Daytime and evening dresses of New Year's Vilnius
The question of where to direct our feet during the New Year holidays, as a rule, does not arise for us - at home, to our parents, in Saransk. But sometimes you want to change the established foundations. No, you need to visit your parents! And we entrusted this mission to our children, let them go, bring a little turmoil into the measured way of life of grandparents, at the same time collect New Year's "tribute" from all possible Santa Clauses, aunts and gossips : )). And we will go... Where? Oh, well, here, as in a folk saying, “whom I want where I don’t know, whom I know where I don’t want. ”
My eyes have long been directed towards the Baltic states, sort of like abroad, but some kind of my own : )). Yes, and side by side. Once again, without much hope, she pointed to that path (even three paths) to her husband, they say, time - a wagon, frost and sun should be (naive), snow, garlands, beautiful...
“…shouldn’t I order to the sled
Ban the brown filly?
Gliding through the morning snow,
Dear friend, let's run.
An impatient horse
And visit. . . ” Vilnius or Riga, or maybe Tallinn…
Husband said - Vilnius.
- Why?
- They write that the road is better, and in Minsk you should look in, it was a dream for a long time.
- Great choice, dear! Let's go!
A wonderful hotel booked in Vilnius Best Western Vilnius 4*, detailed review here.
The trunk of the “horse” is loaded with junk for all occasions, more for rainy ones. With a winter entourage in the winter of 2019-20. came out a bummer : )). Although Belarus even saw snow:
Belarusian route
And under the barely perceptible tinkling of prepared bottles of sparkling wine (otherwise, who knows what they will drink there, in foreign countries, and most importantly - how much) we set off towards the New Year 2020!
Our experience of crossing the Belarus-Lithuania border (you can skip it)
We arrived at the Kamenny Log border checkpoint at about three o'clock in the afternoon. It is clear that the pre-holiday days (December 29) and a lot of people wandering around here who want to hang out in "Europe" on a long weekend. Therefore, we have already set ourselves up for a long standing on the Ugra in the queue. At the gas station closest to the border (gas stations in Belarus have free Wi-Fi), we looked at border checkpoint camera , the picture was not painfully scary. On the website of the Belarusian border service, 15 cars were marked for exit. When we arrived, we already counted 25 pieces, they came in large numbers : )). In general, we passed the Belarusian part in about 40 minutes. And this gave us a ray of hope that damn the border is not so terrible as it is painted.
Customs control : )). Generously destroys sandwiches banned for import into the EU, well, or whatever is left. . .
Oh, how badly we were wrong. In no man's land, we just got up and did not move for two hours at all. Then an hour and a half sometimes moved to the body of the car. And here we are at the treasured booth! We are standing… we are waiting… We have already examined the car. The inspection, of course, is formal, in fact, as on the Belarusian side: the doors were opened, no one looked inside, they didn’t ask about weapons-drugs : )) . We are waiting... And so she, the fairy, came out, collected documents from several cars with the questions on duty, “Why are you coming to us? ” and “When are you leaving? ” and... We are waiting. Now in line to the booth window. Damn, I understand everything... Documents were really very carefully checked, fingers rolled, and this takes time. But without any embarrassment, the “fairy” triedndela with her friend from the next window (for her visa-free ones), putting off the checked documents for a second or two, and sometimes for a minute she turned to her interlocutor and listened carefully, resting her chin on her hand. I can't describe it well. But when the coveted stamp was set, a sigh of relief escaped involuntarily. No, first grab your passport, and then sigh : )). Here is an additional frontier screen in the form of a test for stress resistance : )). Only those who really really need it will pass.
On the way back, all the border formalities of both states took about thirty minutes in total. There were few cars, and the work went quickly. The Lithuanian border guards took away the passports, quickly stamped them without any comparison of real and photographic personalities. I don’t even remember, but did we open the trunk? I wish it was always like this. . . The Belarusians also worked quickly, but nevertheless completed all the formalities, and they asked me to take off my glasses when checking my passport : )).
Those who were tired, albeit from a not very difficult, but rather long road, pretty exhausted from standing at the border, drank a bottle of champagne for the transition to Europe, after all, and good luck. Yes, it was a little disappointing that the hope that had arisen to have time to take a little walk around Vilnius was strangled by the "fairy" border guard. No, theoretically it would be possible to go somewhere else, it’s children’s time (we fell into the hotel at about eight in the evening local time), but I didn’t want anything anymore!
