When we saw that it was going to hit 50 today, we knew it was going to be an outdoor exploration day. The "feels like" was still in the 40s, so coats were still required, but we didn't have to have so many layers and hats and gloves for most of the day - which we loved!
We had been waiting for just such a day to climb up to the Hill of Three Crosses. Last year the kids wanted to climb straight up, but it was just too muddy. Instead we climbed about 300 stairs. You would think with all of the stairs that we climb to our flat, that that would be no big deal, but we were feeling the burn!
The stairs coming up. We stopped as much to admire the view as to rest our legs. This hilltop is pretty much how high up you can get in Vilnius. We do miss our mountains!
Looking down at Old Town
Looking up at the Hill of 3 Crosses. We made it!
The view from the top
We enjoyed a little exploration up on top of the hill and especially loved the feel of being in nature away from all of the commotion. The last time we were up here it was Tyson's 17th birthday, we were with some of the Kendall kids and they were all Lord of the Rings sword fighting with sticks they had found. Jacob told me that he remembered me saying last year, "Enjoy it while you're here because we'll likely never be here again." Well, I just ate my words.
This ampi-theater was built in the 1940s, but would need a little TLC to be used again. It would actually be a spectacular place for a summer concert!
The view of the modern skyline from the theater.
We took the road down the hill and wandered a little along the Neris River for about 1/3 of a mile until we reached the St Peter and St Paul Church.
St Peter and St Paul Church
Interior
This brick column in the church courtyard fascinated me
Whenever we find an interesting wall or door, Sarah snaps a shot of Tyson. We're hoping to build a collection of Senior pictures, because if you can take them in Europe, why not?!
Awesome wall around the church courtyard
We passed this house along the way and I had to take a picture of it. Most of the buildings here are stucco or brick. But sometimes there are stand alone houses and unless they are brown or white, they are this green color. I don't know why.
We had stopped on the way to the hill at a little shop and grabbed some pastries, but thankfully there was a Maxima grocery store close to the church. We stopped there to grab some water and a few treats to hold us over. After all, we didn't want to ruin our appetite for Tuesday night Taco night. Not far down the road from the store was our next stop.
The War Machinery and Transport Museum
This was quite the find! Jacob and I passed it last year, but thought it was just a military place. We had no idea it was a museum and it was SO fun! We have learned that things are much more relaxed in Lithuania. Probably because there is a sue-happy mentality in the States, everything is so regulated and barricaded. There would never just be a Bell Tower with steep steps to climb. In the US, we would either build new, safer stairs or not be allowed to go up at all. If there were tankers and army trucks on display, we could look at them safely from behind the roped off line. But here, things are just open. Most of the time, you can touch and climb and explore which is just incredible!
When we arrived on the grounds, there was no sign really showing where there was an office or entrance. But it only took a few seconds for a man to appear. We told him we were here for the museum and he said, "Ok. It's free. You can just walk around." And that was that. We could climb on the machines and in them if they were open. We all had a blast! Occasionally, we would see the guy at the side checking on us, but he was usually on his phone and didn't seem to really care what we did. We had the whole place to ourselves for hours. Only right at the end did a dad with 2 younger kids show up.
Looking out over some of the grounds.
The tank section - the favorite
There were cool old buildings before the open field area. We were wondering if they used to be barracks and maybe this was an old military base.
Looking on in awe
Smiles of pure joy
Jacob was leery to climb up at first
But he soon got over it. And once they started, none of us could stop. We don't even know what some of the things were that we were sitting on, but it was so fun anyway! The vehicles varied in time periods from WWII to just a few years ago - although, we could be wrong on the that. All of the signs were in Lithuanian and we could only decipher dates, but don't really know if that was telling us the year the vehicle was in use. We tried to guess based on whether we thought it was from MASH or Apocalypse Now or Hogan's Heroes, etc.
This must have been mounted to something, but you could turn the lever and it would spin around. It was a hoot!
We felt we were on a Star Wars land cruiser on this one.
We weren't ready to just walk home after feeling so invigorated by the warmer day, so instead of taking the more direct route on the road, we detoured through the park that sits below the Hill of 3 Crosses. So many people, especially those with kids, were out today. One family was feeding the ducks. When they ran out of bread, the dad filled the bread bag with air and then popped it. That freaked out the ducks and they frantically flew away. That's one way to signal to the ducks, "We're done!"
The park - dare we hope we will get to see it bloom before we go?
I'm obsessed with all of the beautiful streets in Old Town, but I particularly love this one!
It's got to be murder on shocks and tires!
We wandered further into the park than we had last year and were surprised by how big it is! It was the perfect find to a perfect day! And best of all, it let out next the the sweet little St Anne's Church (with the larger St Bartholomew's behind it.) The legend says that Napoleon was so taken with St Anne's that he said he wanted to put it on his ship and take it back with him to France.
St Anne's is on the left
The perfect letter for Tyson - entrance to St Bartholomew's
Brick ceiling pattern of St Anne's - probably my favorite design of a ceiling!
We were completely exhausted as we climbed the stairs with our groceries, including our taco ingredients, that evening. We don't know how far we walked, but it was several miles. Adam was late getting home, just after 8, but he came in to a very quiet house. Tyson was asleep and the rest of us were just laying on our beds. Usually, we're together and talking or watching a show, but we were just too tired. It took all of my energy to get up and heat up his dinner. (We don't have a microwave, so it's a little trickier.) But it was ok knowing that we had had such an amazing day!
No comments:
Post a Comment