Estonia	Part 3
	Latvia
	Lithuania

Friday 12 September 2014

Liepaja - Nida: 151km, 94 mi; 3 hrs

After breakfast we go and have coffee at Darbnica. It now starts raining heavily. We have to run back to the hotel in order to avoid getting too wet. After we check out I discover to my horror that my debit card is missing from my wallet. Nowhere to be found. Yesterday I withdrew money at an ATM nearby. We decide to go back there to check. The front desk attendant is a bit reticent at first, but then asks a few questions and asks for my ID. After some thought and discussion she says she normally does not give back found cards, and then she picks my debit card from a drawer. She says she heard the ATM squeak yesterday . I'm happy having my card back. My excuse is that in the Netherlands you take the bank card from the machine before you can get your money. Here your debit card comes out of the machine only after you have received your money and receipt. We better watch out then!
We drive through the rain to Klaipeda in Lithuania. We visit the Akropolis shopping mall in a suburb. Here we find a branch of Omnitel, where I want to buy a new sim card for the internet in Lithuania. The sim card is quickly arranged and is activated by the ladies in the store with their own phone. For 3 GB I pay about 5 euros. For the first time on this trip we have to pay with a different currency, the Litas. Until December 31, 2014 Litas is still the Lithuanian currency (1st Lt = 0.29). One day later Lithuania will join the Euro zone.
We drive on and within minutes we are at the ferry port for the ferry to the Curonian Spit. This is a peninsula of 98 km in length that separates the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon, a kind of lagoon. Within ten minutes we sail out for a crossing of 5 minutes. On the other side we drive for 50km on the Spit to Nida. The Spit is 3 km wide at the most and in many places even narrower. In Nida we find our accommodation in B&B Naglis. We have a very spacious room on the first floor overlooking the lagoon. This is a coast where a narrow isthmus shields a large lagoon from the sea. It is a freshwater lagoon. The Curonian lagoon and the Spit are shared by Lithuania (north) and Russia (south). That is, the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, part of the former East Prussia with its capital Königsberg, which was after the Second World War incorporated into the Soviet Union and renamed Kaliningrad, named after Mikhail Kalinin, co-founder of the communist party newspaper Pravda. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the area became part of the Russian Federation. Nida is located a few kilometers from the border. The Spit is attached  to the mainland on the Russian side.
We move into our spacious room and then go and have lunch in Ešerinė, down the street. Later we buy stamps at the post office, post cards at the tourist info and take the car and drive to the former summer residence of the German writer Thomas Mann (1875-1955). The great writer and Nobel Prize winner spent his summers of 1930 through 1932 here. He had a summer house built here by an architect from Klaipėda (then the German city of Memel). Mann described the residents as "not really handsome, but friendly". He wrote "Die Geschichte Jaakobs" and "Der junge Joseph", who were part of his tetralogy "Joseph und seine Brüder". The museum is not very special. Some photos of Mann and his family in Nida (then called Nidden) and a silhouette of his desk in his office made from wire and there is a replica of the chair that once stood here. However, more fun is a film that is shown, in which we listen to a talk that Mann held in 1931 for the Munich Rotary club about his summers in Nida. The text is read and historical and new images are shown to illustrate it.
After the Mann house we go and eat at Seklyčia on the waterfront. This is supposed to be finest restaurant in Nida. The food is great and the ambiance too, although they are missing a few details in running the place.

