Trips

        We ended our city tour stroll at the Town Hall Square where we got on our bus for the short ride to the Church of Peter and Paul.  Inside the church are 2,000 stucco statues and the whole interior is white.  Before the altar is a unique chandelier in the shape of a ship.  The ship that was bringing the altar painting from the Pope in Rome sank and the ship chandelier is in memory of that sunken ship.
        Our last stop was at the Gates of Dawn.  It is the only one of the 10 gates of the old city wall that remains intact.  On the outside is a fresco of Jesus the Savior of the World and above the gate is the Chapel of the Blessed Mary.  You can see the gold Madonna from the street below and people once walked on their knees to pass below her.  We went up to the chapel to see the gold Madonna. 

A barber's sign	A music store
Town Hall	Palace of Sports and Concerts
Church of Sts. Peter and Paul	Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - Dome
Church of Sts. Peter and Paul - Chandelier in the shape of a ship	Gates of Dawn
Exterore of the Chapel of the Blessed Mary	Gold Madonna inside the Chapel of the Blessed Mary
Cute sign	Back at the hotel we napped and watched tennis (the US Open Semifinals are on) and then went out on our own.  We walked to the Cathedral Square and around to the funicular up to Gediminas Hill.  At the top was once a castle.  We walked up the circular staircase of the reconstructed tower to the observation deck at the top.  I am glad we had our city tour this morning because we could identify some of the places we had been and now saw in the 360° view.  We also saw six hot air balloons inflate and take off over the city.  We walked the river rock cobblestone path back down the hill – it was not far – and walked up Pilies St. to find a souvenir spoon and a restaurant for dinner. We ordered Lithuanian traditional beer, zeppelins, and potato pancakes.  Zeppelins are shredded potato and egg stuffed with sausage and boiled.  Ours were served with bacon and sour cream.  I also had chicken Kiev, mashed potatoes, and salad.  It was different food but very good.
Clock of the wall of the Palace of the Grand Dukes	Gediminas’ Tower
Funicular to Gediminas Hill	Vilnius Castle Complex
View from Gediminas Hill	View from Gediminas Hill
View from Gediminas Hill	Beer at the end of the day!
Arch of the Embankment or The Pipe sculpture along the Neris River by Vladas Urbanavicus	Chain sculpture hanging from the Green Bridge over the Neris River

Continue on next page