Užupio kapinės. Uzupis Cemetery.

Nedidelis fotoreportažas iš Užupio kapinių.
This is a little photo gallery from Uzupis cemetery in Vilnius.

Laidojimo tradicijos Lietuvoje kito su laiku. XVIII a. buvo uždrausta laidoti rūsiuose. XIX a. kapines buvo liepta perkelti už miesto. 1810 m. įkurtos Užupio Bernardinų kapinės, o senosios, prie Šv. Onos ir Bernardinų bažnyčių, buvo uždarytos (dabar ten eina Maironio gatvė, nebėra originalios varpinės).

Burial traditions in Lithuania have changed several times. Burial in vaults was banned in the XVIII th. century. In the XIX th. century city cemeteries were moved outside the city boundaries. Uzupis Bernardine cemetery was founded in 1810, and the old one, by the churches of St. Anne and Bernardines, was closed (now Maironis street runs there and the original belfry hasn't survived). 

Kaunas City Highlights

The capital of Lithuania Vilnius receives a lion's share of visitors and tourists coming to the country, so I would like to write a post encouraging them to spend a day or two in our second largest city Kaunas. Kaunas is a very old city indeed and, being located by the river, used to be a member of the famous Hanseatic league of merchants that also included famous cities of today like Lubeck the capital of the league, Hamburg, Stockholm, Bremen, Berlin, Gdansk, Torun, Krakow, Riga, Tallinn, Peterhof, Bergen, London, Antwerp... First mentioned in the written sources in 1361, Kaunas boasts a long history to discover.

So, what highlights are there in Kaunas?

Let's begin with Kaunas Castle, situated on the confluence of two rivers Nemunas and Neris. It was a strategically good place to build a brick castle during the turbulent times of Crusades to the last pagan land in Europe-Lithuania. It's worth visiting because of its profound history. To begin with, Lithuania didn't use to build castles from brick, and wooden castles didn't survive to this day. In the entire Great Duchy of Lithuania few castles were made of brick and they stood on the defensive route from Western Europe to Lithuania. A system of defensive castles by the river Nemunas used to operate for about 80 years until it was broken by the Teutonic Order that started building their own castles. Building a castle meant claiming the territory to keep. This particular castle was destroyed during one battle and after the Battle of Grunewald/Tannenberg in 1410 it changed its function from defensive to residential and a prison. It suffered a lot during the wars of the XVII-XVIIIth centuries. Today you can see a reconstructed one in its place with a TIC office in it.

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kaunas_Castle. Photo (c) to Algirdas.

Why I Say NO to Halloween Craze

I see many travel bloggers putting on "best locations for Halloween", etc. and I just thought to be unfashionable and post something on the contrary. Halloween, as you know, is an annual feast observed on the 31st October in many countries and as many other occasions (including Christmas, they say), it is thought to have pagan roots. It is also typically thought to originate from a Celtic tradition. Its pagan spirit has been influenced by the Christian fests falling on1st and 2nd November, All Saints and All Souls, respectively. I will not go into details explaining the symbols of the day, etc. as I can hardly say anything new but I'd rather focus on the Lithuanian fest of  All Souls/All Saints called "Vėlinės".

Source:http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C4%97lin%C4%97s

It's difficult to distinguish between the two days as separate now because only one of them (November 1) is a public holiday and people hurry to do things in sometimes great distance and get back to work the next day (this year it falls on a Friday, a working day). It is the day people when visit graves of their dead (and sometimes forgotten and derelict graves of unknown people) and clear them, light candles and pay their respects. It is a grim day with no fun and games, like in other cultures, though old records show food being offered. I must say we have a graveyard attachment/culture: our graveyards are like necropolis, entire city of the dead that must be visited often (in smaller villages- even daily), graves kept neat, flowers watered and replanted, stone shiny, path clear, etc, etc. Cremation by fire is still a foreign notion but it's becoming known. I personally cannot relate to this attachment to the graveyard because death is not something I fancy facing on such a regular basis. It used to be-and somewhere still is- a tradition to take photos at the funerals with all the family gathered at the open coffin *gulp*.
 