Weather: rain and 16°C/61°F. After 5pm it is dry

Saturday 13 September 2014

It has rained most of the night and this morning it is still wet outside. We eat breakfast in the small dining room. We are the only ones there. The other guests apparently not eat that early in the morning. Everything is ready and the owner makes  us an omelet with cheese.
After breakfast we go and drink some coffee, at least that's the plan. But before 9am nothing happens here. We therefore take the car to the viewpoint in the dunes. The dunes of the Curonian spit are a highlight of a stay in Nida. More than 50 meters high, they overlook both the Baltic and the lagoon. According to Thomas Mann (in his causerie 1931) you may find yourself as if in the Sahara. That's a bit exaggerated, especially when you take in the temperature. It is a beautiful sight. Next to the viewpoint is also a modern sundial from 1993. We go back to Nida and drink coffee at a small coffee shop. Then we rent bikes at one of the many bike rentals on the street. For 30 Litas we get a sport bike for the whole day. We cycle up cycle route 10 towards the north. First we follow lagoon side of the spit, through forest with occasional views of the lagoon. After 20km the route cuts through the headland and we arrive at the sea side. At a parking lot starts a hiking trail with explanatory signs (called cognitive route) to the top of the highest dune, Parnidis, of over 53 meters (174 ft). A footpath, partly reinforced with boards leads us to a viewpoint where we can see both coasts.
We cycle back towards Nida. Along the excellent paved bike path we come across many like minded people on rental bikes, but also locals who are looking for mushrooms. Apparently this is also a popular pastime in Lithuania. Just before Nida we stop at a tavern, where we have lunch on the waterfront in the sun.
In the afternoon we have a beer on our balcony. In the evening we eat at a restaurant in the center of Nida. Simple but tasty. At 7pm hours a large group of Lithuanians gathers in the dining room in front of the TV, because the national basketball team plays against France for third place at the 2014 World Cup in Spain. Basketball is a great sport in Lithuania. The country always ends in the top four at World Championships and Olympic Games. Tonight the Green-Yellow brigade must  bow their heads for France and loose 95-93.
Our sleep is put to the test by the festivities in the pavilion at the marina, opposite our B & B. The live music reverberates until 3am across the harbor towards our facade. Earplugs offer some relief, fortunately.

Weather: overcast morning, then overcast with a lot of sun. 22°C/72°F.

Sunday 14 September 2014

Nida - Klaipėda - Šiauliai: 221km, 137 mi;  3:30 hrs

Yesterday we got a cheese omelet at breakfast, this time an apple filled pancake. We pack the remaining pancakes as a snack on the go. We take the road to Klaipeda. It's cloudy, but gradually it clears up. We arrive around 9 am at the ferry to the mainland. We drive to downtown Klaipėda and take a coffee at the bar of the hotel next to the National Theatre. After coffee we walk to the theater square. From the balcony of the theater Hitler addressed the German population of Memel (as the city was then called) in 1939 on the occasion of the Retun into the Empire of this predominantly German-speaking city,  having been  annexed by the newly independent Republic of Lithuania after the 1st World War. At the time French troops watched the other way. In 1939 Memel was asssigned to Nazi Germany due to the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Hitler had arrived in Memel with his armored cruiser Deutschland. The German speaking Memelites were so excited about the new order that the traditionally good relations with the Lithuanian speaking population became completely disrupted. After the retreat of the German army in 1945 almost all Germans fled the city. Now just  a handful of German speakers still lives in the city. The theater is currently undergoing renovations. In the square stands the Anna Fountain, dedicated to the girl from the popular German folk tune "Änchen von Tharau". The composer came from Memel. We continue to Turgaus Gatve along nicely restored 18th and 19th century buildings. We turn left on Tiltu Gatve and then over the bridge. The bridge needs to be replaced. At the moment there is a speed limit for the city bus. We walk through past the grim music centre from the Soviet era and turn right into the Danes gatvė towards the German post office in 1893. A neo-gothic building that still serves as a post office. In 1914 a telephone operator remained at her post and gave a running report directly to the German general staff of the Russian advance into the city, when the rest of the population had taken to boats and temporary refuge on the Curonian Spit. She was later awarded an Iron Cross. We walk along the banks of the canal to the Castle Harbour. The castle was a defense against the Teutonic Knights, who controled Estonia and Latvia, until those countries  were occupied by Sweden and  later by Russia. It is partly renovated and is part of the oldest part of the port of Klaipeda. The quays are being renovated and there is now a promenade with cafes and restaurants. In order to get into the area we have to cross a swing bridge. It is manually operated by a couple of kids. In the harbor is an old shipyard from where you have a view of the current port, which lies more towards the Baltic Sea. This also where the foot ferry to the Curonian spit departs.

