🗁Added 71 photos to album Lithuania, Sept 2018.
A walking tour of Vilnius, including the independent Republic of Uzupis, which has lots of art, its own parliament and a constitution printed in many different languages on the wall, and a general hippie vibe. Then I walked around the castle and nearby hills, including the Hill of Crosses, before lunch in Rosehip Cafe.
I detoured through some gardens on the way home, where I met an old lady (70, 75, she couldn't remember) who has lived her whole life in Vilnius and was delighted to have someone to talk to for a while (3 hours). She used to be an English teacher, and soon start repeating her stories and the questions she was asking me. She was a bit muddled too about whether her parents were dead, or if she still lived with them. She said she lived in her house in Vilnius her whole life, her parents had, and her grandparents before them. Her brother and sister had families and moved out, but still live in Vilnius. We had delightful chatter about dogs, the Pope, and Vilnius in general, on something of a loop. She invited me into her house when we got there, but I declined. She took out a hairpin instead of a key when it came time to lock the door. She wanted to walk me home too, and we went a bit further, but I managed to persuade her to go home before it got too dark and cold. She wrote down her name and address for me, and made me promise to call her without giving me a phone number. Her name is Dalia. You know, the same as Dahlia, the main character in my current nanowrimo novel who I named in January and isn't exactly a common name. Coincidence? Divine intervention?
