the Good and the Bad of TURGUS DAY

I was so excited about going to the Turgus. This wasn't one of the several small daily markets scattered around town. NO...this was the big Mazeikiai Turgus that takes up a couple of city blocks and runs Saturdays and Wednesdays from 5- 2. I had missed it up to now and so was keen to experience this.

I made a plan to meet Cheryl at the gates at 9:30. I was walking over and was going a different way than usual but didn't have to worry if I was going the right way as all I had to do was follow the crowds. Young and old, male and female, walking, on bicycles, in taxis,...... everyone was going the same way.
This is a giant open air market with all sorts of flea market items such as new and used clothing, shoes, furniture, hardware, crafted items and paintings, renovation materials, etc. In addition there were sections displaying fresh flowers, potted plants, fresh vegetables, cooked or baked food items, and separate barns housing smoked and fresh butchered meat. Did you want a fresh chicken or rabbit for dinner? You could have them for pets if you prefer.

We wandered happily for a couple of hours, sampling and buying as we wished. We saw large line ups as some stalls and when we asked found they were preferred for specific foods. Most people were very friendly when we made an attempt to ask about their products. The young girl you see by the meat counter told us that she worked there with her dad and family. We were astonished when she pointed her dad out as a young man whom we would have taken as her brother. He was wielding an axe and chopping up pig heads but was too shy to pose for us.

I am not confident enough in my Lithuanian numbers to haggle with the vendors so for the most part just paid what they asked. We will never know if the prices were inflated for us or not, but I think not for the most part.

We seemed to be there at the busiest time of the day. People were arriving in droves. The amount of goods stacked in each stall was amazing and demonstrated the skill and experience of the vendors to pack and set up in an organized manner for each market day.

The weather was great and I was loving everything!!! I stopped to purchase some waxed beans and Cheryl was at a stall behind me buying berries. We caught up to each other at a nearby vendor where Cheryl started to purchase carrots. But.....no wallet!!!!!! After going through her entire purse we ran back to the last stall where she had purchased the berries. Some of the vendors there seemed not to take an interest or suddenly became less friendly as we pantomimed our predicament and mentioned calling the policija. One woman though showed obvious sympathy for Cheryl and directed us to the administration office. Of course this was futile at this point as someone had skillfully plucked her wallet and it wasn't likely to be easily or readily found. A young worker who was able to interpret for us explained that this type of theft is a common occurrence and care should be taken. She also said that the wallet may eventually show up thrown in a trash can or up on a roof. We left info about how to be reached should they find it and Cheryl headed home to make frantic calls to cancel credit cards, etc.

After an hour or so we headed back to the Turgus as Cheryl wanted to make one last tour around in hopes that we would spot it...she knew the money and cards would be gone but hoped to salvage the personal items in it. This was about 1:30...As you can see in the last photo, the place was already emptying out. There were no customers left and the remaining vendors were busily and efficiently dismantling everything.
By the official 2 oclock closing time they would be long gone.....like Cheryl's wallet!

My feeling about this is that it could and does happen anywhere...I will be back to Turgus on Wednesday and Cheryl has now bought a purse and wallet that will not be as obvious or accessible to the pickpockets.

The Hill of Crosses, Kryzių Kalnas

Ok.......I really don't know how to describe this place. Check out this website. http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/lithuania/lithuania.html

Very strange place...both cheesy with the vendors selling plastic and amber rosaries, wooden crosses and whistling wooden birds... surreal with the visiting priests arguing with the one leg beggar breaking the "no begging" rule....yet eerie with the sheer numbers of crosses

You decide.

Vendors .................................................................. Me, the Virgin Mary and mounds of crosses


'No Begging' sign...................................................................... One legged beggar

Star of David and crucifixes............................................................. A pilgrim from Canada

Remonta Dvarbo ..means restored estate

Tom and I went for a drive on Sunday...We couldn't be gone too long as of course he needed to go into work. So we did a loop down towards Seda and then north to Zidikai and back to Mazeikiai. Somewhere along the way we stumbled across this sign directing us to the Remonta Dvarbo ...which Tom assumed was the name of the estate we wound up at. As it turns out, this translates roughly to restored estate.