We take the car on the road again. This time to Šiauliai. This is another two hours away. We drive on the A1 motorway and then continue on the A12 dual carriageway. As we enter the provincial town we are saddened by the view of neglected Soviet Flats in very poor suburbs, which are only cheered up a bit  by an Akropolis shopping mall. Closer to the center, the buildings get less monotonous, but not really nice. The In the town we turn right twice to our hotel. Our heart misses a beat  at the sight of the street where our hotel should be. Terrible flats (Platenbau), which have not been maintained since the 70s, it would seem. There are a lot of relatively new midsize cars on the street, but the image is that of a ghetto. That is where we find our hotel Turnė. This also makes the impression that time has stood still since 1972. The reception is correct and our room small and oddly decorated (one two single beds with a large armchair in between) in 1970s style. Everything in orange and purple. The furniture is somewhat faded and outdated. The bathroom looks like recently renovated.
We walk to the center. The architecture is Stalinist , but the shops are well up to date. It's Sunday, but the streets are filled with walking couples and families. We eat at Varpa on Vilniaus street.

After lunch we take the car to Kryžų Kalnas, or the Hill of Crosses. This attraction is located 12km north of the city. It is a hill which in the pagan period played a role in ancestor worshiping, but it was after the anti-Russian uprising in the 19th century that the locals started to plant home made crucifixes in honor of the martyrs. This practice persisted in spite of pressure from the authorities. The Soviets buldozered the hill in the 1960s completely, but the crosses came back. In 1993 Pope John Paul II came to visit Lithuania and donated a special cross at the foot of the hill. A Franciscan monastery was completed in 2001 just north of the hill. The hill is completely covered with crosses. All are different and most are products of folk art and handicrafts. Visitors are full of respect for the sanctity and devotion of the place. We also see a group of young people who, accompanied by their village priest visit the hill to place their own cross.

Back in Šiauliai we eat at Arkos café in the main shopping street Vilniaus. The food is pretty good and the service professional. After dinner we head back to the hotel.

Weather: overcast in the morning. Clear skies and sunny with max. Temp 21°C / 70°F

maandag 15 september 2014

Šiauliai - Kaunas: 160km;  99 mi; 1:30 hrs

Breakfast at the Turne Hotel is basic, but we can order eggs to your liking. They have apparently run out of pancake flour, because we can not get any pancakes. After breakfast we drive out of town towards Kaunas, where we arrive at half past ten at hotel Babilonas on a hill just outside the center. We are kindly received and we can immediately the spacious room. We walk from the hotel down the hill towards the city center. On Vilnius Street in the old town we find a  lively atmosphere with many terraces and historic buildings. We eat at Izy-bar. After that we walk to the cathedral. Outside it is a austere Romanesque church, but inside it is a baroque affair with many decorations and paintings and a beautiful altar of Polish origin. The church was originally from the early 15th century commissioned by Grand Duke Vytautas the Great. We walk to the Town Hall Square, where we find the old town hall. It is now primarily a wedding venue. It was originally a church, and that is reflected in its shape. We walk on to the Episcopal Palace, the Trinity Church and the major seminary. A little further is St. George's Church and what is left of the castle of Kaunas. This was a bulwark against the conquering drift of the Teutonic Knights from Riga. We walk to the river Nemunas. Here is the Vytautas Church from the 15th century, which was desacrated many times to become an ammunition storage or a food storage and - like so many Lithuanian churches - as Orthodox Church. Now it's a Catholic stronghold. Beside it is the Perkuno Namas, once a club for the German speaking mercantile elite of Kaunas.
In the afternoon we go back into the city and have a cocktail at the Izy. We follow this up with a very good meal at the cellar restaurant Senieji Rusiai (meaning "Old Cellars") just opposite . We dine in the Napoleon hall, decorated with a mural depicting the Nemunas being crossed by Napoléon. Lovely food and excellent service. We return  to the hotel with the trolley bus.

