After the rain stops, September is the most beautiful month of the year in Lithuania. Temperatures are normally in the high 60′s in the sun, the skies as blue as Christmas Day in Aspen. The trees begin to turn yellow, orange and red, so that even the slightest breeze has them sparkling in the sunlight. It also turns out, that despite how small Vilnius is, it actually is possible to spend all afternoon people watching and not see a single person you know.
On such a day, I love to fill my backpack with my book, a couple notebooks, my newest Harper’s and my journal, and set out to find a nice table in the sunshine to pass the afternoon…
Sostinės dienos (Capitol Days) is a good time of year to be in Vilnius. Always the first weekend of September, the city is alive as students and families return from the seaside, sodyba (countryside garden) or grandmother’s house in the village. The tourists have mostly gone home, and Vilnius is left for its Vilnečiai.
For three days, the full length of Gedimino prospektas is taken over by stalls of artisans selling their wares, local restaurants grilling sašlykiai (sishkebabs), griddles frying enormous bulviniai blynai (potato pancakes) and serving troškinys (stew) bubbling hot in large cast-iron pots. To drink there is alus (beer) and karštas punčas (hot wine punch). Near the Parliament building games and activities fill the street with children, a DJ spins favorite teenage tunes while a group of boys plays 3-on-3 basketball in front of the national library.
Lidija Rasutis was singing with her women’s ensemble, Eglė, on a stage set up on Lukiskių aikštė, with the sun setting behind them. Though they were all dressed alike, Lidija still stood out as the most fashionable, dancing and swaying while she sung. The music was old-fashioned, but the crowed enjoyed it.
There were all types strolling along, eating, dancing, listening to music and buying fresh breads and sweets; young families, elderly couples, rebellious teenagers and even a few angels. Life can be hard in this small country on the Baltic Sea, but from the smiles along Gedimino prospektas in September, Vilnius seems to be the happiest, most carefree city around.
“Last call for Lufthansa Flight 141 Detroit to Frankfurt. Please proceed to the gate.”
Six months after packing up my apartment in Colorado, I was finally on my way to my new home in Vilnius. I was moving on a hunch. I had no apartment, no job, and only a few contacts, but I had a passport and a gut feeling that told me my future was in Lithuania.
“Why?”
It was a question often asked. Why would a nature-loving ski racer want to move to a country with long, dark winters and no mountains? Why would an American want to move to Lithuania? I went through a whole list of responses: I always wanted to live in Europe, Lithuania will soon be part of the European Union, I don’t want to be a nature or sports photographer, I’m tired of cramming my feet into ski boots. Finally I just answered, “Why not?” And that usually satisfied even the most curious inquisitor.
“What if?”
I awoke in a cold sweat my first night, suddenly panicking that my gamble wouldn’t pay off. I wouldn’t be able to find a job, I wouldn’t make any friends, and I would miss “my” mountains too much. (more…)
In Lithuanian, the word užupis means “beyond the river,” though the Vilnelė River, which divides Užupis from the Vilnius Old Town, is actually more of a winding creek. In 1997, a group of bohemian artists and writers declared the neighborhood independent and founded the People’s Republic of Užupis. Independence Day is April 1st, and a sign marking the entrance to the district features four distinct symbols including a smiley face and the Mona Lisa warning you of “art ahead”…
March 11, 2010 (Kovo 11) celebrates the 20th anniversary of modern-day, independent Lithuania; though it was nearly 3.5 tumultuous years before the last Soviet troops retreated to Moscow. On this day I reflect on my first trip to Lithuania, and all the things I could not have done it it were not for those brave men and women who stood up to the Supreme Soviet and declared their independence.
I first came to Lithuania in July of 1997 to study the Lithuanian language at Vilnius University…
One of the greatest benefits of living in northern Europe is a long summer evening spent gamtojė (in nature). A holiday weekend thanks to King Mindaugas Day (July 6th) and a summer training camp for the kids I coach, took me to Ignalina for four days of mountain biking, rollerblading and swimming. We stayed at the Lithuanian Winter Sports Center, and shared training facilities with Lithuania’s national teams for cross-country skiing and biathlon. Each morning while the thin nordic skiers dressed in spandex did laps around the 7.5km asphalt track on rollerskis (short cross-country skis on two wheels), our young alpine skiers ran sprints, did strength conditioning and played football.
There is no question that Zoe’s is my favorite restaurant in Vilnius. Living just around the corner, it was usual to see me in there at least once per week – more during the summer months when they have tables outside in the square across the street. It helps that my good friend, Agne, is the manager, but what really keeps me coming back to Zoe’s is the fast, friendly and competent service, the fresh bread and zesty dip served as an appetizer, and my favorite chicken Caesar salad in Vilnius…
When the weather at Mt. Ruapehu is bad enough to actually close the ski area, we get a day off. There’s not much to do in Ohakune on a stormy day, but Taupo is only an hour and a half away. I piled into the snowboard team’s van with a few colleagues for a much needed rest day…
Travel magazines love to publish articles about road trips around New Zealand. The reader can imagine themselves in a shiny new BMW, the top down, speeding across the lush countryside or along the Tasman Sea…
After four months in New Zealand, I’ve come to understand that most roads are less “German car commercial” and more “dangerous muddy mess.” Don’t let it stop you though… it’s a hell of a ride!
Mt. Ruapehu is famous for its crazy nasty weather and I got a taste of it last Friday. At the base of the ski area, it was raining but at the top of the first lift, it was snowing with visibility limited to about 50m. We’d already missed two days that week due to bad weather, so we had to take what we could get. At least it wasn’t windy.
Despite how ugly it was on Friday, the forecast for the weekend was ‘blue as’… this will make more sense if you watch this video on YouTube… Kiwis seriously talk like that…
