Labas Rytas! Good Morning! To all of my American friends Happy Independence Day! I arrived in Lithuania three days ago and have loved it. Vilnius is such an old, beautiful city. The design and the architecture are so different than anything that I have ever seen in the States. The last two days before class a couple other girls and I have gotten up early to come to a small cafe in Old Town Vilnius near where the school is. I just love sitting outside at the cafe surrounded by all of these beautiful buildings.
The first day that I was here I went to an open air museum that is about 20 kilometers from the city that is the Monument of the Center of Europe with Carly and Anson (two students that also go to UNC) and our Ukrainian roommate Maryna. There are 70+ sculptures and works of art made by artists from around the globe. We had fun looking at all the different sculptures and there was one of them that was called "Mobile Games" that we enjoyed because it was pretty much a playground for adults. Unfortunately the woman at the gate informed us that if we wanted to take pictures we had to pay more for a special ticket so I have no pictures to show for our adventures.
Last night I walked around town after dinner with Maryna, Denise Jessica (the other two girls from UNC). We went to the main square with the Cathedral Basilica which you can see in the collage that I posted. We were just in awe of how massive the church was and also how absolutely beautiful. We also enjoyed going around looking at all the different shops. There was not enough time to go to all the places that looked interesting but we do still have two and a half more weeks.
I must be off to class now but I will fill you in on how the courses are going in the near future! Once again I hope that you all have a fun Independence Day! Enjoy!
Great pictures! Where did you see the padlocks? I agree, the architecture is beautiful. When you were sitting outside the cafe and we were Skyping I thought that it looked like a scene from a movie. So pretty and bright.
ReplyDeletelol look at you adapting to life there your already using kilometers instead of miles it looks so pretty hun cant wait to see all your pics when you get back
ReplyDeleteI say it in km because that is what I was told and I didn't want to try and figure out how many miles that was!
DeleteOoh! I love the padlock on the bridge. In case you didn't know, it is a tradition in some countries for newlyweds to attach a padlock on a bridge and throw the key into the water below. It is a symbol of their everlasting love. My parents learned this while they were in Europe. Here is a link!
ReplyDelete8)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_padlocks
Yes I did know that. The bridges here are just covered in them! It is also a Lithuanian tradition to for the groom to carry the bride over the bridge and at some point the Lithuanian taxi drivers decided that it was only good luck to carry her over 7 bridges! That way they get paid more driving from one bridge to the next!
ReplyDelete7 bridges! That is insane.
DeleteI am so jealous of you. The pictures you already have posted are amazing, I cannot wait I get to see more. When I went to Washington, D.C, I went to the Air Musuem but the one you went to sounds better. Good luck with your class.
ReplyDelete