We went to the ancient capital of Takai, about 40km away. The castle, built in the 1300s for the Grand Duke Vitautas, sits on an island in the middle of a lake. Crossing the bridge to the outer castle, we went back in time to Medieval times. The canon holes were there, and the inner castle for the Duke was more sumptuous, sort of. There were exhibits of armor, old tapestries, and old coins. The rooms were brick on the floors, walls, and vaulted ceilings. The castle was mostly reconstructed in the 20th century, as people for years had been taking bricks, etc, for their own projects.
The castle had been guarded by the Karaim people, who had been imported from Crimea. I'm not sure why they were such wonderful guards, but Vitautas seemed to think so. Their descendants still live there in a protected status with wooden houses of somewhat different architecture than the rest of Lithuania.
Back to Vilnius to the KGB Museum of Genocide. This was a building that originally housed a court, but was taken over by the Russians, then the Gestapo, then back to the Russians. There was a fierce partisan resistance to the Russians in the 40s and 50s, and many people were held as "enemies of the State". Hundreds were beaten, tortured, and shot there. After the Independence in 1991, the Russians tried to destroy many of the records of that time, but missed many, including a map to the unmarked gravesite of 900 of the victims. With careful cross checking, many of the names of those found were revealed. The names and dates are engraved on the walls of the building.
After lunch of pizza (yesterday French, today pizza - why are we in Lithuania?) we split up. Ann went to nap, and I went to the old castle in the center of town overlooking the Cathedral. This castle was originally built by Gediminas, and later fortified by Vitautas. It has a commanding view of the city and of the Neris River. The site has supposedly (source: Wikipedia) been occupied since Neolithic times, but I couldn't get a guide to confirm that. Also in the castle was an exhibit about Baltic Way, which coincidentally was today, August 23. August 23rd had always been known as Black Ribbon Day, as that was the day in 1939 that the Russians had taken over originally, and Lithuanian independence ceased again. (Like Poland, Lithuania had been overrun over the centuries by Prussia, Russia, and Austria and had been re-created after WW1). Flags had a black ribbon tied to them. On August 23, 1989, 2 million people of the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia formed a human chain, holding hands in solidarity from Vilnius to Riga to Tallinn. This was one of the events leading to the Baltics becoming the first of the Soviet Republics to gain independence.
On my way back to the hotel, I came across a parade of very elderly people marching behind the flag. I can only surmise that they were the survivors of 1939.
Dinner with the group at a nice restaurant Alude' (that's supposed to be an accented e, but I can't figure out how to do that on the iPad). If I can figure out how to get picture up, I will do that also. Tomorrow to Riga.
A word from AHS:
Since there isn't too much info in Steve's blog about the food, other than the name of the restaurants, I wanted to chime in with a few more details for our foodie friends. I had actually expected the food to be heavier than it has been and I have been pleasantly surprised at how good it has been. The breakfasts in the hotel have included delicious fresh breads, fruit, cheeses, and salmon, herring and sardines. Lunch yesterday was in a French restaurant and featured a delicious puréed vegetable soup and a beautifully presented and delicious cheese plate with warm French bread. Today we had a caprese salad that was worth photographing, which I did and it was as good as it looked. Pizza to follow was also excellent. Our dinners here have also been very good. Since we are right near the Baltic Sea, both the selection and freshness of the fish has been excellent. Not being a meat eater, I have had fish each night and each dinner has been as good as the last. It will be interesting to see how the food compares as we move on to our next stops.
Stephen J. Rockower, MD
Sent from my iPad
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