Past the most crosses I’ve ever seen, with endless hospitality and an Indian service.
For me it was, as I said, off into the south of Lithuania. To Vilnius, the capital. I’d planned two stops along the way. The first was the „Hill of Crosses“, also called the „Mountain of Crosses“. The Hill of Crosses (Kryžių kalnas) is a Catholic and touristically shaped pilgrimage site in Lithuania. Everyone who came by brought a small or large cross with them. It felt like this hill was somewhere in the middle of nowhere, really buried in crosses! From a distance it looked almost unreal. The sun was shining and cast a great light onto the crosses and sculptures!
There were lots of people there. Some also spoke their prayers in front of the Hill of Crosses. Even though I’m not really into that sort of thing, you can definitely say that this place carries a certain energy. I think it’s simply down to the unique amount of crosses you get to see there! The next day I also rode through Kaunas. With over 315,000 inhabitants, Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania. There I looked at an old bunker complex. If it hadn’t been raining, I’d have briefly ridden into it on the bike too.
As arranged with Adolfina, I now also called Almis and let him know roughly when I’d be in Vilnius. Almis picked up the phone straight away and was pleased about my call! He offered me to either come straight to his home, or, if I liked, to join a service. Because when I called him, he was just at church! Of course I wanted to see that, and set off there. The address led me to an inconspicuous, rectangular building. It certainly didn’t look like a church. But slowly I then also got an inkling that this was neither Catholic nor Protestant! Almis waved from the entrance of the building. I parked right in front of the door. At the door there was also a woman in a colourful robe. On her phone a Facebook live stream was running, and from the upper floor loud music sounded! Shortly after, I then also realised that an Indian service was taking place here! Before we went up to the music, I had to wash my hands and, of course, take off my shoes. In my motorcycle trousers I then went with Almis up to the first floor of the big house. The music got louder, and when the door opened, there were people all dancing in the same rhythm. On one side of the room, a very colourful cabinet with a figure had been set up. Candles were burning next to it. The people were doing dance-like step sequences towards the cabinet. It also smelled very nice, since it felt like ten incense sticks were burning at once here. So Almis and I joined in and took part. In between, a woman also sang and someone played piano to it. After that, there was praying again. Compared to the service, the procedure of a Christian church, it was, though, much louder. Everything was amplified through a loudspeaker. Towards the end, we then also lit a candle at the front. By the way, the room was divided. Men on one side and women on the other. Now and then a few children ran around. Others just sat at the edge and watched, or drew, for example. So it was a really relaxed atmosphere. To finish, there was then also food. For that you sat on a small cushion in a big seated circle. People ate from metal trays with compartments. The kind you know from hospital, for example. Everything was very clean. There was no meat. Everything was vegetarian. Actually you eat here with your right hand and without cutlery. But spoons were handed out too. To drink there was a warm grape juice, because tea or coffee may not be drunk. After that Almis and I helped a woman wash up the trays. In a tiny kitchen with only one sink, Almis explained a few more things to me about the culture and why he does this. What I found interesting: if you join the community — with a monthly amount, of course — you could take part in these services anywhere in the world. If the houses were big enough, there were even places to stay overnight for the members. So in every country you at least had a point of contact. Once all the trays were washed up and dry, I looked through the books the congregation had offered for sale. The books dealt with topics like healthy eating and general well-being. Almis also bought me incense sticks! I still have them in my room to this day, and they still smell good! We set off for Almis’s and his family’s home. He lived not far from the temple and went on foot. I packed my things and, a few minutes later, rode there. At home I then got to meet his wife Alma, his daughter Jorune and his son. I was really pleased to meet them all. To my surprise, Alma had already prepared something to eat too. And that even though I’d practically just eaten! She spoke no English, so Jorune had to translate. I was welcomed super warmly! Despite the small language barrier, I tried to tell them a bit about my trip and, of course, also to learn a few things about the family. I was invited to stay for two nights, so I could look at the city at my leisure the next day! After we’d chatted a bit, Almis spontaneously invited me on a little city tour! He knew his way around the city super well and also knew lots of facts. In his younger years, Almis had had the chance to attend the only school in the city where English was taught. All that came about because his mother was a teacher at that school. Since he’d spoken good English ever since, he worked for the city for a while and did tours through Vilnius. First we went to the Gediminas Tower. From there you had a great overview of the city!
The old part of the city, by the way, is on one side of the river „Neris“, the new part on the other side. Further through the city we also passed the Cat Café. Actually a completely normal café, only that there were also cats there.
Since it was by now late in the evening and dark, Almis also took me to the cathedral square of the Roman cathedral of St Stanislaus. It was built on the site of a pagan temple.
In the evening I then dropped into bed completely exhausted from all the impressions! It really was an exciting day. The next morning, while I was having breakfast, Alma — who was working from home today — had already opened Google Translate to give me her bus ticket and the front-door key! I’d decided to explore the city again on my own today! I started with a rather more strenuous climb than expected to the Three Crosses on the edge of the city. From there you had another great overview of Vilnius:
On the other side of the river I also saw the Palace of Culture and Sports of Vilnius. The building was opened in 1971 and was in operation until 2004. From then on it was considered unsafe and was closed for the time being. It was supposed to be rebuilt, but there was considerable resistance from the Jewish community, since the location is on the grounds of the oldest Jewish cemetery in Vilnius. Since then the palace just stands there and isn’t used.
I walked on through the new part and then back through the old part of the city. In the alternative district „Užupis“ there’s street art, such as a bronze angel, a mermaid sculpture on the riverbank, as well as boards with the not entirely serious constitution of the self-proclaimed „Republic of Užupis“. In German too, of course:
The streets of the district are lined with artists’ studios, boutiques of local designers, cafés and international restaurants. The green Bernardine Cemetery of Vilnius, where many famous locals are buried, dates from 1810. In the afternoon I also visited a museum and afterwards set off back again. Over dinner Almis told me he’d talked about me at his work. He suggested that I could come to work with him the next day and maybe take a few photos! So the next day I got up early and got ready to follow Almis to his work! I said goodbye to Jorune, who was setting off for school, and rode with Almis through the morning city traffic. We made another stop at Alma’s work. There I then also said goodbye to her! Unfortunately it was raining hard when we arrived at Almis’s work. By the way, he repairs welding machines. At the morning meeting Almis brought his laptop and opened my website. Spontaneously I gave a little talk about my trip so far and showed a few pictures. Almis translated a bit to go with it! Then, as arranged, we took a few more photos in the company’s showroom. With Almis’s colleague as a model, we staged welding machines and accessories a little!