There was an elderly woman who greeted us inside the door and collected our entrance fee of 6 LT ( about $2.50). She directed us to one side and and used side language to make it clear that we would go up and through and down the other.

It is interesting to compare eastern European standards of " restoration" with our own...to us this place still looked very run down and dilapidated, but you could see how this would have appeared to the original owners. I could easily envision using this a movie set for a period piece. You would have all the aspects needed for a moodier "Jane Austen".















The first room we went into was the library and Tom was in his element.

Stairs are always an adventure in Lithuania...usually very narrow and steep to save space....they can be very treacherous depending on your shoes and basic agility.



















We couldn't figure out much about the original owners of this estate, though it does appear that it was a Baron.















...........There are extensive grounds in addition to the usual outbuildings ( former stables, barns, storage facilities.) It appears that the property was suborned by the Russians during their regime and there are abandoned block housing units and crumbled brick buildings to attest to its brief use as a farm commune.

After a walk through the grounds we headed back to Mazeikiai. Our next big adventure was to try and figure out how to get a car wash. Mission accomplished and he went back to work !!
Later...or IKI!

Grave experience...a visit to a cemetery

Last week Cheryl and I took a drive out to the local cemetery which is an extremely important spot to Lithuanians. They maintain their family plots meticulously as well as visit them frequently. So this is always a busy place with many people painstakingly weeding and cleaning or visiting on any given day of the week. I think some of the older ladies also view it as a social setting....a place where they can come and visit with friends...both dead and alive.

We saw some very interesting headstones but I thought I should capture a few. If you double click on the picture you should get the larger version..( I hope). The first one was a woman named Kleopatra! The second just struck me because of the engraved featrues including the glasses.The last one in the row below, I really found intriguing. .. note the one person appears to have been 150 yrs old. So this was either one very long lived person or an error made by the stone engraver.

We even saw one plot that was well tended but in reading the stone it appeared that the couple that it was intended for, were still alive and well. It had their names and birthdates but no date of death. (Damn...forgot to get that picture....) So the care given to a future final "resting spot"drove home to us the status of the cemetery in Mazeikiai and Lithuania.

Sunny weather ...but don't blink

....because it is gone before you know it. Like they say in Calgary, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes. Except for here...if you like it..wait 5 minutes and the clouds will be back.
Despite this, Cheryl and I decided to take advantage of the break in the clouds in the morning to go check out the National Forest area which has many lakes in it. We had heard there might be some sort of resort or cabin area there on the lakes.

Our first stop though was to check out the storks in their nests in a farmer's yard. Apparently, having your own resident stork family is viewed as a sign of good luck...so maybe this was an auspicious start for us as well?? There was a guard billy goat tethered right below.




On the way to Plateliai we came across a sign directing us to a cabin area. Thinking this might be what we had heard about, we ventured down this little country road and into what looked like a farmyard. Just behind the barn, the scene opened up and there wee several very tiny cabins around a pond. Cheryl said that that this was a bit too rustic for her tastes...outdoor johns, well water, etc.

We kept going until we found the actual village of Plateliai and and numerous signs promising accommodation. Many of them appeared to be similar to a B and B, but there were others that had fancier individual cabin set ups. Eventually we came across the Yacht club.



We decided to have lunch here before going on...we had TEXCAN beef...which was some type of marinated stir fired beef on a bed of rice. Not very spicy so not sure where the Tex came from , but like all the meat here, it was very tender and and flavourful.

Back on the road we came across an interesting Art gallery...privately run by a local artist..called Leonardo. He was also suitably attired in Picasso -like striped long sleeve T shirt and wore a jaunty mates cap. We should have taken his picture but I think I am still a bit shy to push myself on people like that. You can see that he also did carvings by the fine looking totem outside. You run across many of these carved images or totems in Lithuania. Not sure how this developed or the significance yet.

