Vilnius, Part the First

A late night flight on Monday got me to Vilnius. Thus far, I've found it very agreeable. The people are nice, it's clean, and everything is very inexpensive - although, I admit, in each of those categories, it's hard not to give Moscow stiff competition. Also, it's telling that when I typed the list above, I inadvertently typed "the people are nice" twice. About the only negative so far is language and, while Lithuanian is pretty difficult on it's own, that's certainly not Vilnius's fault. I'm barely at the "hello," "please," and "thank you" stage, but most people here in the center of the city where I am speak at least a little English, as usual with a strong bias toward people of my generation. In any case, some pictures. As you can tell, the weather yesterday was overcast, which is the norm, but today was certainly sunny--if not terribly warm.

Gedimas st., the main one.

Cathedral, 18th c.

Late Medieval castle, 14th c.

River and accopanying greenway.

Across the river, modern buildings. Haven't ventured over there yet, but I'm sure I will.

I just liked the juxtaposition of half a dozen styles and eras all in one block.

Can anyone explain these to me: bottles with flowers in them, tied with ribbon and hanging from the street-lining trees near my guest house.

Also, in case you should ask, I'm here working. the archives of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania are open 8-4, so I get the evenings to explore, drink coffee, and have dinner. Looking forward to a solid ten days of interesting work, but also a little more relaxing time off!

Picture Series #4: Gorky House

Gorky House, home in the 1930s of, drum roll, Soviet writer Maxim Gorky. Amazing. Originally built by the Riabushinskii family of industrialists in the years immediately before the Revolution. I love the elements of Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts Movement. The rest, in pictures.

[Also, more and better pictures, not by me, here.]

Picture Series #3: Concert Posters . . .

. . . continued. Heck, there are even some I'd go see!

Picture Series #2: Of Panoramas and (Space) Pioneers

This one is picture heavy, but I just couldn't resist. I was out for a walk the other day after the archive closed, and stopped to snap some pictures. The first several are, if you use your imagination, a panorama of sorts, taken from a spot atop the ext of the Third Ring from a tunnel near Leninskii prospekt. The river is below and Moscow City in the distance in the first one, Luzhniki in the second, the university in the distance in the third, and the Academy of Sciences in the fourth. Oh, and the trees are the southwest end of Park Gorkogo.

This one is bad news, should one be foolish enough to actually drive in this city: "Average speed to the intersection with Kutuzovskii prospekt is less than 10 km/h., with Zvenigorodskoe shosse - more than 50 km/h." [Womp, womp.]

Not far from there is Gagarin Square. I just love the statue that stands [flies?] there as a monument to the first man in space. There's a picture of the statue from the front here. It has this rather odd Iron Man quality about it, but one which gives you the impression that the man flew himself into space

"Поехали!"

Picture Series #1: Brodskii

As my time here in Moscow starts to wind down, I'm still working hard trying to finish up a few things in the archived before departing for summer travels.

At the same time, I've taken the time to get out and enjoy some wonderful early summer weather we've had. In the course of those walks, I've come across some good opportunities for pictures.

The first in a series, I stumbled across a literary-figure monument I'd never seen before. It's to the mid-twentieth century poet Joseph Brodsky, and is on Novinskii bulvar', right across the street from the American embassy.

I'm not sure my photos captured it, but I like the odd perspective on and whimsical nature of the Brodsky figure, as if he were strolling along hands in pockets, lost in thought or contemplating whatever that is up there in the sky.

Spring to Summer

Some pictures, to prove that spring really is here and, in fact, summer is starting to creep in:

Literally overnight, the lilacs are in bloom, and are kind of intoxicating.

A good old fashioned summer storm front.

More of the summer concert poster series. 1999 called and, unfortunately, said they didn't want Limp Bizkit back. Also: two dates?

ZZ Top, on the other hand, might be a good show.

Even Starbucks speaks crappy English.

Ahh, summer. The open road.

Oh, wait: this is the Garden Ring, at Zemlianoi val at 7:00 on a Thursday. Four lanes of traffic in each direction and I was moving faster on foot. Good times.

ROCK AND ROLL!!!

Just a selection of what the concert scene has to offer this summer. There's more, so this may be a recurring theme.