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Noyelles Travels
Tuesday 10th June
A very early start today as our bus left Warsaw at 6.05 & we had to be out by 5.30. The bus was comfortable & the countryside was quite pleasant although the roads aren't as good as Germany & it was slower progress than before. After a 100km of flat country we moved into rolling hills & gradually the housing looked poorer & more dilapidated as we moved east. The border crossing buildings were quite substantial but empty as we crossed into Lithuania, the first of the 3 Baltic states.
After 7 hours on the bus it was a pleasure to get out in Vilnius, the capital, which is near the eastern edge of the country.
We had a rest & then walked towards the old town to have a meal but could only find a range of cafes & restaurants featuring foreign foods before we settled on some Spanish fare in disgust.
The buildings varied widely from ultra modern office blocks to sad little tired houses next door but one of the most striking features is the onion dome churches showing the Russian influences.
Vilnius in general is like a run-down Warsaw which is in itself a run-down Berlin in that the buildings & the vehicles all look to be very lived in.
Wednesday 11th June
Set out with Lukas, our guide, on a walking tour of Vilnius. Luckily we caught a trolley bus into town to save Dick’s legs but it was still quite a trek. The old town was walled but only one small remnant remains & it has about 50+ churches within the old city. Luckily we only saw about 6 in the end. Lithuania was the last place in Europe to become Christian in the 13th century having been invaded by the Teutonic Knights from Germany with limited success. The eventual conversion owed more to the Poles so that the predominant religion is RC although the periods of Russian domination have left some Orthodox churches. It also had a large Jewish population so that before WW2 1/3 of the people were Jewish.
After inspecting several places of interest we ended in front of the Town Hall where we farewelled our guide & had lunch. This was quite an exercise since it was on a strange self-service basis where a lady took about 20 minutes to serve the 4 customers in front of us. We made our way to the only surviving city gate in the wall& several churches before returning to the hotel via the Jewish Museum of the Lithuanian Holocaust.
This was by far the best museum on the topic that we have seen as on one floor it has art works from Lithuanian Jews of the period whilst below is a wonderful interactive display of the stories of survivors & the people who risked their lives to hide & protect them. These were very moving & in parallel, were the reports made by the Germans on their activities in ghettoising & then exterminating as many Jews as possible. It also showed how difficult it was for many to choose what to do. Many escaped to Russia but some were sent to Siberia in various purges. Lukas had told us that his mother had been born in Siberia as his grandmother had been sent there.
It certainly made us aware of how lucky we are to live in a country with the sea as a border as Lithuania has been ruled by Poles, Germans & Russians at various times & its borders have been extremely flexible.
A very early start today as our bus left Warsaw at 6.05 & we had to be out by 5.30. The bus was comfortable & the countryside was quite pleasant although the roads aren't as good as Germany & it was slower progress than before. After a 100km of flat country we moved into rolling hills & gradually the housing looked poorer & more dilapidated as we moved east. The border crossing buildings were quite substantial but empty as we crossed into Lithuania, the first of the 3 Baltic states.
After 7 hours on the bus it was a pleasure to get out in Vilnius, the capital, which is near the eastern edge of the country.
We had a rest & then walked towards the old town to have a meal but could only find a range of cafes & restaurants featuring foreign foods before we settled on some Spanish fare in disgust.
The buildings varied widely from ultra modern office blocks to sad little tired houses next door but one of the most striking features is the onion dome churches showing the Russian influences.
Vilnius in general is like a run-down Warsaw which is in itself a run-down Berlin in that the buildings & the vehicles all look to be very lived in.
Wednesday 11th June
Set out with Lukas, our guide, on a walking tour of Vilnius. Luckily we caught a trolley bus into town to save Dick’s legs but it was still quite a trek. The old town was walled but only one small remnant remains & it has about 50+ churches within the old city. Luckily we only saw about 6 in the end. Lithuania was the last place in Europe to become Christian in the 13th century having been invaded by the Teutonic Knights from Germany with limited success. The eventual conversion owed more to the Poles so that the predominant religion is RC although the periods of Russian domination have left some Orthodox churches. It also had a large Jewish population so that before WW2 1/3 of the people were Jewish.
After inspecting several places of interest we ended in front of the Town Hall where we farewelled our guide & had lunch. This was quite an exercise since it was on a strange self-service basis where a lady took about 20 minutes to serve the 4 customers in front of us. We made our way to the only surviving city gate in the wall& several churches before returning to the hotel via the Jewish Museum of the Lithuanian Holocaust.
This was by far the best museum on the topic that we have seen as on one floor it has art works from Lithuanian Jews of the period whilst below is a wonderful interactive display of the stories of survivors & the people who risked their lives to hide & protect them. These were very moving & in parallel, were the reports made by the Germans on their activities in ghettoising & then exterminating as many Jews as possible. It also showed how difficult it was for many to choose what to do. Many escaped to Russia but some were sent to Siberia in various purges. Lukas had told us that his mother had been born in Siberia as his grandmother had been sent there.
It certainly made us aware of how lucky we are to live in a country with the sea as a border as Lithuania has been ruled by Poles, Germans & Russians at various times & its borders have been extremely flexible.
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