The Lithuanian flag is tricolour (three colours). The green and red are the colours traditionally used in folk costumes. Yellow was added to symbolize the dawn.
Lithuania may have a difficult language, but it has people who speak Russian or English, in some places German.
The country offers all sorts of great things to eat, and something for everybody of al sort of cultures to enjoy.
First, what is it and what it is not. The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia make a great set of close places to vist with contrasts. The Estonian language is nearer to Finnish. The Latvians and Lithuanians have a pair of different overlapping languages.
The Estonisans have mostly no religion. The Latvians are more than half Protestants. The Luthuanians are Catholic with lots of Catholic places to see.
Let's start with the capitl of Lithuania, Vilnius. Historic.
Wikivoyage has some interesting comments and insights into attitudes amongst different sections of the population.
Vilnius, colourful capital of Lithuania.
Chapel over the Gate of Dawn, in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.
Jewish cemetery of Vilnius. . Monument created from gravestones destroyed during the wars.
The white interor or St Peter and St Paul church in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. Wikivoyage article on Vilnius
Vilnius. Open Air Museum of the Centre of Europe.
Hill of Crosses. Vilnius. Lithuania.
Iron fox sculpture. Lithuania.
Wikivoyage makes brief mention of the vilna Gaon museum, the Jewish vilna genius, who is buried in a Vilnius cemetery, as is mentioned, but he has a longer article elsewhere in Wikipedia. Wikiquote has two quotations from him which I found quite negative. One was about telling his wife to stay home and avoid gossipping.
It was explained that women in those days were not obliged to attend synagogue at all. Why? Because women were fully busy looking after the home and family, children. (In that era married women went from one pregnancy to the next throughout their childbearing years).
However, another website produced lovely timeless sayings that his wife and mother should get along, and woman should be good to their neighbours.
'I ask my wife to honor my mother, (as it is written in the Torah), especially a widow, because it is a great sin to cause her sadness, even with a small gesture. I also ask my mother that there be peace between you two. A woman should make her neighbor happy with good things'. What a lovely thought, well expressed, even though we are reading it in translation.
The Vilna Gaon Museum has a page on him, and a shop selling publications, books, bookmarks, magnets and postcards.
Also see the street named after the Vilna Gaon with a statue of the Vilna Gaon.
For fun, around Vilnius are a statue of Frank Zappa, no connection with Vilnius except fans who wanted his statue, a Toy Msueum, and a Museum of Illusions.
Useful Websites
Hill of Crosses, Lithuania.
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_panoramio.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment