First, I wanted proof that I do sometimes have Jacob do school work. Unfortunately, he's in the geometry section of his math book and I do NOT like geometry. I can do algebra all day, but shapes throw me off. One section required drawing 3D shapes and Adam had to do it with him. I understood today's discussion on circumference and pi. However, I have now been craving pie all afternoon!
Sarah and I decided to do a little shopping today. The weather is rather gloomy, so it seemed appropriate to do an indoor activity.
This is my favorite view out the window of the roofline next to our building as we come down our many stairs.
Through another narrow street, we pass the beautiful All Saints Church. Jacob refers to it as the Thousand Island church, for obvious reasons. We also called it the goodbye church last year since we always seemed to say goodbye to the Kendalls from that point.
The best part of being here the 2nd time is the feeling that I know where I am. I'm not constantly scouring the map making sure we're going in the right direction. Instead, we can walk and talk and take in our surroundings. Today we were headed to a little market that we loved last year - the one where I had my funny skirt experience - in hopes of finding some cute things. We were vastly disappointed. We didn't find anything and a number of booths were closed. So as always, our only spending was on groceries. We were near a larger market, Maxima, so we stopped there to get things that we can't find at the little express stores closer to us. All in all, it was not a very interesting day. I was so excited to finally have a girl to go shopping with, but we'll have to wait for a better day and better stores. It was good company today, but lame attempts at shopping.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
We had Adam home and free all day! So we set out to find some new places to explore. Being that we're here to make a movie, it seemed appropriate to visit the Theater, Music and Cinema Museum. It always blows my mind to have walked down a narrow street with tall buildings, thinking there are just layers of buildings; and then you walk through a fence and find there is this big courtyard and outside ampi-theater right where you thought buildings were.
The courtyard/ampi-theater in front of the museum.
The entrance to the museum.
It was good we had Adam with us. There were old movie cameras and he could explain to us how they had worked. There were a number of other music playing machines and old instruments - older than our history in Utah. Things that maybe the pioneers had, but couldn't bring with them across the plains, so we have none of them in our museums. Europe's history makes our history feel so young!
This part of town seems to be very influenced by the arts. We walked past another interesting-looking alley that was covered in artwork. Upon walking through the alley, we came into a courtyard filled with handmade, paper mache-looking figures. They are in the background behind Jacob. But the best one was attached to the building wall. Jacob, for some reason, is obsessed with cows. Even his gmail account has the word cow in it. So we've heard him use the expression, "When cows fly." And here it is.
Jacob and the flying cow!
As we continued on our way, we passed a sign for McDonalds. Adam really wanted to try it and see how it compares to the States. I don't think any of us have ever been to a McDonalds in a pink 3-story building.
McDonalds on Gedimino Street
It looks like a McDonalds on the inside, but it is a much simpler menu.
Where's my food?
I ordered something called a Big Tasty or Tasty Supreme... whatever it was called, it was anything but tasty. I should have just gone for a Big Mac. This one had a strange sauce I have never tasted before and it wasn't good. However, the fries were the same (plus the .30 Euros per ketchup packet) and the nugget-looking things were cheese and jalapeños balls, which were ok. But the Diet Coke. Oh, the Diet Coke! I will be dragging everyone back there for the Diet Coke!!! And they served it WITH ice! Unheard of in Europe! I was so happy that I didn't care that the burger was gross.
Another plus of being at a McDonalds was knowing there would be a public restroom. But American fast food chains use a trick in Lithuania so free-loaders won't just come in for the bathrooms. There is a code printed on your receipt that you have to type in to gain access to the bathroom. Luckily, we didn't throw away our receipt.
Our second museum stop for the day was to the Radziwill Palace. Only a piece of the palace is left with fires and wars destroying the rest. It was an art museum displaying Lithuanian and Western European artwork. It was amazing to see the building and think of what it once was as a part of one of the Grand Duke's palaces.
Radziwill Palace
This part is attached to the Radziwill Palace piece we were in. We are wondering if it is being renovated.
Our meandering walk home took as down a road we discovered on our 1st Sunday here last year. There are some beautiful views and a great old wall along the road. We're thinking this may be a good area for Sarah to take some of Tyson's senior pictures. (We are so excited to have a real photographer with a real camera in our midst!)
Jacob has needed someone to pick on without Tyson being here, so Sarah has been his target. Thankfully, she teases him back and they have bonded. If he strikes a pose, she doesn't skip a beat and does something silly with him. She's been such a blessing! Hopefully, he's not driving her completely crazy!
St Ignoto Street - old wall with the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit in the background.
Looking through one of the openings in the wall is this cool old building. I think it would be so fun to have a bunch of money and fix it up to it's old glory.
This little church, the Divine Mercy Sanctuary, is busier than I've ever seen any of the big churches be. There were several who came in and out for prayer as we were looking at it.
The Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit - has an 18th Century organ in it, one of the oldest in Lithuania. We heard it being played last year. We will have to get out on a Sunday and go hear it. (Although it's supposed to be cold and snowy tomorrow, so that probably won't happen just yet.)
Around the corner from the Dominican Church is the express market, Iki. There are always stairs. This is the entrance - produce at the bottom of the stairs and a stand of juices just to the left. The store goes in a circle around the stairs and ends at the cash registers. Those are just around the corner to the right. A funny story about this store. We came here on Valentine's Day and we needed matches for candles for our dinner. I asked for matches at the counter since that is where the cigarettes are sold and we figured they were there. The guy didn't know what I was asking, even though I was doing the "strike a match" action. Finally I just said, "Make fire," He laughed because he then knew exactly what I was asking for. He grabbed a box of matches, pulled out a match and acted out striking a match while repeating, "Make fire!" Jacob still teases me about that one.
Lugging home our groceries. Again. They're really fun up the stairs!
Jacob hates that he always has to go grocery shopping with us, but I need his muscle to help carry everything. He's become resigned to it and is a huge help. I love this shot of my boys chatting away as they cheerfully serve.
Almost home. (We are the corner of the pink building, but I love this view with St Casimir Church towering in the background.)
We headed out a second time for the day in search of Italian. We found it at St. Valentino's. Mmm - pasta! (And, of course, pizza for Jacob.)
This poor, struggling little potted tree has quickly become one of my favorite sights. It's on the landing one floor before ours and has now become the symbol for - you're almost there! You can do it! And that's what I think of for this little plant sitting along a dark and dreary wall, "You can do it!"
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