Weather: sunny but cold morning: 8°C/46°F. Getting warmer in the afternoon: 18°C/46°F.

Tuesday 16 September 2014

Breakfast at Babilonas offers fairly broad range of options: cold meats, cheeses, cereals. No fresh orange. There are only four tables available. We take the trolley bus to downtown. A single ticket costs only 2.50 litas (€ 0.73). We drink coffee at a café called Vilnius and then walk to the former temporary presidential palace. Between 1920 and 1939, when Lithuania was independent, Vilnius belonged to Poland and Kaunas was the capital, as a second choice. The palace is now a museum. In the garden are statues of the four presidents who were  head of state during that period. In the garden we see a (temporary) photo exhibition on the events of 1915 when the  the German army drove the Russian army out of here during the First World War.
We walk on, side stepping from the Laisves aleja into an alley and arrive at the Gertrud church. This small church from the 15th century is completely hidden between the residential buildings around it. Unfortunately we can not get in. We walk over the pedestrian zone of the Laisves aleja and arrive at the post office. It has an Art Deco facade and nice authentic interior. This part of town was built in the short period that Kaunas was the capital and has a unity of style and planning. Kaunas will on this basis of the modern center make a request to get it on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Opposite the post office is the central park, including a monument to a student who set fire on himself in 1972 as a protest against the Soviet oppression. There followed days of riots, in which 500 people were arrested.
We walk to the Unity Square to Donelacio gatve. Here is a national monument with eternal flame. On the edge of the square stands the Great War museum. Besides many halls with guns, battles swords, guns and models, there is also a room dedicated to Dariaus and Gireno. These Lithuanians emigrated independently to the US and served in the US Army during the First World War. After the war they became airmen. Dariaus conceived the plan to fly non-stop from New York to Kaunas. He invited Gireno to be his co-pilot. The money for the enterprise was raised from the Lithuanian community in the US. The men bought a second hand plane that they named Lietuvica. They also took airmail with them, so it was the longest non-stop flight but also the first transatlantic mail flight. The adventure went wrong, as they crashed shortly before arrival in East Prussian forest. They became heroes in their homeland. Their bodies were embalmed in Kaunas and exhibited until the Soviets as to put an end to that in 1944. After independence they received an honorable grave just outside the city. The sports stadium in Kaunas is named after them and they are on the banknote of 10 Litas. In the museum there is a lot parefenalia of the flight, culminating in the complete wreck of the aircraft.
Next stop is the Church of the Archangel Michael at the end of the Laisves Aleja. It is a colossal building with a large dome. It is now a Catholic church, but has had several other functions and desecrations over time. The church is quite full of worshipers during a mass. Opposite the church is the Mykolo Žilinsko dailės Muziejus, the art collection of Mykolo Žilinsko dailės. This museum was founded by a wealthy Lithuanian for his own art collection. It is now managed by the state art museum. It is housed in a modern building fronted by an unabashedly big naked male figure, which has raised some eyebrows.
Later in the afternoon we go by car to the Pažaislis monastery. This is 7km east of the center in a park on the edge of a lake. The monastery was founded in the 17th century by a distinguished nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During the Russian time it was closed, later an American-Lithuanian order of nuns came to live here. The Soviets drove the nuns out in 1944 road and made it a mental hospital, but since 1992 the nuns are back. In one of the buildings there is now a conference center and restaurant "Monte Pacis". The courtyard and the monastery church in the monastery can be visited. It has a beautiful baroque interior. The exterior is unfortunately somewhat neglected and could use a bit of paint.
We drive back to the hotel and around 5 pm we go into town for a cocktail at Izy bar and dinner at the Town Hall Square at Medžiotojų užeiga, a restaurant specializing in game. Good food and not too expensive.

