May 19 Day 3 Vilnius

I had a relaxed day today.I spent the time wandering the back streets of the Old Town and it's interesting in that, once you get away from the main tourist area the city is quite rundown. But you have to remember it's only been 30 years since the Soviets left, And I don't think that Lithuania is a wealthy country.

Another thing I noticed is that the older generation is about the same size as I am, but the young people are quite a bit taller. When I was visiting the KGB museum there was a group of high school students there, probably senior students. There wasn't one, male or female, that was shorter than I was. That was quite different than when I was in Vietnam, but then the world is still looking forward to the first Vietnamese to dunk a basketball.

Basketball is the national sport here. Lithuania has on one of the top teams in the world in basketball.

There are a lot of churches in this city. There are 31 churches in the Old Town which is about 1 km² in size. I went into several churches yesterday, Churches are a great place to relax. I just slip off my shoes and enjoy the cool temperature. I saw one christening and one wedding yesterday.

I visited a couple of churches today, Sunday, And the masses were very well attended.

It's actually nice to be in a place where we religion is still well respected. I think the main reason is that in both Poland and here the church was on the side of the common people against the Soviets. Many priests and bishops were assassinated during the Soviet occupation, unlike Spain and Argentina where the church was on the side of the dictators.

I visited another interesting site, something called the "Miracle Tile". This is a stone, in the Square in front of the cathedral, which marked one end of a continuous human chain of over 2 million people, that stretched all the way between Vilnius and Tallin, Estonia, a distance of 530 km. This chain was formed in 1989 to protest the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states. There is a belief that if you stand on the tile and rotate 360° clockwise and make a wish, it will come true.

Is Harper still our PM?

It doesn't say how long it will take for the wish to come true.

I had another fun experience today, on the way home. The main street was blocked off and they were displays of various physical activities. People were playing ping-pong, frisbee, table top fussball, there were displays of yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates. The big event was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament. There were 10 small basketball courts set up down the street. Various age groups competed.

It's been a while since I have seen so many white people play basketball.

Tomorrow I'm off to Siauliai, doesn't that sound interesting.

Ralf