After the shock of the boys wanting to shop with us yesterday, we were a little surprised when they didn't want to go out with us today to do some more browsing. We decided to head south since we haven't gone that way much. We headed toward the Gates of Dawn and stopped at the little "taste of France" restaurant we've seen but never eaten at. Sarah had the smoked salmon crepe and I had the mushroom and ham crepe. They were delicious.
We stopped in several shops and then actually went into St Theresa Church and up to the Mary painting that is over the Gates of Dawn. It was obviously a very reverent place of pilgrimage for the people there.
Sacred shrine for those who make the pilgrimage to the Gates of Dawn with the picture of Mary.
Cute courtyard of the day.
I wanted to stop in the larger Maxima store, seeing online that a few of their stores carry hair clippers. I brought our hair clippers, but apparently small and simple electronics like hair dryers, curling irons and hair clippers don't work with the standard converter unless they are specifically made for foreign travel. I haven't used my curling iron yet because of the constant need for a hat, so at least I didn't ruin it. But when I turned on the clippers, it was obvious that the voltage was wrong, so I immediately turned them off. It has been over 4 weeks since any of my boys have had haircuts, so we are getting desperate. We learned that a man's cut is about 20 Euros. I figured if I could get clippers for 60 Euros, we'd still be saving money since they will each need 2 haircuts before we go home. However, we did not find any clippers at this Maxima. I'm not really sure what we're going to do and where to find them. Grrr.
We grabbed a few groceries, but decided to wander on our way home. I knew the direction we were heading, but couldn't remember exactly where we were. We ended up passing the synagogue, and then I knew where I was. The synagogue is only open at certain times, so we weren't able to go inside. But we found several other fun shops, including a yarn shop my sister would have loved.
The only remaining synagogue in Vilnius, post WWII.
We prefer side streets to busy main streets when they are possible to take.
We looped around, taking as many side streets as possible and ended near our old flat and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which used to include a Franciscan Abbey. It is the perfect example of the looting and destruction that happened during the Soviet occupation. It still just makes me sick to think of that happening here and to other beautiful little countries all around us. When you first walk in you just see a beautiful structure, but then you look up close and the damage is obvious and sad. There was scaffolding up and one man working on renovation. How much can one man do?
There are traces of the paintings that must have been here. There was just a simple, painted cross and crucified Savior on the wall where I'm sure something beautiful used to be, but the original decorations and designs were definitely missing.
You can see the cracked stucco and exposed brick.
We made it back home safely, except for me trying to get this shot of the road before the traffic came. I just love the pattern on the road in front of our house on Rotuses Street. If it weren't for the really ugly white building in the background, it would be the perfect shot. To the left side, there is a yellow box. These boxes are found at many of the intersections. There is a lid on the box with sand inside. It's so you can grab a handful of sand and spread it when the road or sidewalk gets slippery.
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