Eastern Europe: Day 4 - Vilnius, Tallinn

For my last half-day in Vilnius, I went to some (more) Churches that I had not been able to get into. They are all very nice - I just hope I remember which is which when I go back through my pictures. The only place in town I did not get to was the Museum of Genocide. I am not sure if that is an accurate name or not; the Museum is about the Soviet Occupation from 1944-1990. I don't think there was much of a Jewish population here - they are almost all Catholics here. Still, it is not for me to challenge. This was a major new museum, and I am sorry I could not get in to see it.

I am fearing the worst with this airport, so I get there about an hour and a half early. Based on the Soviet-era looks of the join, I am envisioning hours of waiting to get on a plane. This was not the case. There is no waiting. Literally, none. There is no one in line at check in and no one in line at security. The security guy looked to be in his mid-50s, and he looked like he had seen it all. As "tough" as security is post 9/11, I bet it was a piece of cake compared to the days of the USSR.

The flight was fairly uneventful. It was on AirBaltic. I was a bit worried, but I figured, if this is the end, it has been a good life. That put my mind at ease until we came in for the very rough landing. I recanted - there is much I need to do, still! The airport in Tallinn, Estonia, and again, there is a very nice, very new airport. This one is in a floated concrete, wood and glass theme. Very stylish, but I bet it will look like crap in 20 years.

I am staying in the heart of old town, an incredibly charming old town. There is no other way to describe it; it is absolutely amazing. Like Prague, but with a minimal number of cheesy, tourist shops. Everywhere you turn, the old town, is picture perfect. Only one problem - it is cold! Somewhere in the 40's (maybe) and windy. The Minnesotan in me refuses to admit that I'm uncomfortable (this does not even qualify as a "little cold"), so I press on. I make my own walking tour route through town, including a climb up St. Olaf's church, which offers magnificent views of the city. Unfortunately, that means you are up high, and my fear of heights kicks in again. These will not be my best photos.

I have dinner at traditional Estonian' restaurant, which was quite good. Yes, there were potatoes and some type of cream sauce, but the food was good, aside from the pickled pickles (double yuck). I end up chatting with an Australian couple, who was having trouble adjusting to the cold (I had wondered where people who live in a country with an almost perfect climate go for vacation . Estonia, is apparently the answer). They had arrived recently, too, and the one thing we both agreed upon was the lack of warmth with the Estonian people. As charming as the city is, that did not transfer to the people who actually inhabited it. In most every shop or store we had walked into, we got the distinct impression they would be happier if we were not there.

I found a decent bar that night to watch some footy matches. I retract what I said about wanting the distribution rights for all Baltic Beers. Latvian beer = excellent. Lithuanian beer = very good. Estonian beer = tastes like @ss. A le coq sucks. And I gave it many tries - still, it did not improve.

Tervist!

Eastern Europe: Day 3 - Vilnius, Uzupio

I learned more about the language and history of Lithuania today. Apparently, even though the three Baltic countries are very close together and get grouped together, their languages are extremely different. I thought it might be like Spanish and Portugese, but not at all.

Back in the commie days, the older generation had to learn both Lithuanian and Russian. Now, they learn Lithuanian and English. I was speaking with a Lithuanian, who spends time working in both Latvia and Estonia, and I asked what language do you use when you travel there? English.

What about Russian, I asked. I mean, if everyone had to learn it growing up, and since they are such a large trading partner, could not you use that instead? "Sure, you could use it," she explained, "but you wouldn't get an answer. You don't use Russian unless you want to drive someone away." The reason why everyone speaks English so well is becoming better understood by me.

The other thing I have noticed about the people here is they are white. I mean, really white. There are no minorities visible here at all. I think I have seen one Japanese, and they were a tourist. Everyone else here is very white, tall, and thin. All the women are like this - they all have that tall, thin look with interesting faces that advertising agencies look for in their models. They are everywhere. Even through the country has only 3 million people, they could easily find enough women to have a Supermodel reality show here. (Not a bad idea, actually - Lithuanian's next Supermodel! The winner gets a US green card)

I spent the evening in the "Republic" of Uzupio. This is a neighborhood of Vilnius, which on April 1, 1997, declared itself an independent republic. No one knows how serious they are about being independent, but they declared it and have a constitution of rights posted in several languages. The whole neighborhood is largely run down and inhabited by artists. It is very quirky and odd - they tore down a statue of Lenin and put up one of Frank Zappa (what is the connection between Frank Zappa and Lithuania? none.).

