Vilnius

Travelling through a country like Lithuania has the propensity of making you want two things: 1. hot drinks 2. knitwear.  We partook in both. And we saw some stuff.  Cool old stuff.  Quirky artisany stuff.  I liked both.  For example: 

                                                

Mezgimo Zona (Pylimo g. 38), the cool yarn shop owned by the cool yarn lady across from Vilnius's remaining synagogue.  It was cheap! Friendly! And, in fact, I bought yarn resembling a shade of yellow to make a project (probably mittens) that will inevitably take me the next three years to complete.  Apparently they run a drop in knitting club, so if you happen to find yourself in Vilnius, this would be a pretty lovely place to combine both hot drinks and knitwear.    
                                               
I also forgot to mention alcohol.  Okay, so three things the Baltics will make you want: 1. hot drinks 2. knitwear 3. alcohol.  Each country's got its own gut-turning speciality, and in central Vilnius that seemed to be something the sign coined 'living beer'.  The bartender explained it rather enigmatically as 'beer with life' before slouching back on his barstool immensely exhausted from serving us, the only two customers in his darkened side alley establishment.
                                                
Shortly after the half liter of 'living beer', Judith and I stumbled out of the darkened pub to realise we were drunk.  We didn't mean it to happen, and we didn't have much, but apparently when Lithuanians say 'living' they much 'drunken'.  Fair dues.  Which is why we thought we were hallucinating when a series of hot air balloons lazed past.
                                      
Before all the drinking though, we did manage to find a series of delightful bridges and churches and views and shops. And after the fact, I've now come to learn that the above sign marks the entrance zone to 'Uzupis' a region of Vilnius that declared its independence in 1988.  In the fashion of the indie dreamers, artists, literati and drunks who call this section home, the nation fashioned a 41-article constitution outlining the rights of its citizens to include: being happy, unique and understanding.

Uzipises celebrate the 1st of April as Uzupis Day and on this day its 12-person military, honorary citizens, president and 'border patrol' stamp passports before erupting into a huge street party.

I am disappointed that we only got as far as the chain bridge before turning onward to check out the city's gothic cathedral.

Fortunately, we did encounter more quirks: 

 A particular favourite of mine.  Unfortunately, the shop that decorated the tree this way didn't sell yarn, only paper and scrapbooking supplies.  And according to a lovely artist-cum-shopkeeper we met down the road, next to knitting and drinking (both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety) scrapbooking is 'like a huge thing here.  We watch videos of americans on youtube and then we do it'.  How's that for an insight into the culture?

More of the cool old stuff, more of the culture, more of the myriad graffiti in the next post.