfast at the hotel in anticipation of all the walking I would be doing today, and out the door around 9:30. Great news. They have Tabasco Sauce at the hotel - Halleloooya! How nice to have your fried eggs and ham with a dash of Tabasco - mmmmmm (can't wait for tomorrow morning to come around).
A note about the hotel. The receptionist when I first arrived wasn't very talkative. She spoke English, but I don't think she really wanted to. She understood me perfectly, but answered me in one syllable words. Very friendly though. Yesterday and today there was a different receptionist, and she was firing English at me a hundred words a minute. She spoke it better than I could - I had to ask her to slow down. She was very helpful. When I asked about getting to Trakai, she pulled out a piece of paper and said, "what time do you want to go. The bus is leaving in a few minutes."
I had to say WHOA! and asked about getting there on my own. Then she went into slow-down mode and gave me detailed instructions (like I was a 5th grader). Very Very Very friendly and helpful.
Now the breakfast ladies - WOW! Talk about friendly. They knew I wasn't from around town when they first saw me. I no sooner walked through the door than they were asking if I wanted my eggs fried, scrambled or omeletted - with ham, sausage, cheese or what!!!!! Extremely friendly and very very nice.
There were a lot of grouchy people staying at the hotel, and not everyone was very kind when the happy ladies approached them like this so early in the morning. I LOVED IT! And I really appreciated their attitude. I held my tongue though and did not say anything to the grouchy people, but I did look at them over the top of my glasses - I'm sure they understood what I was thinking.
Anyway, enough about the hotel. Off to the Art Museum.
Finding these museums is not easy. They are listed everywhere, but when you try to find them on a map, you have to deal not only with the name of the museum as it is given in English but also the Lithuanian as well. Hopefully you have a map that gives you both, but not hardly. I chanced on the Art Museum by sheer luck during my walk around town on Sunday, so I knew where I wanted to go first.
The Vilniaus Paveikslu Galerija or Vilnius Picture Gallery - http://www.ldm.lt/VPG/Index_en.htm
It's housed in a beautiful building right in the Old Town area:
The collection itself runs the whole gamut, but I really enjoyed all of the portraits of men, women and children over the centuries - styles that reflect their eras and influences from Poland, Russia, Turkey, etc. Some Lithuanian artists were also represented, and there were a lot of paintings of past leaders and dignitaries, royal and otherwise, of Lithuania.
About museums. There are people situated in every room of the museum, and I guess that's okay, but there seemed to be a lot of gossiping going on, and when kids were present, you got the feeling that the ladies in charge would not hesitate to slap a few wrists. Consequently, I behaved myself. One lady in one particular room was kind of annoyed that I had to get "very close" to her to look at a painting. I think I interrupted her checking her phone for messages (or porn?). Most of the ladies were very sweet, and I always said thank you when I left the room.
So, one museum down, and two to go. I was determined to do as much as I could indoors before heading back to the hotel.
Right near the art museum was the University complex, so I headed there. I stopped by and had a look in on Sunday, and decided I would visit later. It's a very beautiful campus with some extraordinary rooms and courtyards - http://www.vu.lt/en/ and here is another resource - http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Vilnius_University -
What must it be like to attend a campus that looks like this:
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Church_of_St._Johns,_Vilnius
Another very beautiful church. Someone was practicing on the organ during my visit. What a nice touch to the exploration.
"The Literra, which is located in the M. K. Sarbievius Courtyard, has kept its Baroque structure. The Littera is known for its frescoes, created in 1978 by the sculptor, painter and graphic artist Antanas Kmieliauskas"
Then there's the Philology Center - "The vestibule frescoes cover the upper walls and arches. They are entitled The Seasons and were painted by the artist Petras Repsys during 1976-1985. They represent subjects and symbols from Baltic mythology and illustrate an archaic world order."
It's like something out of a Hieronymous Bosch painting - unbelievable and extraordinary:
I was looking at a restaurant thinking about going in when Steen showed up and greeted me with "It's a small world." Indeed, it was great to see him again and catch up on what we had done since we last saw each other.
We shared contact info, and now hopefully he will be a part of my e-mail or FB blog friends, but hopefully we will stay in touch. I invited him for lunch, but he was going to be leaving Vilnius that afternoon, and had to move on. I hope you had a safe trip, my friend.
I did finally go into the restaurant I had been looking at, and I wasn't disappointed. As a matter of fact, I was enjoying my soup when another solo traveler sat at a table next to mine, and we started up a conversation.
He was from Germany and traveling again through the Baltics - a place he said he enjoyed visiting over many years. We talked about travel, and he gave me some good information for my upcoming visit to Germany. Great lunch, great company, and turning out to be an all around great experience in Vilnius.
My final destination for the day was another art gallery, but when I did finally get there, I was a little disappointed. It was a huge building, but it didn't have a lot on display. The walk there and back to the hotel was much nicer, and I finish my Vilnius adventure with these photos:
Tomorrow I head out for Munich, and I'll be getting there late in the evening, so I'll post if I can; otherwise, you may not hear from me until the next day.
Hope you enjoyed the trip to Vilnius
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment