Vilnius museums

KGB detention center

Lithuania is a great place to visit. The main city which is Vilnius as a lot of very interesting things to see including museums. But you will find also that it is not a very expensive city and the people are extremely nice and interested in speaking with everybody which makes it extremely adventurous. I started off going to the KGB detention center which is partly recreated but a lot of it is still intact.

Zelinsky photo Vilnius museums
Zelenskyy biography Vilnius museums
Detention center description Vilnius museums
Waiting Cell Bill Smale
Inspection Cell Bill Smale
Spy camera Bill Smale
A spy camera
Painting over walls Bill Smale
In one of the cells there is an explanation that they have been painted up to 18 times over former paint because the inmates draw messages on the walls so they just repaint the wall. This is a portion of a wall which was painted over many times
Interesting attitude
This guy was imprisoned here and probably killed but I thought this photo of him was an interesting attitude
Visitors looking around
The whole way along the cells with visitors looking around
View outside
The view outside
Guard room
The wardens area and relaxation room for the guards

Samuel Bak Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Bak

Samuel Bak museum

samuel’s father created some art before he was killed.

Synagogue
One of the synagogues
Synagogue
Another synagogue
The Jewish quarter
Drawings of the Jewish Quarter in Vilnius
Early artwork
One of Samuel’s early artwork

one museum mentioned the way the NAZIs took care of the Jews in the Balkin states, they didn’t move them to any concentration camp, they just took them out into the woods dug a big hole, killed them and pushed the bodies into the hole.

Palace Museum

Sigismund the Old and Central Europe

In its conflicts with Lithuania, Muscovy often received support from the Habsburgs, so Sigismund the Old endeavoured to reach an accommodation with the Holy Roman Empire. Sigismund the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania; his brother Wladyslaw Jagiellon, King of Bohemia and Hungary; and the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I met in Vienna at the First Congress of Vienna in 1515. They decided to arrange marriages between the children of Wladyslaw and the grandchildren of Maximilian I. This would allow the Habsburgs to accede to the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia after the deaths of Wladyslaw and his son Louis (1516-1526). This concession helped Sigismund the Old end Habsburg support of Muscovy. Emperor Maximilian I returned the favour by facilitating the betrothal of Sigismund the Old to Bona Sforza. Sigismund the Old tried to present Lithuania to Europe as a bastion of Catholicism. He asked the Pope to canonise his deceased brother Casimir. In this way, he hoped to preclude any alliances between Muscovy and Europe’s Catholic lands – primarily those of the Habsburgs and the Teutonic Order. In forming dynastic unions with the most powerful royal families of Europe, and with the support of Poland and Lithuania, the Jagiellonian dynasty nurtured a grandiose plan of creating a huge union of states under their rule in Central and Southeastern Europe. The Jagiellonians came closest to this goal in 1471-1526, when four states were under their rule: Lithuania, Poland, Bohemia and Hungary. Later the Jagiellons’ influence in the region waned. The last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia, Louis II, the grandson of Casimir Jagiellon and son of Wladyslaw Jagiellon, died in the Battle of Mohács against the Turks in 1526. His sudden death critically changed the situation in Central Europe. A large part of Hungary ended up under Ottoman control. Since the fallen young king did not leave an heir, in accord with the agreement reached in I515 at the First Congress of Vienna, the Hungarian and Bohemian thrones went to the Habsburg dynasty.

Old foundation
The old foundation of the palace which was destroyed. The palace and museum which is here now is something that was rebuilt recently as a museum
Map of the new palace
The evident buildings are what is there now and the faint images are what used to be part of the old palace
Old things
Some old things found in the foundation
Original palace
A map of the original palace
Swirls
Interesting artwork which reminded me of the swirls prevalent in Japanese and very old Celtic artwork
Old footwear
Two smashing footwear seemed to be almost always the prevalent fashion
Something old for fun
Something for fun on one of the old furnaces
Italian throne
An old throne procured from Italy
German armor
I recognized this immediately as German. I think it’s because of the black color

Walking around Krakow

if you visit Poland I highly recommend this as the top one or two cities to visit. You will need at least two days, maybe three days if you’re going to visit the concentration camps which in themselves are a whole day tour.

Hey beautiful model around Krakow
A beautiful model
Musician around Krakow
A very good accordion musician. I will insert a video below.
Heated restaurant around Krakow
Nightlife in a heated area outside the restaurant
Getting around town
This is one way to get around town. People would definitely watch you. Below is the video.
Main square Bill Smale
The main square
A lot of people
Even at night time there were huge crowds for the Christmas celebration
Castle Chapel
The castle chapel
Castle
The castle
A view
A view from the castle Chapel Tower
Chapel domes
Beautiful domes as part of the chapel
Castle courtyard decorations Bill Smale
Beautiful artwork inside the castle courtyard
Castle Courtyard Bill Smale
The castle courtyard
speakers stand Bill Smale
From this store an important person can appear and direct people in the courtyard
Make a Polish word
Add “SKI“ to a word and it becomes Polish.
Schindler’s list alleyway
This alleyway was in the movie Schindler‘s list
Hare Krishna musicians
These are Hare Krishna musicians. I haven’t seen them for maybe 45 years. The last time was in the San Francisco airport.
Main square tower
The main square tower
Religious store
There are a member of shops like this selling religious artifacts
Shopping arcade
A shopping arcade. I have been in so many of them I can tell you exactly what’s inside without going in
Famous guy
You can look him up if you like. Obviously he was famous
Beautiful architecture krakow
Beautiful architect
A beautiful model
Another beautiful model
Polish word
Another English word with “SKI” making it a Polish word
Beautiful Christmas tree
This photo just turned out nice
Beautiful decoration at the train station
As you get off the train this was the first thing I saw. Very beautiful
Another Polish word
Another “SKI”
Traveling Christmas tree
The roving Christmas tree pulled by an old trolley car. It went all around the city
Concerning barbershop name
a strange name for a barbershop but the razor in the logo gives me a little concern combined with the shop name
Strong door
This is a strong door
Kids having fun
Kids were having fun with this famous bronze statue
Jewish
A Jewish bookshop and tour agency which is kind of interesting. It looked closed when I was there so I didn’t bother to try togo inside