Weather: sunny, but a cold start 9°C / 48°F. Later it slowly warming up to 21°C / 70°F

Woensdag 17 september 2014

Kaunas - Vilnius: 101km, 63 mi; 1:20 hrs

After breakfast we drive into the center of Kaunas and drink coffee near the old presidential palace. After coffee we drive to Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. It is not far away and within 75 minutes we were there. We call Giedrius, the owner of the apartment, which we booked through Airbnb. He can be there in 40 minutes. He shows us the apartment and explains where everything is in the city. We're right in the center, near the Town Hall Square. Erik goes briefly to go shopping at a nearby Rimi supermarket. We have lunch and later in the afternoon we take a taxi to the three cross hill. We call a taxi company with a good reputation, Martono, because not all taxi companies are equally reliable. From the hill we have a beautiful panorama of the city. We walk down to the Cathedral, which we visit. The building has been thoroughly renovated in the 19th century in a kind of empire style. On the tympanum we see St Helena with a cross in her hand, flanked by St Casimir and St Stanislas, the patron saints of Lithuania Poland respectively. Statues of Grand-Dukes of Lithuania and kings of Poland have been placed on the outside of the building.  They seem to have been caught in mid gesture, which seems sort of comical. Inside, the Casimir chapel is the big draw in rather austere interior. The chapel is richly decorated. It is a gift of the first Polish king of the Wasa dynasty, originally a Swedish family.
We walk back in the direction of the apartment and we have a drink at the Town Hall. In the evening we have dinner at Bistro 18 i in Stikliu gatvė. A fine French restaurant with a short but nice menu. Fortunately, we have reservations, because it is fully booked.

Weather: initially fog and cold (3°C / 37°F), but later it was sunny and 21°C / 70°F

Thursday 18 September 2014

We have breakfast in our apartment and then go out and drink coffee at Vero Café on Town Hall Square. At 9:30 we meet our guide Agnieška who will lead us  through the city for 3 hours. We begin near the town hall. First she tells us about the history of the city and the foundation by Gedinimo in the 13th century. There are many churches in Vilnius Catholic, Orthodox, Ukrainian Uniates and maybe more. We see the Basilian gate, which gives access to the church of the Holy Trinity. This church belonged to a monastery, but was desecrated by the Soviets and converted into a metal factory. This building was seriously damaged. It is back in use as a church of the Ukrainian Uniates, a Catholic community with many external characteristics of the Orthodox Church (icons, the altar). We walk on and pass the church of the Holy Spirit, an Orthodox church, attached to a working Orthodox monastery. The design of the church is baroque and was designed by a Catholic archtitect. In its form, a basilica, it also looks a lot like a Catholic church. While we enter there is a mass in progress.
We continue to the gate of dawn. It is the eastern gate. There has been a painting with the Virgin on it attached to the gate . This painting miraculously withstood all kinds of disasters and fires and is highly worshiped. It is now in a sort of decorated  chapel in the gate, in honor of that painting. An open-air mass was celebrated  here in the street in front of the gate during the visit of Pope John Paul in 1993. We turn around and walk down Pilies gatve. We turn then right into Bernardinu street, a narrow street with small works of art on the wall dedicated to famous Vilnius residents, a kind of Wall of Fame.

