Saturday Really Is a Special Day

Saturday, February 25, 2017

A day where we get Adam to ourselves for the whole day really is a special day!  We all slept in together (except for Tyson, but he even slept until 6, getting almost 12 hours of sleep!) and ate breakfast together.  Then we gathered up our 6 (!) bags of garbage to stop at the dumpsters on our way out for the day.  It was so very cold out today.  It was in the 30s, but the "feels like" on the app was in the 20s all day.  Everyone was bundled up except Jacob, who thinks he can't get cold.  Well, he got cold today and we all ended up sharing our warm layers - turkey!  But maybe (?) now he'll listen to us and bundle up when we go out for the day?

We decided to take Adam and Sarah on the tour of the crypt to the Vilnius Cathedral.  The tickets were bought at the Bell Tower of the cathedral, but the website said that the Bell Tower was closed.  We were so happy to learn that it wasn't closed and we got to go up and explore it - and it was really amazing!  It was the perfect start to what turned into a really fun day.

We first climbed up 2 sets of these narrow, brick staircases.

The first set took us to a level with preserved bells from churches around Lithuania.

The second level had screens and controls to observation cameras on the top of the Bell Tower.  The boys had fun moving the cameras around to see the views and to people-watch in the courtyard and streets below.  And now we're creeped out to know that someone really is always watching us as we walk around!

 We passed other examples of older preserved bells as we climbed up 6 more sets of stairs, only this time the stairs were wooden and very steep.  Unfortunately, all of the ladder pictures are on Adam's phone - and he's not here right now.

 From the top, we had absolutely amazing views.  It was awesome to see the details of the sculptures at the top of the Cathedral with Gedimino's tower and the 3 Crosses in the background.

 Here we are looking down into the courtyard beside the Cathedral with Old Town (the direction of our flat) in the background.

And we could see Gedimino Street and were curious to see that it was again closed off to traffic and lined with white tents.  That, then, became our next destination.

 Adam is standing at the top of one of the wooden staircases, but it's hard to see how steep it was.

 Looking down on Tyson through the rafters.

Looking up through the rafters of the Bell Tower.

We just had to know what was going on down Gedimino Street.  Upon running into the Kendalls a little later in the day, we learned that these booths had also been set up last year, but it was the weekend we went to Klipeda, which is why we didn't see it.  The booths were filled with cooked foods, raw foods like a farmer's market, and stalls with homemade things like hats, gloves, toys, handbags, candles, etc.    

 A look down Gedimino Street.

 Tyson's awesome find.  The great thing about this hat is that it has ear flaps that fold down, which he had pulled down all day to keep his ears from freezing off.

 We each found something we loved at the hat shop.  I'm loving my blue hat and Sarah found cute purple leather gloves.  Jacob later found a sword - surprise.

We grabbed some food, but just about froze to death by stopping to eat it.  Just a short way down the street was a cafe, but it was packed full, so we went down to the next stop... McDonalds.  We ordered a few drinks (my 2nd Diet Coke!) and hot chocolate and let ourselves thaw out.

It was just so cold on our way back down Gedimino, that we didn't dawdle too much - just one stop to grab a leather purse for Sarah.  We had seen it on the way up, but she was unsure about buying it.  I suggested we keep walking, but if she couldn't stop thinking about as we went, then she would know it was meant to be and she could buy it on the way back.  She couldn't stop thinking about it.  :)

We were freezing - did I mention it felt like 22 degrees out! - but we still had some time before our English tour of the Bell Tower started, so we went inside the Cathedral just to be out of the wind.  Adam hadn't been inside it on this trip yet, so we enjoyed the architecture and details in the design.  Here are shots of the beautiful detail on the ceiling.

The crypt tour was one of our favorite things last year, so we were excited to go back down under the church.  The crypts have a history of major flooding.  Many walls were bricked up over the ages, too.  So archaeologists have had quite a time putting the pieces of what was there back together.  The most amazing find was the simple burial of one of the Grand Dukes and 2 of his wives.  When the royals were buried there in the mid 1500s, there was always an intent to build them a beautiful resting place.  But continual turmoil prevented that from happening and eventually they were bricked into their burying place to protect them from being stolen.  They were only discovered late last century, about the time Russia began to pull out of the country.  Since then, work has been done to add drains to stop the flooding and to add flooring and wall supports so that the crypts can stand through more lengths of time.

 Beautiful brick arches in the crypt.

 Our tour group learning more about Dukes and wars.

 At the final burying place of Queen Barbora - my favorite because I have a favorite Barbara! - the boys remembered the whispering arches, so they aren't licking the walls here but are whispering (probably insults) to each other.  If you stand diagonally on either side of the arched ceiling, the acoustics will allow you to hear a quiet whisper from the person across from you.

The burial site of Queen Barbora.

The sun was setting as we headed for home, but Adam was still the only one of our group who hadn't been to Sopranos.  Of course we had to stop!  We had ham and cheese crepes and ice cream treats for our dinner.  YUMM-O!

Soprano's interior (Jacob has a shiny eye)

 Deciding what to order.

Cold, but what a stunning blue sky looking back down Pilies Street towards Gedimino Castle.

Tyson was asleep about 30 seconds after we walked through the door, but it's the latest he's gone to bed yet.  It was after 6 pm!  The adults all watched movies.  Jacob has found this is a great day and time to do Google Hangouts with his friends who are hanging around their houses on their Saturday morning back home.