Happy Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo diena!

Selfie time on the balcony of VCUP

On this day in 1990 the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania was declared by the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, serving as a model and inspiration for other Soviet republics in the rapidly dissolving USSR. It would be another eighteen months before Moscow would formally recognize the fact that Lithuania had become an independent state again, but March 11 is the date that was the beginning of the end of the country's fifty-year nightmare as a Soviet republic. It's an important public holiday in Lithuania, but although the day falls on a Saturday this year, there's no mechanism for shifting the holiday to the day before to give the citizenry an extended weekend. Flags lined the buildings on our street and Gediminas Prospektas was closed to traffic today, but we stayed clear of New Town, going out instead to the Vilnius Central Department Store, aka Vilniaus Centrinė Universalinė Parduotuvė or VCUP, to have lunch. As we parked the car, we noticed what appeared to be a large Lithuanian flag or banner being spread out along the banks of the Neris River:

In honor of the occasion, I ordered the Lithuanian Burger (a potato pancake atop a beef patty) at Smart Burger Bar:

After lunch, we crossed under Konstitucijos Prospektas and did some shopping at the Europa shopping center. On the way back to the car, I was surprised to find this memorial to Chiune Sugihara 杉原千畝, the World War II Japanese diplomat who it's estimated helped up to 40,000 Jews escape Lithuania by issuing transit visas allowing travel to Japanese territory, despite orders not to do so. The memorial was erected by students from Waseda University 早稲田大学, Sugihara's alma mater:

Back home the girls decided to relax, but I wanted to see what was going on in New Town, so I went for a walk. I reached Gediminas Prospektas in time to witness a demonstration passing by. I don't know if this was the "controversial nationalist march" referred to in this Delfi article; the only signs I could work out were those protesting the nuclear power plant under construction in Astravets, across the border in Belarus and only 50 kilometers from Vilnius:

Lukiskių aikštė (where a statue of Lenin once stood) is currently closed for reconstruction work. The outer fencing has been turned into a photography exhibit, with images depicting the plight of migrants attempting to reach Greece among the displays:

Looking toward Šnipiškės from New Town:

I'm not sure what this building is used for now, but it's most definitely of Soviet design and the spire on the top likely once had a Red Star. The plaque above the doorway also appears to be missing something Communist-related:

New Town threw up a couple of surprises this afternoon. The first was the sight of the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Церковь Cвятителя Николая Чудотворца), looming over the walls and barbed wire of the Lukiškės Prison:

The other surprise was a plaque on the outer wall explaining that Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister who signed the Camp David accords, was an unwilling "guest" of the NKVD at the prison in 1940-1941:

A restaurant located behind the Parliament House (Seimas):

A look back at New Town on the way home:

My wife, daughter and I model T-shirts sent to us by my friend Steve, who has been running his own English school in Taichung 台中 for several years now:

At the march on Gediminas Prospektas mentioned above, someone was carrying a boombox that was playing this song as the procession made its way past where I was standing. I don't know what the aims of the demonstrators were, but I did agree with the soundtrack:

POSTSCRIPT: The day after

Sunday was a quiet day for us, but we did go out for lunch at René, Vilnius' best Belgian restaurant (namely because I haven't yet found any others), specializing in La Cuisine de la Biere. Belgian cuisine has been a favorite of mine since our trip to the country in the fall of 2014:

The restaurant gets its name from the noted Belgian surrealist René Magritte; reproductions of some of his works (including his most famous, The Son of Man) line the walls, and the staff are decked out in bowler hats in homage. Customers are encouraged to draw on the paper tablecloths, and my daughter happily took up the offer:

I started off with a bowl of lamb soup, then followed up with an order of mussels cooked in beer, but neglected to take any pictures (sorry Internet!). I did get shots of the beer (of course) and the chocolate mousse I had for dessert, which alone is reason enough to pay a return visit to the restaurant:

While the girls did some grocery shopping after lunch, I worked off some of the meal by taking a long walk. Even if the Gulag, purges, deportations and executions had never taken place, the Soviets would still be guilty of crimes against humanity with their Socialist Realist architectural legacy, such as the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theater (1974). I'll be glad when spring returns so that the foliage will partially obscure the view:

I returned to the Europa Business and Shopping Center to pick up an invoice which allows me to claim a partial refund on VAT, a job-related perk:

The TV Tower off in the distance:

On the grounds of the National Gallery of Art (on the "To visit" list) stands this suspiciously Soviet era-looking statue:

The Šnipiškės area (aka the New Town Center) is in the process of having its utilitarian concrete apartment blocks replaced by more modern business buildings:

The Moon Festival

We're in the midst of a three-day weekend, thanks to the lunar Moon Festival holiday 中秋節 falling on a Monday this year, and the Kaminoge family returned home several hours ago from an overnight trip up north. We left early in the afternoon on Saturday, and eventually made our way to Nanliao 南寮. With the exception of Kaohsiung 高雄, all the major and minor cities on Taiwan's west coast are well inland, away from the ocean. The city of Hsinchu 新竹 is no exception. Though a part of the city, Nanliao seems like a distant world from the hustle and bustle of downtown Hsinchu. The city's tourism officials have only recently woken up to the possibilities lying along the shore just a short drive from the city center, with a 17-kilometer (10.6 miles) long cycling course having been laid out along the coast. Our first stop was at a beach not far from the Nanliao port:

Things were a little bit windy...

