Vilnius, day 2

Yesterday we planned to go into museums because it was even colder than Friday. But the sun shone brightly and we couldn't miss it.

We started the day with an attempt to walk to a big shopping center called Akropolis because we heard they had a farmers' market on Saturdays. We layered on extra clothes and headed out, slightly overdressed. After walking for about twenty minutes we thought we saw our destination ahead but when we asked a passer-by he said that we had much farther to go and he strongly recommended that we get onto a bus. We took his advice, and discovered that indeed the Akropolis was nowhere near us. We didn't buy much at the farmers' market, but Alla continues to get a good laugh out of the brick of traditional bread I bought. It seems to weigh about as much as a newborn baby. We also found an enormous supermarket in the shopping center and we bought a couple of bags of groceries. We limited ourselves to stuff we couldn't buy at all in Belarus, though we were also tempted to load up on stuff that just costs less here.

If we saved any money by shopping in Vilnius, we spent it all getting home from the Akropolis anyway. We decided to take our load home in a taxi, and taxis aren't so cheap here as in Minsk. I don't think our driver took anything even close to the most direct route back either. It felt like a majestic S, which we converted to a dollar sign by imagining the straight line we would have liked to take top to bottom. $

We ended the day at Philharmony, where we heard Chopin's 2nd piano concerto, unknown to me but very familiar to Alla and Saint-Sains' 3rd symphony; unknown to Alla but very familiar to me. Everybody enjoyed both pieces thoroughly and the performers gave us encores after each. Vilnius has two symphony orchestras, which really impresses us. We tried first to get tickets to performances in a new hall but couldn't find any tickets left for sale. I'm really glad now, because I loved the show in the small and historic hall. The musicians were superb, as were the acoustics in the hall. I'd go back there any time.

Today we really do plan to stay indoors. We will go to church first, and stay for an organ concert in the church right after the service. Then we finally plan to get inside the National Gallery of Art. Or whatever it's really called.

Speaking of what things are called, there's a great drink here called rugpeinis. I was really afraid to pronounce it when I found it on the menu. Turns out it's pronounced about like I thought. The menu described it as curdled milk, and indeed it has a slightly globular texture. I like it, though I still cannot order it with an entirely straight face.

I get the peanut butter and the alcohol-free beer, Alla gets the wine and real beer, and we'll share everything else.