It starts to feel that way after awhile, but actually we arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania around 12:20AM on Tuesday. The next morning we met up with our friends Dick and Carolyn who invited us along on the Russian Glories, Baltic Treasures tour to begin with. We added the rest of the itinerary on our own.

We all arrived a day and a half early and Carolyn booked a couple of excursions for all of us to do with just the four of us before the actual tour began.

The first, on Wednesday, was to the Lithuanian National Park. We had a charming guide, Julia, who gave us a lot of information about the country and a bit of its history. Let me share some of it.

Lithuania is one of the Baltic states, so called because it is one of countries bordering the Baltic Sea. It is a tiny country with just over 3 million people. It takes only about 4 hours to drive from one border to the other whether you are going north to south or east to west.  It is first mentioned in the history books in the 11th century and has been self ruled as well as ruled by France, Sweden, Poland, Germany, and Russia. In 1990 they finally regained their independence after the terrible occupation first by Germany and then by those we heard referred to as the Russian Terrorists.

Though battered by war and oppression throughout much of its history, Lithuania now has one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and as of January 1, 2015 it will be a full member of the European Union as well as a member of NATO.

Julia and our driver picked us up at the hotel and we drove for just over an hour through lush forests and beautiful, wild flower laced field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first stop on the excursion was in the national park where we drove to ” The Center of Europe.”  We took pictures and got certificates certifying that we have really been to the exact center of Europe.

 

From there we had a short trip to the University planetarium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at a small inn for a traditional Lithuanian meal of beer bread with cheese, potato dumplings stuffed with spiced ground beef, fruit, and Lithuanian beer – deeeeelicious! and low cal, okay maybe not low cal.

 

Our next stop was at the Bee Keeping Museum which was closed for renovation, but we walked around for a look outside. I never knew beehives could be so creative and enchanting.

 

 

Or such an adventure.

 

Our driver left the window to the van open and so we had about 10 bees who were checking out the inside of the van while we were checking out their hives. We had to drive with the door and windows open to get them all to go home – that was interesting.

 

 

Our last stop was said to be the highest “mountain” in Lithuania. Lithuania and the other Baltic states were carved by glaciers and are pretty flat, so this hill is referred to as a Lithuanian mountain. Never-the-less, the scenery and the views were gorgeous!

The next day Carolyn had arranged for us to go to The Hill of Crosses – what a unique experience!

Our guide for this trip was Victoria and she was charming. The trip was long, almost three hours one way, and she spent the drive sharing stories about the Lithuanian culture and history and answering our questions on political views – very interesting.

What is the hill of crosses? No one really seems to know how it started or why, but records make mention of it as early as the 1400s. The guidebook says that there are as many stories as to how it began as there are crosses. What is known is that someone placed a cross on this small hill centuries ago for their own symbolic purpose and others followed suit. During the Nazi and Stalinist regimes religion and thus crosses were forbidden. The crosses were torn down and burned. The next day, more crosses were standing tall and no matter how often they took them down, more always appeared. It became a symbol of hope, freedom and resistance against tyranny for thousands. Victoria was emphatic about the fact that crosses are placed here for many, many reasons – celebrations of a birth, a marriage, love, hope, faith, as well as consolation, or in memory of those who have died or fallen in the fight for freedom. Whatever the reasons, the hill continues to grow with the faithful adding crosses daily.

 

 

In his visit to The Hill of Crosses in 1993 Pope John Paul said, “Could I remember the Hill of Crosses without feeling moved? This evocative place reminds Lithuania’s Christians of the burning witness to faith of the entire nation.”

And it was moving experience.

The two excursions were great and a very informative and interesting introduction to the Baltic states.

Tonight we join our Russian Glories, Baltic Treasures tour. From this point on our trip will take on a very different flavor – a new kind of adventure!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We bid a fond farewell to Paris

and journeyed back in time to the old world atmosphere of the Czech Republic.

There is a down town area with new modern buildings.

 

 

 

However, we were mainly in the Old Town (circa 1200s) and New Town (circa 1400s) areas where there is a much different feel, as if the city/country were frozen in time centuries ago.

An Introduction to Prague

Friday dawned chilly with a  threat of  showers, but knowing our time in Prague was short, we headed out to explore.  This I must add was a bit difficult in Prague and let me explain why. In Paris, we didn’t know the language or our way around, but we had a good map and the streets had names like Rue St. James. In Prague, the map was tiny and the streets were named things like Jeruzalemska and Vrchliskho and to make matters worse, the streets change names every few blocks so Jeruzalemska durned into Kylevka and then into Oldrichova.

That was a  challenge! But being the determined souls that we are, we found our way to the first “Must See” in the guidebook – Wenceslas Square

– named for the king of Christmas carol fame. Wenceslas, who was actually a duke, reigned over Bohemia in the early 900s. He was killed by his brother but was so loved and respected by the people of Bohemia that he was declared a saint and made a king posthumously.

