Senamiestyje (In Old Town)

The Cathedral in Vilnius

Notice how this street suddenly becomes narrow...

Last week we started exploring Old Town, which is one of the largest medieval Old Towns in Europe (for more, see Wikipedia here). It is absolutely beautiful, even in early spring. On Sunday (aka April Fool’s Day), we set out to find the “independent republic” of Užupis, which is on the other side of the Old Town from us. Since I don’t like to walk around with a map in my face, we got lost a few times, but that gave us a chance to see more of the city. Many cobblestone streets narrow down to one lane, and some even turn into pedestrian areas unexpectedly (we’ve already decided there is absolutely no reason for us to drive this area – it looks like a nightmare to navigate!). At times there are wide sidewalks, others only a couple of feet or less. There are several large Catholic churches, and one Cathedral in old town.  Last weekend we walked by crowds of people out for Palm Sunday, many of them with evergreen branches (the equivalent of palm branches) – we got some handmade ones of our own. 

The flag of Užupis, at one of the bridges over the Vilna River.

Back to Užupis: once a year, this little area of town (re)declares its independence and stamps passports with their own immigration stamp. They also hold a ceremony every time their constitution is translated into a new language, often with Ambassadors from other countries in attendance. The constitution includes such articles as: "People have the right to live by the River Vilnelė, while the River Vilnelė has the right to flow past people."  Good stuff, constitutionally speaking! The diplomatic community is welcomed there. In fact, I found out later that I could have been appointed an Honorary Consul, stamping passports myself if I had alerted the authorities to my diplomatic status. If only…

There are lots of good beers here, although J has already insisted that we strike one of my favorites from our fridge. Evidently, the union that works for a subsidiary of a Carlsberg brewery voted to strike, but a Lithuanian court ruled that beer production is of “vital importance,” like medical supplies and drinking water, and therefore it is illegal for workers to walk off the line. You can read a bit more here. J. is standing in solidarity with the employees. I suppose there is a lot of German influence in beers here. The beers are usually listed in either light or dark varieties, and last night we found a third option of “farmhouse ales” – also quite tasty!

One of many churches in Old Town

We have yet to go to a traditional Lithuanian restaurant here, but surely that is on our list to try soon.  In the grocery store, we’ve found several interesting items that we’ve yet to try, such as forest mushroom flavored potato chips. Others, though, we’ve tried and liked, such as the spinach and cheese pastries and various types of sausage (the selection of meat is disproportionally large compared to the rest of the store!). Also, almost every restaurant serves fried bread, shaped like french fries, which usually comes with cheese sauce or garlic. It’s without a doubt unhealthy, but pretty tasty.

We’re going to see our first movie here soon – The Hunger Games, subtitled in Lithuanian. I’ve been looking forward to seeing it since I read the books last summer!