This characteristic street leads us to two churches in Gothic style: St Anne's Church and Bernadine Church. St Anne's Church is very sophisticated with narrow turrets with ornaments. Napoleon was so impressed by the church during his campaign to Moscow in 1812 that he - in his own words - he would like to take it back to Pariin the palm of his hand. In reality, the church was downgraded by his troops to stable and the church was badly vandalized. The Bernardine Church is much more austere. KGB founder Felix Dzerzinsky had a printing workshop hidden in the basement to print communist pamphlets in the belief that the Tsarist police would never look for it here. We cross the fast-flowing, but shallow Vilnia river and arrive in the district of Užupis, a so called free state for bohemians and artists. Literally Užupis means "across the river". It was once one of the most unsavory neighborhoods of the city. When Vilnius got an art school the penniless art students, attracted by the low rents, settled here and this was how the district got its bohemian character. In 1997, the district declared itself "independent", similar to Christiania in Copenhagen. These days it has become a sought after residential area and even the mayor lives here. A famous son of the district is Felix Dzerzinsky, a communist agitator during the tsarist time, who later became a major supporter of Lenin during the revolution. He was given the task to set up the Cheka, the secret police, which later became the FSB and KGB. His former home is conspicuously without a memorial plaque. We drink coffee in Uzupio Kavine which has become the social center of the neighborhood on the river bank.
We walk through the neighborhood, along the "constitution", which is nailed to the wall in Paupio street in 15 languages. It consists of 39 articles and has three mottos: "Do not fight," "do not win" and "do not surrender". It contains some very peculiar - if not frivolous - articles. Article 1 gives people the right to live on the river Vilnele and the river the right to flow right past the people. The national holiday of Užupis being April 1 is a dead giveaway.

After this episode we walk into the old town to the presidential palace. It was built for the Tsarist governor of Lithuania, by an architect who did not know the location. The design, therefore, was too large for the intended plot and a street had to be re-routed in order to get the whole thing to fit. Next to the palace is the oldest university building. The university was founded in 1569 and has long been an important center of (Polish language) science. Later Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz (literature) studied here and took part in the Vagabond Club, a movement of opposition students against the Russian Tsarist regime. After the war, the University was "Lithuanianised" and currently has 14,000 students. Next we come through the Jewish quarter. Vilnius had until 1941 a huge Jewish community. It was the largest religious group in the city with approximately 200,000 members. The Nazis wasted no time after their invasion in 1941 to herd the Jews into two designated ghettos. The first ghetto was evacuated in 1941. The residents were killed in the forest of Paneriai. The second ghetto was eliminated in July 1943. In the meantime, the ghetto residents tried to maintain a community as much as they were able to. There was even a resistance movement, but it all had little effect. In Kaunas, where we were previously, the Lithuanians - even to the surprise of the Germans - enthusiastically joined in the Holocaust. Also to participate in Vilnius Lithuanians did the dirty work, these so-called wittebanders were extremely anti-Semitic. Some Jews managed to escape throuhg the sewers with help of the Jewish FPO resistance movement, but most disappeared to labor camps, extermination camps or were shot in the woods. There is remarkably little in the Jewish Quarter which reminds of the ghetto. On the site where the great synagogue once stood, we now see a kindergarten. Not even a plaque commemorates the historical significance of this place and the destruction of the community in 1941. There is a monument for Elijah ben Solomon (1720-92) who was an important Talmudic scholar who worked here. The neighbourhod is crammed with ugly Soviet style apartment blocks. After completion of the walk with Agnieska we have lunch in our apartment.

In the afternoon we go to the Jewish Museum. We walk through the Vilniaus Gatve and come along the St Catherine's Church, a beautiful baroque church, which now serves as a concert hall. The Jewish museum is unfortunately closed. However, we can visit the Green House, the Holocaust Museum. Here is a small but poignant exhibition about the systematic extermination of the Jews in Lithuania. Chilling is the precision with which the Einsatzkommandos performed their task and recorded it. Surprising are the stories of the very few who by luck, courage or cunning plans have managed to survive genocide . In the building is a replica of a family shelter. One of the members kept a diary. This diary was found after the war and on the basis of this diary a video has been made, which is shown in the reconstructed hide out. Hide out survived the clearing of the ghetto in 1943, but after that it went wrong. The hiding place was betrayed. The diarist was shot. His family escaped and joined the partisans. After the liberation they came  to the house and found the diary.
We walk from the Green House to Gedimino propektas, the main shopping street with all the beautiful fashion stores. We have a drink on the terrace at La Crepe. Nice location but lousy and unfriendly service.
In the evening we eat at Lokys (Bear), a restaurant specializing in game. I eat venison with mushrooms, Erik stew of beef and venison.
After dinner we take a nightcap at Cafe Montmartre, opposite our apartment.

