Crosses, Crosswalks, and Cemeteries

Today couldn't have been better!

I moved on from Vilnius to Siauliai for the day. I took the 9:00 train and arrived in Siauliai at about 11:45, stored my bag and then made my way to the tourist info center. I talked with the tourist office and learned I had just enough time to rent a bike and get to the Hill of Crosses and back before the tourist office closed. They recommend about three hours, and the office closed at 3:00!

First, the bike. Perhaps I have been spoiled lately riding my road bike. After a bit of training this spring and summer, I have come to appreciate a few things about it, that I think should come standard on all bikes. 1. There should be gears. For the first 15 km or so, I didn't think it had any gears. Well my mistake, it had three. They really could be called, easy, medium, and hard. 2. My feet kept flying off the pedals. No clip in shoes here. 3. Brakes. There was a back brake that squeaked, but my favorite aspect of the bike was the fact that if you pedaled backwards, it also braked. A throwback to my younger days. The kicker of the whole experience (besides the ridiculously low and unmovable seat) was that this was what would be considered a woman's bike. Shame. Honestly, though, it was a beautiful day to be riding in the Lithuanian countryside on a bike. Hands down, a great afternoon.

The forty minute ride to the Hill of Crosses on the bike was well worth the trip. It is unbelievable. Hundreds of thousands of crosses placed on this hill. Big ones, tiny ones, crosses of wood, crosses of metal, ornate crosses, simple crosses. All were on the Hill. You can't believe the numbers. They are tied to other crosses, they are stuck in the ground. It is really amazing. Overall, the hill has been an important/sacred place for Lithuanians for hundreds of years. They first crosses were planted during the eighteenth century. They were all taken out by the Soviets when they took control of Lithuania in the 50s. People replaced crosses, and they were removed systemically four times during the Soviet Occupation. Since independence, this hill and its surroundings have become a Holy place and a monastery was built here. Striking about the monastery chapel was that there was no crucifix. Just a simple wall of glass behind the altar which looked over the hill. I, too, placed a cross on the hill in remembrance of my four grandparents.

I spent the rest of the day wandering around the city. I saw another church, I sat by a lake and wrote in my journal, and I read my book while sipping some cappuchino. It was really a great afternoon. One of the things I saw was this cemetery. What was amazing about it was the way people were buried in a haphazard way, while at the same time being very tightly packed. The cemetary was overgrown and individual plots were being taken car of. it was very shady and damp, but truly amazing in the way that people were packed in. Above each grave, there was a cement kind of border, and people were able to plant flowers, etc. for individuals. I think the newest grave I found was from the 1950s...and some plots were meticulously maintained. interesting to see the two extremes side by side.

The thing about crosswalks is that everyone waits for the lights to tell them to walk. There may be no cars in sight, but people are waiting on the street corners. At 2:00 am on the way back from the bars with no cars around, people are waiting for the green walking man to guide them safely across the street. It is such a funny, but safe, thing to see. Oh yeah, the second part of this? The cars will always stop for people in the crosswalks. If you put your foot on the street a car will pause. The pedestrian deaths here must be really low!

Tonight I made it to Klaipeda. Spend the day here and at the beach! I think Tuesday I am off to Riga.