"Vėlė" -part of word "Vėlinės"- is another word for a soul of a dead person. In the Baltic mythology it was believed that the soul spends some time on this earth by living in a tree before going away to Soul Hill (yes, that's right!) and that is why it was forbidden to cut certain trees (as far as I know, some other religions also do not remove grass from the graveyard for maybe a similar reason?) Souls of good people could help in need, souls of bad people or suicides could only harm. There are old records of believing in reincarnation into birds, bees, etc. Souls would come back to visit their living relatives in late autumn and candlelight would help them keep warm. In some places not candles would be lit but whole bonfires. Beggars are considered to have a link with the other world and must be treated with food and probably some cash on this occasion.

When Lithuania converted into Roman Catholic faith (1387 if you want to know exactly), this image of a soul blended with an image of a Catholic soul that also has serious tradition for observation (mostly, I guess). So, that is why some local people, especially from the older generation, are angry to see young people wearing crazy Halloween costumes and drinking, partying until late, listening to loud music and having fun etc, etc. The introduction of this American-style event is popular with young people and clubs that make good revenue on drinks and thematic cocktails but the older generation-me included- looks down on it and shake heads reproachfully. 

What's November 1/2 like in your country?

If Halloween is your thing after all, here are some travel blogs that focus on destinations to go for it:

Travel Away http://travelaway.me/best-halloween-destinations-in-europe/


Ele

A Day trip by The Narrow Gauge Railway of Aukstaitija

Narrow gauge railway of Aukstaitija (the Highlands of Lithuania) organized an event for hikers and cyclists, during which we visited famous places of Anyksciai region. This region is famous for its natural beauty and many bright people, important in our history, came from here. It was also an occasion to mark Day without A Car. This day aims at drawing people's attention to the fact how dangerous for health can transport be and people are invited to leave their cars at home and choose greener methods of transport, including trains and walking. Even famous guidebook publisher Lonely Planet advises to make informed decisions in this regard. Narrow gauge railway of Aukstaitija was started in 1897 and the first train ran in 1899. The railway was laid to conenct two towns of Panevezys and Svencioneliai. It was economically-wise to lay narrow gauge instead of the wide one because it was 1/3 times cheapper, taking into consideration the given geographical situation of the place. Did you know that trains carried cargo until the second half of XX century and only then they started carrying passengers? Narrow gauge railway of Ausktaitija has won an international environmental protection contest in Kalmar city, Sweden, for their educational trips for hikers and cyclists.

Last stop: putting bikes aboard and leaving more than 20 km behind. 

Iškyla siauruku pritaikyta dviratininkams ir pėstiesiems!

Šį sekmadienį pagaliau turėsiu galimybę pasižvalgyti po Anykščius, šių metų Lietuvos kultūros sostinę. Kviečiu kartu praleisti dieną su Aukštaitijos siauruoju geležinkeliu!



You are welcome to join me this Sunday to explore a beautiful town of Anyksciai on a narrow gauge railway trip!



Kūtvėla/Ele

Traditional Lithuanian Food

When I was asked to put together a post about traditional food in Lithuania, I felt quite challenged. First of all, I think we don't have any national food as such. Did we invent potatoes? No. Did we invent minced meat? Of course not. Our cuisine has been influenced by other world cuisines, so, rather than speaking of national food, I will tell about  traditional food, a.k.a. food a tourist must try. This post was originally commissioned as a guest post but I have decided to keep it after all the heart I had to put into writing it.

Importantly, Lithuania has several ethnographic regions, each bringing something special in the world of cooking. Here you can see the map showing this division. The capital city Vilnius is now considered to be in Aukštaitija.

Image source: http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaizdas:Etnoregionai.png (c) Renata3

St. Peter and Paul's.

These are just a few photos to show you that there's more to Vilnius than the beautiful Old Town. This church is located just a bit off-the-beaten-track, so many tourists decide to skip it altogether, which is great loss to them!

St. Peter and Paul's., a set on Flickr.

Thanks for viewing and feel free to leave a comment.

