Mother's Day(s)

The modern side of Vilnius

It was Mother's Day last Sunday (May 6) in Lithuania, but being Americans (officially, at least, in our host country) we waited until today to celebrate Motherhood. It was a low-key affair, with lunch at Saigon, one of the few Vietnamese eateries in central Vilnius. The beef pho was pretty good, and surprisingly filling, meaning that I'm going to have to make an effort to squeeze in another visit to try their desserts and Vietnamese coffee in the few weeks remaining here:

The woman of the hour. It isn't easy getting her out of the apartment these days for reasons known only to herself (she's wearing her Mother's Day gift around her neck):

It's been pretty quiet here the past couple of weeks. My daughter and I went into Old Town last weekend to do some Mother's Day shopping, and stopped by the Open Market for a snack and a drink:

As we walked past the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Consolation, I was surprised to see the usually-closed building apparently open to the public. The occasion turned out to be an exhibition called Dark Drawn:

It was a day for exhibitionists as the Vilnius Town Hall was hosting Lithuanian Press Photography 2018, featuring photos both political...:

Politicians gathered at the Lithuanian Radio and Television building in Vilnius to make speeches in memory of the victims of the January Events of 1991

The First Lady being eyed suspiciously by a World War II vet during President Trump's visit to Warsaw in July 2017

American soldiers in the Suwalki Gap during the 2017 Iron Wolf military exercises

...and non-political:

 We've all had days like this

 My favorite: a car approaching a main road at night

The destruction of the Lietuva Cinema (1965) in February 2017, sadly taking out one of the better examples of local graffiti in the process. In the theater's place will rise the Modern Art Center

Spring is the best time of year to be in Vilnius:

Amber adds her artistic contribution to the sidewalk in front of Vincas Kudirka Square:

On Lithuania's Mother's Day I wandered down to the Presidential Palace at noon to watch a military honor guard change the flags of the European Union, the national and state flags of Lithuania and NATO:

Following the ceremony, guards in medieval uniform stand at attention in front of the palace for an hour, providing families with some photo ops (in case you're wondering, we had ours taken in December 2016):

Later that afternoon I dragged my daughter away from her laptop for a bike ride through Old Town. We stopped for milkshakes and some fried tofu at a place claiming to sell "Asian street food", followed by an ice cream on Pilies gatvė:

We then crossed the river to check out the ghastly Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports:

An appropriate critique of Communist Modernism

Yesterday, Amber and I drove out to Lake Balsys (within the Vilnius city limits) and were surprised to find it busy with sunbathers and swimmers. Lithuanians don't waste time taking advantage of the sunshine once the snow has melted away:

Later we stopped first at Dr. Waffle for beef and chicken waffle burgers (plus a dessert for my daughter, on the house), before walking over to Gedimino prospektas for a hot dog-and-beer nightcap (the waffle burger wasn't enough for me!) during the Europe Day celebration:

And, finally, on yet another glorious spring afternoon, I went for a short bike ride after our Mother's Day lunch, taking in the views along the Neris (it isn't all 19th-century architecture, you know):

Happy Mother's Day!

A plaque on the ground in Lukiškių aikštė, possibly on the spot where a statue of Vladimir Lenin once stood - "Memory and Respect" (for those who fought and died over the centuries for the freedom of Lithuanians)

Getting ready to enjoy a gift from Belgium

Wait till next year

It's Mother's Day this weekend*, but this year I'm not in much of a celebratory mood. For once, I'm glad my wife usually doesn't get too enthused with these kinds of celebrations, though I'm sure that next year I'll be back to forcing her to accept a present from her daughter and then going out to have lunch or dinner with her family. For now, though, the weekend of the second Sunday of May has been just another two-day break from school and work.

That doesn't mean we were idle this weekend, however, The weather on Saturday was sunny and warm, and much welcome from the early spring snow flurries we've been experiencing in Vilnius the past couple of weeks. Amber and I took our bicycles out of hibernation in the afternoon, beginning in Old Town:

Posing with the tourists on Pilies gatvė

Bernardine Church & Monastery

Pausing along the side of St Anne's Church

In Cathedral Square

Taking a break inside Gedimino 9. Doughnut courtesy of Donut Lab; milk tea brought to us by Formosa

In front of Parliament House

A pyramid-shaped map depicting the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as it looked in the 15th century (curiously overlaid onto a current European political map), when it was the largest state in Europe

West of Gedimino Prospektas and across the Neris River stands the Russian Orthodox Church of the Saint Virgin's Apparition (Знаменская церковь), which I had earlier misidentified in this post as being the Romanov Church. I stand corrected:

Nearby stands a kenessa, a traditional Karaite prayer house, dating from 1911:

Crossing the Neris and returning to New Town, but not before stopping to hear the bells ringing in the Church of the Saint Virgin's Apparition:

This wedding hall on Kalinausko gatvė was built in 1974, when Lithuania was an unwilling member of the USSR. It's actually featured in a coffee table book I own on Soviet-era architecture:

Hot-air balloons, the clearest harbinger of spring in Vilnius:

On Sunday the three of us ended up doing something sort of related to Mother's Day (after Amber had given Shu-E a homemade card in the morning after breakfast) - we drove 90 minutes northwest from Vilnius to Burbiškio dvaras, a complex in the middle of nowhere that (according to its website) includes a restaurant and a cigar room. This weekend it was host to a tulip festival, and the warm weather brought out the bulbs...and the visitors:

Being a festival, there was food and music, of course:

We also took a stroll around the grounds:

Before heading back to Vilnius, we made a short detour to Kleboniškiai, home to an 1884 windmill:

A stork sighting near the windmill. Lithuania is home to 13,000 pairs, the highest-density stork population in Europe:

Apparently change comes slowly to rural Lithuania:

Back in Vilnius, I took my daughter out for tacos at No Forks on Vokiečių gatvė. Amber was apparently not clear on the concept behind the restaurant:

Happy Mother's Day to all, and hope to see you next year...

*Mother's Day is on the first Sunday of May in Lithuania, but we follow the American calendar at home