The Constitution has quirks of its own, such as declaring that all people have the right to be happy; it also states that people have the right to be unhappy. It reminds me a bit of my undergrad university, UNC - Chapel Hill: no matter what the protest group, there was always a counter protest group. Also listed as a right was the right to hot water. I think we in the west take that one for granted, but in the former Eastern Block, yeah, I could see that being a good right to state. Despite the bohemian flavor, Uzupio has one of the best restaurants in town, called Tores, which offers spectacular views of the city.

For more on Uzupio and the Constitution:

History of Uzupio

Constitution of Uzupio

Eastern Europe: Day 2 - Vilnius, Trakai

I spent the morning on a tour of the old Royal Castle, called Trakai, located about 45 minutes from the city by bus. The tour is all in English, but it appears to be mostly folks from either Scandinavia, Russia, Germany, or somewhere else that they don't speak English. I feel very fortunate English was the lucky language chosen.

The tour guide is very good and she talks a lot about Lithuanian people and history, with a good deal of sarcasm mixed in to her stories. I like this tour a lot. She made a lot of jokes about how they were not completely barbarians in the early days (just partially). She explained the history of the country - how it was a huge empire, then it was small, then non-existent, then it was back for 20 years, then gone in WWII, then back again. Still, most of the people in the country are Lithuanian (about 85%), with the rest either Russian or Polish. I don't know that I could tell the difference in looks, but it is a point of pride that the country has maintained their Lithuanianness, so I let it go. The Soviet hatred is beginning to come to the surface.

The castle was built by the first - and only king - in the countries history. After that, there was a dispute over who would be the next king, which was never resolved, so they ended up with a long series of dukes and arch-dukes. The leaders however were fairly progressive for the 1300's, with their views towards religion, property and rule of law. We learn the castle was a central defense against the Crusaders. Yes, those Crusaders. Apparently, Lithuania is on the way to the Holy Land. They fought against the Crusaders for 200 years. What was even stranger about this conflict is the country had converted to Christianity, through its association with Poland. Still, apparently that conversion wasn't enough (wrong brand, I guess)

On the ride back, we learn more about Lithuania, the education system (20 universities for a population of 3.2 million). Economically, the country has suffered like others. They are not on the Euro, but hope to be (someday…). We ask her about the differences between the three Baltic counties - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Although we group them together, they apparently can not be further apart. The Estonians have modeled themselves on Finland, and they see themselves more as a Scandinavian country. Their language, economic system, and government are all based on Finland. Latvia, we learn, has a large Russian population, which causes tension in the country between those who want closer ties with the west vs. the Ruskies. Lithuania, is an island, they feel. They are not close enough to Scandinavia, so they needed another country to work with closely. Germany is too far away for any meaningful ties, and Russia - "Uggghhhh!!! Never!!!". That leaves Poland, which they don't feel is any better than themselves. There is a healthy bit of sarcasm in a Lithuanian's speech; have I mentioned how much I like it here, lately?

I spend the afternoon going through old town and exploring churches. There are a lot of them. Most are Baroque in style and Roman Catholic in brand. The ones that are open are spectacular inside; unfortunately, a lot of them are closed. They don't have the funds to repair or renovate them. For anyone who is a church-junkie, this is a most see stop. During the day, I noticed there is a lot of graffiti all over town. It is not obscene and it is not discriminatory. Most of it is colorful pictures or names, but it is everywhere, except in the heart of old town. It would look so much better if it was cleaned up.

That night I went to a restaurant our guide had recommended. It was a bit touristy, but I would give it a try. One of the national dishes I had not tried was the Zeppelin: it is a roasted potato, stuffed with meat, and covered in a sour cream sauce. They served two. I had one and a half. It was good, but I was feeling very heavy heavy. That night they made the proverbial crash in my stomach. That and the beer made for a good nights sleep.

Eastern Europe: Day 1 - Riga, Vilnius

Why are you going to Lithuania?

I have been asked this many times over the past few weeks when I have told folks my travel plans. After I explain I am voluntarily spending my vacation in the Baltics, the reaction has been split into two camps: those who think it would be a fun adventure to a place off the beaten path vs. those who look at me with a cocked eyebrow and a look of concern on their face. There really is no in between. It reminds me of (the one) joke in the movie "Rhinestone". After Dolly Parton's slime-ball manager keeps making unwanted advances to her, she replies, "There are two types of people in this world, and you ain't either one of them!" Okay - it is not the same, but it is still a funny joke.

My trip started in Amsterdam, flying AirBaltic to Vilnius, Lithuania, via Riga, Latvia. Earlier this year, I flew on an airline called China Eastern - neither word inspires confidence for me in air travel. You can add Baltic to that list, too.

It didn't start out well. I got there two hours before the flight departed, and it still took 45 minutes to get checked in. The gate got changed to B25; little fun fact about Amsterdam's airport - there is no gate B25 (trust me - I looked everywhere). It was here I realized that my faith in this airline was based entirely upon the reasoning that if the Dutch let them land here, they must be okay. When we got changed to a non-existent gate, my faith began to waver. Eventually, we got rescheduled to a real gate where there was nothing to do but sit and wait. And wait.

While waiting, I hear music to my ears; another voice speaking English. And not just English, but a Scotsman! In my travels, nothing can make a bad situation more fun then hanging out with a Scotsman or an Australian. To me, these two people can make any bad situation better. We get to hanging, helping make the wait much more enjoyable (and no we didn't hit the bar). I think the world would be a much better place if it was run by the Aussies and the Scots. Certainly, it would be a lot more fun.

Eventually we board the non-air-conditioned plane. It was surprisingly new and clean. Nothing too remarkable about it, until we took off. People applauded. I am not sure if this is cultural, or based on experience, but it was somewhat unnerving. The flight was uneventful; I almost though it was a normal airline, except the staff was far too nice. We landed in Riga, Latvia, to more applause, which I had to participate in, too.

The airport in Riga was surprisingly nice. This is the third airport I have been to in the former Soviet Bloc and all three have had kick @ss airports. I had time to kill so I found myself a bar and tried the local creations (Zelta = good. d@mn good beer), but no tables were open. Folks who had finished their beverages were not vacating their tables. I tried the standard techniques to get a table, but to no avail. After a few minutes, I realized I had no chance. These people suffered and fought under Soviet occupation for over 50 years; my polite throat clearing and impatient looks were not moving anybody.

I eventually get to Vilnius, and applauded the pilot, again. This airport, unlike the others, had some remnants of the Soviet empire. No duty free shopping or other charms were evident. I got to the hotel, after only slightly getting ripped off. It is late, but I am hungry and feel like exploring. There were no visibly charming parts of town that we road through on the way to the hotel, though I was told the old town is quite nice.

It was.

It was like Prague, on a smaller scale but without the tourists and stores of crap. I find a restaurant an a cobblestone street that has local, Lithuanian dishes. As I would learn, that means that it contains meat, potatoes and sour cream; the proportions vary depending on the dish. It was surprisingly good, though. Also, the beer was quite good. I am seriously thinking of acquiring the distribution rights for all Baltic Brews for the US. I get to talking with the server (everyone here speaks remarkably good English, except for me). She asks me the same question I had been asked for the past few weeks: why did you come to Lithuania? She was actually surprised that we (Americans) even knew where Lithuania was on the map.

Did I know where Lithuania was?! Little did she know she was dealing with a history and geography geek. I proceeded to share with her the history of Lithuania - the kingdom, the empire with the Poles, and the suffering under communism. She listened politely to my anti-commie rant, when I realized that she is probably 22 years old, 24 tops. She has no memory of Soviet occupation. As a child of the 80's, who grew up with movies like "Red Dawn" and "Rocky 4", I find this hard to believe.

The truth is, only half of what I said was true. Yes, I did know about the history of Lithuania, but only half from my study of history. The other reason has to do with Pro Wrestling.

Back in the 1980's, when pro wrestling hit a revival, there was an evil trio of Russian Wrestlers - Ivan Koloff, Krusher Khruschev and the Nikita "The Russian Nightmare" Koloff. They were easy to hate. Nikita had legendary battles with Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA, good guys, through and through and arch-enemies of the Russian trio. However, in late 86', Magnum TA has a very serious car wreck; he is lucky to live and he never wrestles again. About this time, the Mikhail Gorbachev's popularity is on the rise. In the spirit of Glasnost, Nikita changes sides and becomes a good guy. In his own words, "my heart bleeds for Magnum", for which he was awarded the Sportsman of the Year Award by "The Charlotte Observer".

Where is all this going? A few years later, after the Soviet empire collapses, we find out that Nikita was not really Russian. He was Lithuanian. All this time, and we never knew - who would have guessed! So in all honesty, yes, I did study the history of Lithuania, but what prompted it was my enduring fondness for pro wrestling (WoooooOOOOOooooo!!!!!)

I stagger back to my hotel through the streets of Vilnius around midnight. After getting lost, I realize this is a very safe town. Single women walk the streets unharassed (and by walk, I mean go home. Not "walk", walk). Also, there are churches everywhere. I mean everywhere. Day 1 is in the books and it is off to a good start.

Sveikata!