We stopped initially to take a picture of one of the large Totems in the yard and and then I decided to peek in the door that was ajar but chained across. As I was doing that the artist himself came by and and invited us in.
The place was interesting mix of local antiques, junk and original paintings and carvings done by our host. We wandered around the 2 floors of this old mill before Cheryl purchased one of the smaller wooden carvings. Time to go back to Mazeikiai and shop for dinner. Labanacht!

Sunday morning bells

Slept in late and woke up to the sound of church bells. They went on for about 15 minutes...but not an unpleasant sound. Lithuania is a very Catholic country and I am sure that everyone is going to make ther way to the church sometime today except for the heathens like Tom and I.
The rented car even came with a crucifix hanging from the mirror ..and... considering the way some folks drive here...it might be a good thing to have!

The Lithuania experience!

Labas!!

Well the great adventure has begun. We arrived in drizzle and fog and I must say it has pretty much stayed that way with the exception of 2 days in the past 8 days. According to Rada, we missed the 2 weeks of good weather they will get this summer. Apparently the prediction is for a wet summer from here out. Oh well, side to trip to Turkey or Greece anyone?


We have a walk up apartment in what is called the Old City part of the town.
We have 5 flights of well worn, uneven, concrete stairs to climb get to our tiny flat.

Not that ours is very different than what I have seen all over Lithuania...these multi story concrete buildings, often faded, crumbling or moldy appearing, that are very reminiscent of Russian style apartment blocks. I like to call them tenement chic......Cheryl calls them the projects, like in the USA.

The apartment is tiny but really not a problem...And for those enquiring minds that need to know, yes we have a toilet and bath in our flat, but they are in separate rooms! There is a washing machine next to the tub, no sink....so you wash your hands under the tub faucet which is located high for that very purpose.

I have internet and we have a separate office/ spare bedroom which is also serving as ironing room, storage room, etc.

We are right next to the railway and the trains are non-stop, but amazingly they really don't bother me. They go through very quickly and are not that long so it isn't much different than the flightpath we had over Inglewood.

I like our location in the Old City. I can walk pretty much everywhere I need to go, and I have been walking a lot. I shop for bread or vegetables or wine most days just to get out and about. There are little grocerers or larger supermarkets all over. I have no idea how the population can support them all, but I guess since there are no Macs or 7-11s they serve the same purpose, except that you can also buy liquor in all of them. And that appears to be very important here. We have seen many drunk men stumbling or laying around during the day. Once we watched a man on a bike just fall over and then be unable to get back up. We could not get to him as he was on the other side of the road, but no one else seemed to take much notice. It was sad, but then so are the homeless down by the Bow River in Calgary.

The women are in 2 different camps....those who dress very dowdy (the bubushka ladies I call them) or those who dress very provocatively..extremely tight clothing, always stiletto heels. I have no idea how they manage to negotiate these uneven paving stones that make up the sidewalks but they all do.

We eat out a lot. That may wear thin soon, but for now it is nice to get to try all the local restaurants. There are some extremely good ones. The meat is great...very tender and fresh tasting...and well marinated. The service though is so so..The common demeanor especially in this town is very unsmiling and appears unfriendly. However on the whole I have to say that when you make an effort to speak to people in Lithuanian, they are fine.

The refinery that Tom works at is called Mazeikiu Nafta, located just outside its namesake city Mazeikiai. Here is our place in the world -----> x


As I mentioned, I walk a lot to keep busy and active. I have not yet gone running...mostly because I have not seen a single other person running! I told Tom that feel funny about it...so he promises to go with me to at least break the ice, but he has been too busy so far. In lieu of running, Cheryl and I are contemplating joining the local gym.

Cheryl is the wife of the boss and is going to be my only compadre here I think. No other spouses braved the trip. She has a car now so we can get around if we need to go farther afield than Mazeikiai or need to cart large items. Can you say ...ROAD TRIP!

I will try to figure out how to post more pictures. It seems to take forever to load them...there must be an easier way, but I am new to blogging, so this is another learning experience.

Well enough for today...We are off to dinner again shortly and I must get suitable attired. if I can tomorrow I will write about the disco we went to last night, but that deserves its own post...so until then, IKI!!!
M