Archives – April, 2009
Easter was spent this year in Panevežys with my cousins. When I arrived on Saturday afternoon, they had just finished decorating the eggs. Far from the usual Lithuanian eggs decorated using either beeswax or a scratching technique (which my Grandmother is famous for), they used onion skins, colored string and various herbs and flowers to make what I called avant-garde Easter eggs.
Not only were they beautiful, each one unique, but they began conversations and inspired communication at the table. There’s no better way to spend a holiday with family than around the table caught up in inspired conversation!
April 13, 2009
It’s Saturday morning, you lay in bed semi-conscientious of the sun streaming through the window. You sense it is a reasonable time to get up but your eyes remain closed, in protest to the splitting headache that will surely follow the moment you open them. After last night’s party, one could argue that the only thing to do is remain in bed all day except that after a long winter a warm spring day is not to be wasted. There is only one thing to do: drag your tired broken self to Pilies Kepyklelė for lietiniai (crepes), coffee and a fresh squeezed grapefruit juice…
Continue April 8, 2009
Many many years ago – in 1997 to be exact – when I first came to Lithuania Ponių Laimė was on Gedimino g. I remember it for it’s pink and red interior, grand piano, clean, free toilets (a rarity at that time in Lithuania) and delicately decorated cakes. Together with Hanna, my Finnish classmate at Vilnius University, we would skip our afternoon conversation course to spend the afternoon drinking coffee…
Continue April 7, 2009
From Condé Nast Traveler February 2009
April 6, 2009
We’ve had a real winter this year in Lithuania, not like the long, wet drizzle we had last year. It started snowing in December, just in time for Christmas, and with very few exceptions, it hasn’t stopped. And it’s not just in Lithuania, most of Europe has been hit with more snow than the snow-plows are prepared to handle, shutting down roads across the continent and even in the United Kingdom. I’m not complaining though…
Continue April 6, 2009
When I was hired at Cosmopolitan magazine a week after arriving in Lithuania in December 2003, I told the editor-in-chief “Don’t worry, my Lithuanian is a little rusty, but I’ll be back to speaking fluently in a few weeks.” That, at best, was wishful thinking…
Continue April 6, 2009
The unassuming facade and minimal interior of Bistro 18 stand in stark contrast to the rich flavours that jump off of their menu. Thai chicken, pan-fried fois gras, pork tenderloin marinated in olives and sun-dried tomatos…
Continue April 3, 2009
It’s not an April Fool’s joke: residents of the tiny Republic of Užupis, which lays just beyond the River Vilnelė, take their Independence Day very seriously. It all starts with the border patrol on the Užupis Bridge. Dressed in white jumpsuits and 3-D glasses, “immigration agents” wait to stamp your passport. Yes that’s right, you can get an authentic Užupis visa, good for a one day visit…
Continue April 1, 2009