...but the water was warm:

After looking for shells and harassing crabs, we drove to Nanliao port, where many kites were being flown in the late afternoon sky:

Amber commandeered the camera, and took several pictures...

...including some self-portraits:

My daughter is turning into quite the confident photog. You can see several more of her pictures on her photo blog.

Being at a fishing port, dinner was inevitably seafood. Here is Amber pointing to some future dishes inside the market building:

By the time we were finished with dinner, the sun had gone down, and darkness had descended upon the area. Our plan was to stay the night nearby, though we didn't have any reservations with any hotels. Not a problem, however, as we drove into the center of Hsinchu. It wasn't too long before my wife started following a sign for the Wego Motel, located just off of Chungcheng Road 中正路. Pulling up to the office, we were taken aback to discover that the cost for a night there was NT4000 ($140/¥10,650). The Wego is what is known as a "boutique motel". These are basically upmarket versions of the Japanese love hotel ラブホテル, and have taken off in popularity in recent years. Pamela has always wanted to stay in one, and seeing her chance, decided to damn the torpedoes price-wise, and go full speed ahead. I've been to love hotels in Japan and motels in Taiwan (high five!), but the Wego was the first multi-story kind for me - eight floors in total. Like a parking garage, we drove in ascending circles to our room on the third floor, where we parked the car in the garage there, and checked out our room and bath:

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the kind of family motel I was used to back in the States, but Amber was thankfully too young to feel anything but excitement at the springy bed and large bath. And she must have been excited, because in the early morning hours she kicked me in her sleep and pushed out of the bed and onto the floor.

In the morning, we took the elevator to the top floor, and had breakfast with the fornicators, plus a family of four. Afterward, seeing as we didn't have to checkout until 11am, Pamela decided she wanted to get her NT4000-worth, so she and Amber took a bubble bath together. I used to opportunity to go for a walk in central Hsinchu. It didn't take long to find Peimen Street 北門街, one of Hsinchu's first commercial streets, lined with buildings dating from the Japanese period 台灣日治時期. Most of the shops were still closed, or just getting ready to open, as I walked down the street. Among the ones that I stopped to check out were this puppet shop...

and this establishment dealing in traditional Chinese medicine 中藥:

Near the end of the road was Ch'anghe Temple 長和宮, dating from 1742:

I went inside, and checked out the main hall...

...and a side shrine called Shuihsien Temple 水仙宮:

Back on Beimen Street, I followed the road to almost the end of the street, where several old homes were still standing, though some just barely. This house is called the Cheng Family Shrine 鄭氏家廟:

Returning the way I came on Beimen Street, I paid a brief call on Hsinchu's most famous temple, Ch'enghuang Temple 城隍廟, barely visible behind a ring of food stalls:

Another temple, another main hall:

Eventually, I made it back to the Wego Motel, where Amber and Pamela had finished their morning bubble bath. After checking out, we drove out of Hsinchu and traveled southeast, eventually reaching the "old town" of Peip'u 北埔. Taiwan is full of such historic places. Unfortunately, much of the history has been squeezed out in the name of tourism, leaving behind only an outer shell of restaurants and souvenir stores. Beimen Street in Hsinchu is still a living, breathing commercial road. Beipu, unfortunately, has been reconfigured to fit the needs of the tourist hordes. Still, when in Taiwan, do as the Taiwanese, so we took a stroll through the older section of the town:

Lunch was at a restaurant serving Hakka cuisine 客家菜 such as pant'iao fried noodles. This place wasn't my first choice - that had been reserved for the establishment next door which, according to my Bradt Taiwan guidebook, served "local beer". I took this to mean some kind of microbrew/craft beer, but to my disappointment, "local" meant Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒. Taiwan's equivalent of Budweiser or Miller isn't worth waiting in line for, which is why we headed to this place:

Somewhat artificial it may be, there are still some interesting buildings in Beipu that were worth checking out, such as Tz'ut'ien Temple 慈天宮, a Hakka house of worship that was established in 1830:

The main hall of the temple:

In the streets surrounding the temple, there were old buildings that had been turned into teahouses:

This building is an old meeting hall built around the same time as Citian Temple, called Chinkuangfu  金廣福:

Beipu''s most impressive structure is, ironically, a Japanese-style Western-influenced building. Here is Amber posing with her newly-purchased dolphin balloon in front of the 1940's A-Hsin Chiang Residence 姜阿新宅:

A typical weekend scene in one of Taiwan's "atmospheric" streets of yore:

We soon bade the hordes of architectural enthusiasts farewell, and began the long, leisurely drive Highway 3 台3線 to home. We made one stop along the way, at Emei Lake 峨眉湖. The lake itself is nothing special to look at, but overlooking the water was this statue of the Maitreya Buddha 彌勒大佛:

At 72 meters (236 feet), this statue, along with the colossal Maitreya Monastery 聖地建築, were impossible to miss, despite being closed off to public access.

Tomorrow being a public holiday, I have one more day to sleep in (Daddy says "please", Amber) before returning to work on Tuesday. I haven't decided what to do yet, but whatever it turns out to be, I hope it will be relaxing.