Ele

Mushrooms in Lithuania (well, some of them)

Considering the fact that I aim to present and represent Lithuania to my foreign audience, I cannot but write about a special activity that Lithuanians love-picking mushrooms. Now, you would say, what does one need to know about it? Because many countries have only few kinds of mushrooms in their shops, most of which  are imported goods, while we have about 400 edible varieties, out of which we mainly use 30. 

Let's begin with the king of our forests, the dream of every forager: the edible boletus.

Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus_edulis

We like them dried in hot borsch in winter, with herring, or in sauces. It's important to distinguish it from its fake cousin, so called Thunder Boletus, which has a pinkish inner side of the cap instead of white and sometimes the only way to know the difference is to lick them, so if you found the Thunder variety, you are soon to know :-)

Assumption Day

Assumption Day is held every 15th of August in Lithuania. The period of summer meeting autumn has been important in our culture since ancient times. It is the day we say goodbye to plants and flowers. Crops have been taken, fruit and berries picked, jams made, - all major harvesting works are completed. During this day, women would pick the most beautiful field flowers and herbs and then Mother Earth for harvest and beauty. Farmers would bake bread from fresh grains and make beer or kvass. During this day the entire family gathered and the dead were remembered. It has also been a worldwide pagan festival, because on this day the Romans would worship Diana, the Greeks would worship Artemis- flora and fauna goddesses. With the introduction of Roman Christian faith in Lithuania, this day became associated with Assumption Day- Virgin Mary’s Being Taken to Heaven Day. It is said that when she died, Apostles held wake by her grave and Peter saw her rising from the dead and being taken to Heaven by God. When they opened her sarcophagus, the body was not there-instead, they found many beautiful flowers. And there appeared a sign in the sky- a woman clothed in the Sun, Moon under her feet, and 12 stars on her head, as described by John the Evangelist. The dogma about Assumption was passed only in 1950 but the liturgical celebration of it has been known since the 5th century. Every year there are celebrations in Lithuanian churches for this day. Herbs, flowers, crops, vegetables, etc. are blessed in churches. Dried flowers were kept with icons to protect from thunder or illness.

The topic has inspired many great artists and has been, in my opinion, the second most popular topic for painters after Annunciation.

Assumption by Guido Reni. Source: http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_237615/Guido-Reni/Assumption-of-the-Virgin

 So, what EXACTLY is going on at Assumption in Lithuania?

Traditional Lithuanian Food: Cold Beetroot Soup

This is my entry to Eat the World-2012 Food Olympics, another great Facebook campaign. Lithuanian traditional food can be divided into two categories: the nobility ate food that was eaten all over Europe and the peasantry ate simple staple meals. Our cuisine has been influenced by other cuisines and our cold beetroot soup isn't something unique, but that doesn't diminish its great taste.

10 Things Not to Miss in Vilnius

I feel privileged to be writing this for Hostelworld. In fact, I feel rightfully shamed by them because I should have come up with this post months ago. But better late than never, right? So, here we go, *drum music*, http://www.hostelworld.com/blog/10-things-not-to-miss-in-vilnius/157043

I must also add that I have used Hostelworld for booking my accommodation and I can sincerely recommend them.

Find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hostelworldcom and Twitter @hostelworld
Find me on Facebook by clicking here and Twitter @Kootvela

I am looking forward to seeing you in Vilnius.

Ele

Capture the Colour Photoblogging Travel Competition

This is my entry to Capture the Colour competition. The main idea is to find among your photos the ones that best represent five colours of blue, green, yellow, white and red. In addition to that, each photo has to be described why it is a special one. I think this is a great idea, so please have a look at my entry and leave a comment or two. 

The first image is for the blue colour.

No, it's not an ocean, or the sky, or anything traditionally blue, and the colour blue here is rather strange. This house is in an area called Žvėrynas, the Menagerie. In the XVI th century this area was forested and animals were kept for dukes and kings to hunt, hence the name Menagerie. Time passed, people cut down the forest and a living quarter started. It mainly houses wooden buildings, now protected as heritage. You can view more pictures by clicking on this link and you can read in more detail here. 

