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The Oak Park (Azuolynas) has been calling me since before we arrived. The stairs up through Vytauto park, just past the Russian church near us, are too steep and too many for Mom. And she's not really interested, anyhow. I had though of letting her visit Elyte and Vytas tomorrow and going for a walk myself. But she is nervous about travelling alone, and I'm enjoying the visiting too much. So, instead of running, this morning I get out by 7 and head for Azuolynas.
| There's a pleasant neighborhood between the parks, where I find this interesting house. I could live here. I love the style - all the windows (those downstairs shutters could open, too), the porch on top, a nice yard with both shade and garden. And it's not just between these parks; it's close to Ramybes park, the farmers' market, and (of course, since I walked here) the mall with all its fancy shops and those kavines and barus delights. |  |
I pass the sports complex and enter the oaks, in the chilly early morning mist. People walking dogs, young men stretching for running, an older man doing chin-ups, bikers, a woman doing some sort of dance/exercise in a large field. And all these beautiful old oaks.
 Doesn't this middle tree look as though she is dancing very slowly? |
 Under this dead oak was a wide circle of fallen branches, where I found a piece of loose bark in each of the 4 directions, like gifts. |
The Lithuanian talent at woodcarving, love of nature, and whimsy all show in these benches, only a sample of what I saw. And they're comfortable, too.
 I love the smirks! The zoo we visited is behind the fence you can barely see behind the trees. |
 This guy is special; he told me I was lost, because I saw him twice. |
So I put the sun behind my left shoulder and found my way past the Darius & Girenas monument to the sports complex. Then across to the stairs and "home".
Laisves, Mom, and the @#$%^&* rugby players are just waking up. These are the English group - sounds of retching across the hall, vomit in the elevator, rude yelling. They are the one unpleasant note of this whole trip. While we pay for the room (cash, each morning, for the previous night), I learn that these English rugby ruffians are from London - but New Zealand, not England. Thank goodness they are leaving - right now.
We forget them over a breakfast of fried eggs and cole slaw. I have to plant dill this year; the scent and flavor take me back to Mama & Tete's kitchen in Lawrence.
Today we'll poke around Senamiestis, the Old Town. So the landlady calls us a cab. And a pleasant and friendly woman driver takes us to Rotuses square. She and Mom really hit it off. So much so that Mom acquires a tape of her brother's band, which is on tour in the U.S.
First, we stroll around the town square.
 Even though the buildings abut, each is decidedly individual. The cobblestones are quaint, but do give Mom and her hot rod walker a bit of trouble. |
 We walk to the statue of Maironis, priest, bishop, and poet, on the west side of the square. He wrote the unofficial Lithuanian national hymn that we sang at the family reunion in Musninkai. His real name was Jonas Maciulis. |
| On the east side of the square, several buildings have unusaual wrought iron decorations. This is the only place in Lithuania that we see them, but they sure are lovely. |
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 A rooster and light. |
 A woman with peacocks. |
We head to the Sts. Peter and Paul cathedral of Kaunas. It was built in 1408 as a Gothic basilica; has nine altars, including the most incredible baroque high altar; and shelters Maironis's tomb (on the south side). Every niche and pillar has an angel - and each is different. These are not mass-produced symbols of angels; these are statues of angels. And, yes, the whole place glows a sort of purple, like the royalty it is.
 The high altar. |
 This is what baroque is. |
 The organ looks like a cathedral itself! |
We stroll up Vilniaus mall (where I have been running in the morning). There are sidewalks, but the cobblestone street is also a mall. Several gift and book shops tempt us as we feel we have traveled back to at least the time when Mama & Tete walked such streets. We rest - with beer and an apple-filled torte - in the enclosed patio of Vasare kavine, tucked into a courtyard with apartments, and feel part of town life.
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Down a side lane, we pass this attractive apartment building. Those shutters protect the basement apartment, but are beautifully decorated and varnished wood. I am again impressed with how Lithuania is revitalizing, reawakening, blossoming. |
| We poke down side streets, look into shops, see the old Post Office, and head back to Rotuses square and the Town Hall. Mom rests a bit after navigating over all the cobblestones. I love this building; it looks just like a wedding cake. Which is appropriate, because it is where the civil formalities of wedding take place. |  |
We have coffee and chocolate torte while waiting for our cab. The pastries are rich but not the sticky sweet kind. All the flavors come through - along with all the deliciously sinful (fattening) creams.
I leave Mom to rest from all her work at Monela and walk with the Monday shopping crowd on Laisves. Music pours from the kavines. And from the Dixieland band on a bandstand where the Daukanto cross-mall forms a square. It's part of a political campaign for the October election! I get to email Chuck again and chat with the young proprietor. This afternoon stroll each day is wonderful. Alone, I'd buy a ledai from one of the vendors and nibble while sitting on one of the benches under the trees. Or get a small alus tamsus at an outdoor cafe. Maybe read, maybe watch, maybe listen to conversations I cannot understand. It's all so soft and friendly and alive!
We find a great little kavine down a sort of alley; I cannot find a name anywhere. But the food is delicious. Mom has skewered chicken and I have pork fillet filled with prunes and other delicious things I cannot identify. Both come with large "floral" decorations of orange slices and veggies. Ah yes, another heavy and greasy meal. Whoever found that sort of food must have really searched hard - or lied! The meals here are delicious, reasonable-sized, and far more healthy than my own dinners, never mind restaurant food. Nutritious feasts! Well, maybe not the big bowls of ice cream curls. But they sure taste good, too.
we, along with everyone else in the room, watched the Lithuanian basketball game during dinner. I think they are playing Yugoslavia. I enjoy Olympic basketball - as opposed to the "tackle basketball" we see from the ACC, NCAA, and NBA. I prefer ball-handling, fancy footwork, and surprise moves. Oh well.
Back in our suite, we watch a bit of TV, I crochet some more, and we drop into bed after all our walking.
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