From downer to upper and the emotional roller coaster continues. Our first day in Vilnius had us climbing to the highest point in the area to the last remaining defensive tower of the fortifications dating to the 14th century. From there we could survey all of Vilnius. We prepared ourselves for the strenuous climb with a highly recommended stop at the Chocolate shop for a chocolate drink. This is not some diluted drink, it is pure chocolate (except for the few who elected to dilute it with whole milk) served warm requiring a spoon to consume it.
At the end of the day we met the 6 people who were just joining us. The next day, our tour included a stop at a museum built in the former KGB headquarters. Richard, our guide for this tour, drove home the brutality that had happened in that place under the KGB and a relatively brief stay by the SS during their occupation of this area of Lithuania. After touring the cells we concluded in the very secret execution chamber with a horrifying video shot in the chamber. Richard was close to tears as he concluded his presentation about this horror and one of our party asked to be escorted out of the building.
From there we walked to a cafe where the top aid to the prime minister for internal affairs came to address is about status of Lithuania with regard to economics and social issues. The former was colored by Russia’s decision to declair Lithuania’s milk unfit for importation in the face of the Euro Markets continuing acceptance of it. This is a ploy to attack the likely move of Ukraine into the Euro market. Go figure!
The next day we mixed together a vist to a reconstructed Lithuanian farm village with the story of a deportee under Soviet control before the Nazis seized control of the area. This 84 year old women had been transported by cattlecar to Irkutsk over the period of a month and then 2000 kilometers North to a piece of land on the northern coast north of the artic circle to survive with the summer clothes on her back to drag logs out of the forest to the shore. Survive she did, and a feisty lady Irena is.
I have skipped over much including lunch in a farm house in a remote village, a trip the length of the Coronian Spit almost to the border of Russian territory, hunting for and finding amber on the beach and learning how to recognize amber and how to work it. Also omitted is a long walk in Klaipaeda just to stretch the legs.
Today was a long driving day with a stop at the “Hill of Crosses” it literally bristles with well over 200,000 crosses of all sizes. There seems to be no good reason for this phenomenon other than it is a high point near a monastery, however a special roadside stop had been built to make tourist visits easy. One could buy crosses from finger size to 6 feet tall in the shop at the foot of the Hill. Needless to say we didn’t. The last stop off the day was at the huge Rundale Palace which we are assured is just a taste of what’s to come in St Petersburg.