Early lights out and an hour difference in time with Moscow made it possible to have a great rest and sleep. And at six in the morning according to the local we were ready to go to battle to get acquainted with the city. Damn, breakfast is only at seven. Okay, wait, and it's still dark. Oops, besides, it's still raining! Well, wow. . . But Vilnius and the rain were able to agree on a temporary truce. And by the time we left the hotel, it had stopped raining.
Views from the windows of the hotel, something closer to nine in the morning
We trampled around a little next to the car in thought, whether to take a huge husband's umbrella, very huge. Looking at the emerging gaps in the veil of clouds, we decided that there was nothing to carry extra weights : )). And you guessed it!
For starters, we need to go there - to Gediminas' Tower on Castle Hill.
But we will not go straight, but winding through the streets and streets of Vilnius.
Gediminas Avenue
The absence of foliage makes the picture a little sad, but there are charms in this sadness - houses and streets will no longer hide behind the crowns of trees, the view becomes wider...
Radushkevich Palace, 18th century
Church of St. Archangel Raphael
View of the Š nipiš kė s district from Vilniaus street
Twist and turn, all roads lead to To the Cathedral to Cathedral Square. By the way, the entrance to the cathedral is on the right. At first we were breaking into the central door, but it turned out to be closed, although the sign said that the cathedral was working. Then we accidentally saw parishioners entering/leaving from an inconspicuous door on the right side of the building.
This is where the main Christmas tree of Vilnius is installed, where the main Christmas eating events take place. There are no photos of edible counters, it was impossible to break through : )).
But all this will be in the evening. And we arrived early... Like any beauty in the morning, the tree is still somewhat sleepy, quite simple, not pompous.
And in the evening, she will show everyone her charm : ))
I wanted to climb theBelfry, but it is still closed (opening hours from 10.00 to 18.00, in summer until 19.00, cost 5 euros). But we watched the training of cadets, I don’t know which institution.
Aunty in the background - it's me : ) )
Well, of course, the weapon looks strange against the background of a decorated Christmas tree. Although... yes, there is nothing to look for any hidden meaning, the guys are training and that's it.
When I got acquainted with Vilnius in absentia from Internet reports, many authors called it the city of churches. And among these authors came : )) Indeed, walking along the streets of the city, wherever you look, you will definitely see a church or church.
Of course, there are large cathedrals, for example Vilnius Prechistina Cathedral.
Or recognized beauties, like St. Anne's Church.
It was the case, walking down the street, peripheral vision grabbed something unusual in the gateway, and there was a church, small, as if only for these few houses around.
If anyone is interested, I caught the eye of such a site (here), where, apparently , the description of all churches and temples of Vilnius is given. And in general, a lot of historical information, street descriptions, old maps. . .
Winter days are short. And now, little by little, the streets of the city are preening for the evening walk.
Presidential Palace
Gediminas Avenue, strict in the morning, turns into a brilliant pedestrian promenade.
Faded lanes become bright beauties with elegant shop windows.
And now the whole city is sparkling with gold and diamonds and flaunting its jewelry.
Town Hall Square
You involuntarily succumb to this festive euphoria, moreover, backed up by a glass or two of hot mulled wine.
Oh, how horrified was my, uh. . . tightfisted husband, when he figured out the evening expenses the next morning : )) But the sausages were really tasty!
Pedestrian bridge across the Neris river to the modern Snipiskes area
We liked Vilnius. As it is now fashionable to say, I went. It is so cozy and homely, but not provincial at all. Intuitive and easy to use. I don’t know how the locals live, but it’s a very convenient city for a tourist.
Continuation "Vilnius. About some sights and daily beer"
And after Vilnius, we rushed to the sea, to the Curonian Spit. About this in the story "Sea, sun and sand. . . Winter sketches of the Curonian Spit"
Completely unrelated to the topic, so to speak, personal. My native Saransk was actively built up in the late 70s - mid-80s of the last century with typical high-rise buildings according to the so-called Lithuanian project. In the people they are called so - "Lithuanians". It was in such houses that the young families of our parents once received their apartments, it was in them that we lived until we budded into our own cells of society. And since the architectural appearance of Saransk began to change after our migration, for me the city is still associated with these “Lithuanians”.
Saransk
So, the sleeping areas of Vilnius are built up with exactly the same houses, even the decor holes are the same : )). Maybe that's why our auras came together. . . Vilnius is a kindred spirit : ))
