Vilnius is a great walking city and there is a lot to see here so planet at least two or three days, three nights, so you have time to relax and see what’s going on. I was lucky to be there during the new year even though it was snowy and cold. The people in Lithuania are extremely friendly and love talking with other people so you will most likely never have a problem there that can’t be taken care of easily. Taxi transportation is not expensive and the buses are tap to pay so it’s easy to get around.
This is the central area near the palace and the main cathedral where people gather even in the cold winter In the early morning it was not only humans walking around.This is one of the small stations on the way out of the city Just like in France they have decided to put a piano for people to play music and I was surprised how professional many of the people who played it were This was a really excellent restaurant The pork was extremely well done and tender, juicy and the pickled cabbage was very nice Even Monaco has an embassy here The main cathedral The Christmas tree in the plaza was a major attraction The Murray go round in daytime A service was going on in the cathedral When it’s available I find a candle in every church I go into and remembrance of my familyThis hero looks ominously like a Mongolian with his outfit So a Japanese descendent from Peru set up this restaurant?It was very cold and snowy I think this is Atlas A view from the top of the cathedral I didn’t visit this part of the castle but there were a number of people up there. Another view from the top of the cathedralNight time on the plaza The tower in front of the cathedral These are popular in Japan but this is the first one I’ve seen outside of Japan, a cat café When I first walked by there was one cat walking on the tableThe view from my hotel window was actually very beautiful Senior citizens get a significant discount on trains so I took advantage of first class and I got a free cup of coffee and a brownie, very tasty
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.
A spy camera 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 This guy was imprisoned here and probably killed but I thought this photo of him was an interesting attitude The whole way along the cells with visitors looking around The view outsideThe wardens area and relaxation room for the guards
samuel’s father created some art before he was killed.
One of the synagogues Another synagogue Drawings of the Jewish Quarter in VilniusOne 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.
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 The evident buildings are what is there now and the faint images are what used to be part of the old palace Some old things found in the foundation A map of the original palace Interesting artwork which reminded me of the swirls prevalent in Japanese and very old Celtic artwork Two smashing footwear seemed to be almost always the prevalent fashion Something for fun on one of the old furnaces An old throne procured from ItalyI recognized this immediately as German. I think it’s because of the black color