Weather: cold start (10°C / 50°F), sunny later and 18°C / 64°F

Friday 19 September 2014

We drive to Trakai, about 24 km to the east. Here stands a castle, which is of great importance to Lithuania and its national identity. We arrive 40 minutes before opening time, so we drink some coffee at a local konditorei. As we enter a school group barges in. They are here to do a chocolate workshop. The castle dates from the 14th century, but was destroyed in the 17th century. For a long time it was left as a ruin. It was built for Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, the most important ruler of Lithuania in the 15th century, when Lithuania was a great power in Eastern Europe and the empire reached all the way to the Black Sea. In the 19th century, interest in the glorious past picked up, and there were plans for preservation and reconstruction of the castle. It took until 1962 when the Lithuanian Soviet decided to rebuild it. Moscow looked the other way at this act of national rehabilitation, but Khrushchev was reportedly furious when he heard about it. The result is very nice. The castle, located on an island in a lake, is beautifully situated. It occupies a strategic position and that was important in the fight against the Teutonic Knights, who tried  to conquer Lithuania and Latvia from Prussia. The castle is in mint condition, as if it was built yesterday. There is a easy route through the spaces in which a historical exhibition is set up about the history of the castle, the country and the archaeological finds from the surrounding area. It is crowded with tour groups, but it is just abut doable. After the tour of the complex, which also includes a historical museum we go back to Vilnius.
In Vilnius we have lunch in our apartment. In the afternoon we walk to the university complex in the old town. It consists of a series of buildings from the 16th to 19th century grouped around 9 courtyards. We look at them all. In the courtyards we see professors in gowns holding mini lectures for varying groups of students. It seems to be part of an induction program. It looks very academically. The St John's Church is part of the complex. Baroque exterior, rococo and richly decorated inside. The church was  temporarily a warehouse during communism. The university managed get back the church in the 1960s to  use it as a science museum. In 1991 the church was consecrated again. In one of the chapels old science books are exhibited from the time it was a science museum. The bell tower has an elevator and we cannot resist climbing it. The view of the city is very beautiful. You do not see  the whole city in one panorama, but is a lot closer.
In the evening we have dinner at La Bohème. It is a gran thing in a former church building. Nice , but unfortunately there is  a wedding party in an adjoining room and they make an incredible noise. We are happy when we are finished eating and we can go elsewhere for a coffee (Mama Mia). Later we take a nightcap at Montmartre.

Weather: sunny. Fresh start with 10°C / 50°F, but later 18°C / 64°F.

Saturday 20 September 2014

Vilnius - Vienna - Amsterdam - Rotterdam: 4:15 hrs flight

After breakfast we have coffee at Verocafé. Which only opens from 10am, so we just have to wait. It's raining slightly. We buy cheese at the Lithuanian cheese shop Dziugas on Vartu Ausros gatve, near our apartment as a souvenir. Then we take a cup of capucino in Montmartre, opposite from it. We are headed to the airport. At the airport, it is not so easy to find the drop-off place for the rental car. There are no signs to it. On a hunch we drive into the parking garage and we finally find the parking spaces for Europcar and other rental firms. Then we have to find the office. It appears to be in the arrivals hall, but where? There are two locations, but it is not clear who sits where. What a hassle. Then I have accompany the attendant to the car and back. The flight leaves on time at 13.45 and all goes well. The tight lay over (30 minutes) in Vienna, is more than sufficient. The planes are parked almost side by side. We are in Amsterdam just before 5pm. We take the Intercity Direct to Rotterdam and order Uber taxi home.

Weather: Vilnius cold and drizzle. In the Netherlands, sunny and 22 degrees

 

 

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