Basketball in a Shell

This is one more post about Lithuania intended to share information with my foreign audience. This time I will talk about basketball. You probably know that the Olympic Games are to be held in London this summer. The Lithuanian team has to compete at events held in Venezuela in order to qualify for the Games. Basketball is our sec...first religion. Our most famous basketballer Arvydas Sabonis entered Hall of Fame FIBA in 2010. London's Northern line station bears his name. An American group wrote a song in his honour.

Many kids learn to slam dunk before they go to school. However, the hero of this post is not a basketballer. In fact, it's not even a person.  It's a...

Traditional Lithuanian Souvenirs

This is a post to help tourists and visitors to Lithuania choose something to bring home. I took these pictures at a crafts fair during a song and dance festival. So, let's embark on a tour of Lithuanian arts and crafts! First of all, there are many shapes and sizes of clay works. The most popular ware is a jug. You can not only keep food products in them but also use as vases or just decorative elements. 

Bubble the City

Well, what really got me started to write this post was this more than awesome photo from In Your Pocket that looked like this:

It was 20 years ago that this issue appeared in Vilnius, quite an anniversary, don't you think?

Verbų Sekmadienis/Palm Sunday

Kaip ir žadėjau, nuotraukos iš Verbų Sekmadienio.
Photos from Palm Sunday, just like promissed.

Palm Sunday, Vilnius

Šiek tiek nusižengsiu tradicijai pagrindinius tekstus rašyti lietuviškai ir parašysiu anglų kalba. Vienas iš mano internetinio kelionių dienoraščio tikslų yra garsinti savo šalį užsienyje, o ten, kaip žinia, lietuviškai nelabai kas moka :-) Be to, reportažo tema yra Verbų Sekmadienis, apie kurį Lietuvoje gimus ir augus visi žinom. Šis post‘as yra šviečiamaisiais renginio tikslais, o po savaitės jis bus papildytas ir renginio nuotraukomis. J. Kudirka „Vilniaus verbos“ man padėjo parengti tekstuką.

A little deviation from the Lithuanian language posts in order to do some courtesy for an international traveller. This post aims to promote a unique day in Lithuania and if one has a strong traveller spirit and love for tradition-it is worthwhile to come to Lithuania next Sunday, 1st of April. And no, it is not for All Fool‘s Day.

The Sunday before Easter is called Palm Sunday. According to the Holy Bible, it is the day of Jesus glorious entrance to Jerusalem. Originally, Lithuania was a pagan country and plants which sprouted earliest were honored during spring feasts. When Christianity was established in Lithuania, palms “verbos” were consecrated in church. The ancient tradition of whipping each other with palms still exists, when, having returned home with consecrated palms, one whips the head, back shoulders of those who stayed home, chanting different chants like “illness out, health return". Ancient writings dating back to 1573 say that in order to protect from devils and thunder, crosses were made from the consecrated palms and were thrust behind doors, windows and gates. Palms were nailed to beehives so that bees would swarm in great numbers. Before animals were let out of barns in the spring, they were incensed with a burning palm.

Today palms “verbos” have become Palm Sunday tokens. Only 15 villages around Vilnius city make them. The fame of palms started when in 1847 a famous painter K. Ruseckas painted a young girl with palms in her arms.

Source: http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbos

  The origin of palms of Vilnius has not been determined but it is likely to have started as ancient Vilnius trade guilds' processional adornments, manufactured re-staging Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.  About thirty different plants are used to make palms; the making begins the day after Shrove Tuesday and continues till Palm Sunday.

Today one can find modern palms made of different material rather than plants and the size can be from as small as an inch to as big as a person. There are two days in a year one can buy palms: the first one is usually at St. Casimir’s fair, that takes place 1-4 March and the second one is Palm Sunday, which is the Sunday before Easter. One must not forget to take their palm to church for consecration. I always miss the Mass –too many people crowd a place and I often feel faint- but I pop in later in the afternoon. I think that’s an intention that counts, right?

I will put up my photos from the event in a week’s time and meanwhile maybe you can go and check out maybe there’s a cheap flight to Vilnius for that weekend?

.

I look forward to welcoming you in Vilnius!

  Kūtvėla