 

 

Enough history.

We were in Wenceslas Square and it quickly became evident that something exciting was getting ready to happen. Groups of people in colorful costumes were congregating on the sidewalks and in the streets.

Small bands were warming up their instruments and there was a feeling of anticipation in the air. We moved on following our guide book and ended up in Old Town Square where there were even more people in costumes as well as food kiosks, street entertainers and people everywhere. We discovered that we had happened upon the annual Prague Gypsy Festival! There were groups performing while crowds clapped and tapped their feet to the music – so, so fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We grabbed a bite to eat while we absorbed the party atmosphere and enjoyed the celebration. What a great introduction to Prague!

Old Town

Old Town is the center of the historic district. Many of the buildings here date back to the 1200s, built in the gothic style with wonderful towers and spires.

 

 

 

The ancient gothic structures had a very different feel than the architecture we found in Madrid and Paris.

 

 

We headed back to Wenceslas Square on our way home. I should add that this square is in New Town which only dates back to the 1400s. Here there is more baroque style in the architecture (that really sounds like I know what I’m talking about and I so totally don’t, but that’s what the guidebook said).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prague – Day 2

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. We had decided to make the trek to Prague Castle – about 3 miles each way, but that was if you could follow the map and took the direct route which we couldn’t and didn’t and ended up going about half a mile in the wrong direction and having to retrace our steps…expletive! We eventually got pointed in the right direction and headed toward the castle enjoying the views along the way.

The castle sits atop the highest hill in Prague. The area is so beautiful that the walk didn’t seem all that long.  We walked across a large bridge over the Vltava River and were soon climbing the stairs to the precipice. The grounds are lovely and the views from the garden walls – spectacular!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About a million stairs later, (after this trip I’m going to make an exercise video called Calves of Steel…) we finally reached the castle.

As everywhere we’ve gone, we found street entertainers, but these people take street entertaining to a whole new level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took enjoyed the entertainment, took pictures and enjoyed the experience. Then around 11:40, there was a mass movement of people toward the gates of the castle, and we learned that there would be a Changing of the Guard at 12:00 (Prague Castle now houses the governing body of the Czech Republic). We managed to get near the front and, though squashed between hoards of people, Tom managed to get a pretty good picture.

Lots of pomp and circumstance in the changing of the guard – pretty cool to watch.

After a quick but delicious lunch in a small pub, we took a few more pictures,

 

 

then made our way back toward the city below to get a look at the Vltava River and its surroundings. We’d talked about taking  one of the sightseeing bout tours and sure enough, a guy dressed as an old time sailor approached us with a deal we couldn’t refuse – a river tour, a free beer, ice cream, and a chance to be off our feet for and hour.

The trip was interesting, relaxing, and enjoyable – well worth the cost of admission. We headed home tired, having walked 7.5 miles by the time we got home, but having thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Our Last Day in Praque

There were a couple of guidebook suggestions that we had not gotten to, so we decided to take those in. The first was the clock tower. This ancient clock and astronomical dial date back to 1410 and were built by Mikulas of Kadan and Jan Sindel.

A tour is available to the top so up we went – yep, more stairs, but the views from the top were magnificent!

And so we said goodbye to beautiful, old world Prague.

Next stop, Lithuania.

 

 

 

 

 

In this post I am going to try to catch up so it is going to be a whirlwind tour – hold tight and let’s go.

 

Jardin de Tuileries

After we left the Louvre, we went through this arched gate and into the lovely Tuiliries Garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Champs Elyse’es

The Tuileries is on the famous Champs Elyse’es (that’s the name of the street)

and we strolled along enjoying the sights, sounds and scents through the park.

I wrote before about the minimal space and the manner in which it is used. Well, this area is certainly no different, stores and businesses on the ground floor and apartments above, with one slight difference. In this area the types of businesses and apartments are in a class all their own. Here we’re talking New York’s 5th Avenue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The walking tour ended at the Arc de Triumph and we felt pretty triumphant at making it through the Louvre and clear to the arch! That was a long amazing day.

More Art Galleries

Paris has famous art museums on every other block and Tom and I felt obligated to do see at least some of them. After the Louvre we were told that the L’Orangerie was a great museum if you liked Monet which we do.

*There are no photos allowed so the following pictures are courtesy of the internet.

The Orangerie Museum sits near the Tuileries Garden – how perfect. The design was specified by Monet himself  to create a space between the hustle and bustle  of the city and his work – a tranquil oasis. He succeeded. Just going through the museum calms the soul. We loved it.

 

There were other artists as well.

The Palace of Versailles

Another museum/adventure was to the Palace of Versailles. Versailles was the country retreat for royalty beginning with Louis XIII and later enlarged by his son Louis XIV.  It takes almost an hour by train and much of the travel is though the French countryside – well worth the trip for the scenery alone,.

As per guidebook instructions, Tom and I headed out early took the metro

 

 

to the train station and boarded the train. The scenery was verdant, lush and gorgeous.

We traveled to the end of the line where the last passenger on the train, other than us, informed us that we were on the wrong train, expletive! He was kind enough to tell us how to get where we needed to go so we found the correct gate and headed back to try again.

 

 

This time we were successful but by this time a gazillion other people had done it right and were there ahead of us.

 

 

 

One of the museum employees suggested that we do the gardens and the Grand and Petite Trinaons first, have lunch and then come back to the palace – great advise.

 

 

 

The gardens are enormous, with perfectly manicured lawns and shrubs, sculptures fountains and canals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the reign of kings Versailles could filled with as many as 5000 people – family members, government staff, servants.  The Grand Trianon was built by King Louie XIV as a get-away from the main Versailles complex.

 

 

 

 

After a lovely lunch at one of the small restaurants in the gardens, we headed for the palace and as our friendly museum employee predicted, there were only around 20 people in line as opposed to hundreds  – yea! So we entered another Life of the Super Rich and Famous atmosphere. We got audio guides and followed the map from one gorgeous room

to the next.

 

At the time of the French Revolution, many were living in poverty and starving, while the royalty continued with their lavish life style and failed to protect its people from invaders.  It is said that when told that the people were starving and had no bread Queen Marie Antoinette replied “Then let them eat cake,” a statement for which she eventually lost her head. Justice? Maybe/maybe not, but understandable.

To lighten the mood, we came across this group of monks near the end of our tour. I usually think of monks as reverent, quiet, reserved – not as tourists taking selfies. These guys were having such a great time they were really fun to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it home by a much more direct route, tired but glad we went.

 

 

!!The Eiffel Tower!!

Okay, this is out of order and we experienced the Eiffel Tower earlier in our stay, but I felt that it was the perfect Grand Finally to our Paris post.

We again followed the suggestion of our trusty guidebook author Rick Steves, who has never steered us wrong, and went to the Eiffel Tower in the evening.  We arrived at the subway stop, climbed the stairs, rounded the corner, and there it was The Eiffel Tower with the Trocadero Gardens spread out before us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The place was packed so we walked for awhile enjoying the park and the neighborhood and found a little restaurant for dinner.

The food was delicious and the atmosphere charming.

 

 

We then headed back to face the crowds. The wait for tickets was not too long and the next thing you  know we were herded into an elevator (no, we didn’t climb the stairs. We’d just shared a bottle of wine at dinner, there was no stair climbing.) But we were in the real, one-and-only Eiffel Tower!!!

We wandered around taking in the views from all angles and of course taking pictures as night fell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then at precisely 11:00PM The Show began! The tower puts on it’s own light show and suddenly thousands of tiny lights all over the tower started blinking . The effect was mesmerizing – soooo amazing.

We went back to the Trocadero took pictures and watched the show again (it happens once an hour for 5 minutes).

It might take a moment or two to start so be patient,

A sparkling farewell to Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our third day in Paris we tackled the Louvre Museum – what an amazing place! Our guide on the Seine cruise said that if you took 3 seconds to look at each piece of art at the Louvre, it would take you 33 days to see it all. Despite this intimidating tidbit of information, we decided to see as much as we could before we fell into a heap.

The guide book recommended that we get there early and head straight to the Mona Lisa, which we did. The displays on the way and in fact everywhere were amazing.

In spite of the fact that we rubbernecked the whole way, we made it to the room where the honest-to-goodness real Mona Lisa is displayed. It took us 15 – 20 minutes to work our way to the front of the line to take our picture. I expected it to be flat and uninspiring, but seeing it in person you can see the brush strokes, the color, the life in the expression. I was pleasantly surprised.

From there we just wandered from room to room taking in the sights. There is just such an overwhelming amount and variety that I don’t know where to start so I’m just going to show you a very small and random sample of what we saw.

Paintings

What I have confirmed is that Tom and I both like the impressionists. He is a big Van Gogh fan and we both like Monet among others.

Sculpture

I really like sculpture in general and there was tons of it in the Louvre (literally). Since I started with the most famous of the paintings, I thought it only fair to start with the most famous of the sculptures – Venus de Milo.

Despite the fame of this statue, there seems to be no clear answer as to who she really is, who sculpted her, or when. It is thought that she is a tribute to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, possibly sculpted by Alexandros of Antioch somewhere between 130 – 100BC. The time is pretty accurate and I find it amazing that this piece is over 2000 years old, wow.

Okay, we gotta keep moving or we’ll never finish.

I love the smooth lines and the detail in these sculptures. I would love to be able to create like that.

This guy just made me laugh – so happy, so much expression!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite areas was the statue courtyard – so peaceful.

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last exhibit we saw was the Napoleon Exhibition – Opulence doesn’t even begin to describe it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It speaks for itself.

The grounds were spectacular as well.

And there you have it, Charli’s impressions of the Louvre de Paris – a truly amazing place.