Oddly, it is much nicer when the temperature is -10 C or even less. The snow is powdery and light and easy to shovel. The air crisp and clean. There usually isn't much wind. It is actually quite pleasant outside as long as I have decent gloves to protect my hands. They get cold quickly due to poor circulation. The best gloves are a pair of old fur-lined mittens that don't leave my fingertips numb after working outside.
Still I see a lot of men wear no gloves at all. I don't know if they have skin like a walrus or if this is some badge of honor. That was the case when Daina and I went to check out the new windows for the Signatories House. Out of respect, I took my gloves off to shake their hands but just as quickly put them back on.
Bit by bit the state museum is restoring the Signatories House, which was used back in 1918 to sign the first act of independence from the Russian Empire. That anniversary is coming up in March. The windows looked good. The profiles and the colors were a close match. The architect representing the museum quibbled a little bit over the vertical meeting rail but in the end it was decided it wasn't worth the trouble to replace it.
This has been an ongoing project for us since 2016 when we were first commissioned to prepare the restoration drawings. We had to check all the windows that were being replaced as the molding profiles vary. WE went through the kitchen of Eskedar's coffee bar to get to the first floor ballroom. She specializes in Ethiopian coffee, being a native of the country. She's done quite well for herself in Lithuania, having learned the language and become an active businesswoman and regular on the talk shows. The young woman in the kitchen looked like she was Ethiopian herself. We exchanged greetings as she put together desserts to go with the coffee.
Daina and I had a coffee after we took a few photographs. Interesting that the waiter dropped a spoon of butter into the espresso. I'm waiting on an Ethiopian restaurant to open in Vilnius. I loved the Ethiopian restaurants in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC, when I lived there in the early 90s. Doesn't seem as though Eskedar is bold enough to try her luck here yet, content with a coffee shop that is usually full.
There are more and more foreign faces in Vilnius. It has recaptured its cosmopolitan feel from the interwar era. During Soviet times, it had become rather homogenous, with 90% of the former Jewish population either killed or fled. Poles still clung to the outlying areas but they could no longer claim Vilnius as their own. Russians were a small minority. The city didn't see a surge in Russian population like Ryga and Tallinn. Probably because it wasn't a port city and therefore didn't have a direct link to the outside world. The city had turned in on itself. Only after the restoration of independence in 1990 did it start to blossom again.
Many thought Vilnius would never catch up to its Baltic sister cities but that hasn't been the case. Vilnius has grown by leaps and bounds. If it wasn't for the downtown being a protected UNESCO world heritage site, you wouldn't recognize the city from what it looked like 33 years ago. Even in the Old Town most of the buildings have been restored, giving it the cozy charm of a Western European city. So much so that Vilnius was recently ranked in the Top 100 cities of the world, coming in at 92.
The Baroque city has long had an active cultural scene. You would be pretty hard pressed to find better theater, opera or classical music anywhere in the world. It's leading lights are internationally known, the latest being Asmik Grigorian and Edgaras Montvidas who are considered among the best soloists in Europe. Occasionally, they make it back to Lithuania for a concert.
The theater here is very progressive, sometimes too much for purists, especially when it comes to modern interpretations of Shakespeare and Moliere. We lost Nekrošius a few years ago. He was long considered one of the best directors in the world. His theater company, Meno Fortas, carries on through his wife and son. I'm always impressed at how the actors carry so many plays in their head as it is not like the American or British theater where you stage one production multiple times. Here you will find a variety of productions each month, making for a lively atmosphere.
The Christmas tree will come down this weekend. The city already removed the vendors' stalls, which mostly offered hot mulled cider and confectionaries. A couple years ago, an enterprising couple restored the rotunda in the park next to the castle but made it a bit too upscale for our taste. Daina said it used to be the worst ice cream and coffee but it was cheap and a great place to hang out as a college student.
The city has gone out of its way to keep the sidewalks and bicycle paths cleared the last few years, part of an initiative to make the city more accessible by foot and bicycle. You still have to watch your step though. It would have made more sense to run the utilities under the sidewalks rather than the streets, that way the warmth of the hot water pipes would have thawed out the sidewalks.
I think the rest of the world is only now coming to realize what an interesting and beautiful city Vilnius is. The other day we came across a large Japanese tourist group in front of our office. They were taking selfies in front of St. Anne's and the Bernardine Churches across the street, giggling and carrying on. It reminded me of my first winter in Vilnius. I was taking pictures of the same churches and Goda kept jumping up trying to get into the photos. Not that I didn't enjoy her presence but I was trying to capture some of the intricate brick details. When I asked her to stop, she said, "but churches don't smile."
It is nice to see all this attention but I'm amazed so many people choose to come in winter. This is not the most pleasant time to visit Vilnius. The weather is so gloomy. We get very little sunlight this time of year. Entrepreneurs have tried to make up for this with light festivals, including one that pays homage to The Jungle Book in Vingio Park. However, all you really want to do is duck into a cafe and warm your hands on a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Spring is really best time. The fruit trees are flowering, including the Japanese cherry trees in front of the National Art Gallery, which were planted in honor of Chiune Sugihara. He saved countless Jews in the early years of WWII by granting them visas to leave the country. However, the capital was in Kaunas at the time, not Vilnius.
We still have at least two months to go. March is usually nice if still a bit cold. We don't really see Spring until April or early May. At least it feels a bit brighter with all the crystalline snow that fell last night.
Comments
Post a Comment