Latvia

In the middle of a long drive from Vilnius to Riga, my group stopped to visit Rundale Palace, a Baroque masterpiece built as a summer lodge for the Duke of Courland in 1736.

We walked and walked to what seemed like the middle of nowhere and then came upon a large gate.  When we walked through the gate, this was our view!  I immediately thought: Versailles!

When the Duke of Courland came into disgrace, Catherine the Great gave the palace to the brother of her lover.  The German army occupied it during WWI and used it as a hospital (think Downton Abbey) and then it was used as a school for many years.  It became a museum in 1972.

The inside of the palace was spectacular!  Every room had beautiful chandeliers, parquet floors, fireplaces with Delft tiles, and incredible frescoes on the ceiling!  It may have even rivaled Versailles.

Once we arrived in Riga we were able to see the beautiful buildings in the Art Nouveau District.

Riga is one of the largest centers for Art Nouveau with over 800 buildings.  Many of them were designed by the Latvian architect Mikhail Eisenstein.

The Freedom Monument commemorates those killed in the Latvian War for Independence (1918-1920).  All of the sculptures around the statue represent Latvian history and culture.  There is a guard of honor with four soldiers at the monument and there is a changing of the guard ceremony every hour.

My favorite part of the day was wandering through the Old Town.  Here are some highlights.

Town Square

Cat House (L) and the Town Musicians of Bremen (R)

Small Guild

St. Peter's Church (L) and inside (R)

Town Hall (L) House of the Blackheads (R)

Stock Exchange

Riga Cathedral (L) and one of the "Three Brothers" (R)

St. James Cathedral (L) and inside (R)

Parliament Building

Swedish Gate (L) and the Powder Tower (R)

The next day we took a day trip to Gauja National Park to see several castles.  Our first stop was the Sigulda Castle ruins and the New Castle.

The new Sigulda Castle was built after WWI for the wealthy Kropotkin family.  Now it houses the offices of the town council.

The medieval castle was built by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a group of German monks who eventually became the Teutonic Order, in 1207.

Turaida Castle is on the opposite bank of the Gauja River from Sigulda Castle.  It was built in 1214 by the Archbishop of Riga.

Lithuania

Lithuania

I just returned from a trip to St. Petersburg and the Baltics.  I have wanted to return to St. Petersburg for quite some time because I am fascinated by the history, architecture, and culture but I ended up being completely enchanted by the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as well.  I loved the cobblestone streets of the medieval Old Town Squares and I was fascinated by the turbulent history of countries which fought so fiercely for their independence.  I began my trip touring the city of Vilnius and learned that Lithuania was the first republic to declare independence from the former U.S.S.R and suffered the most bloodshed (Lithuanians are unabashedly and justifiably proud of this). Here are a few highlights from the city tour.

St. Peter and St. Paul's Church.  After traveling to Europe for many years, I am a veteran of churches but when I walked through doors of this church I was totally surprised by the beautiful stucco ornaments on just about every surface.  It is a Baroque masterpiece and it exceeded all of my expectations (a common theme on this trip.)

Isn't it amazing!  My favorite was the boat-shaped chandelier (to commemorate the fact that St. Peter was a fisherman).  Much of the stucco mouldings were made using egg whites to bind them together so merchants were taxed in eggs to enter the medieval city to trade!

St. Anne's Church in the Old Town.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a beautiful example of Gothic architecture.

Like most cities in Europe, Vilnius was enclosed by defensive fortifications.  Today all that remains of the nine city gates is the Gate of Dawn.  Here is the southern view (L) and northern view (R).  There is a chapel inside which contains the icon of The Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Mercy, an important symbol of Vilnius.  Many of the gates contained religious artifacts to guard the city from attack and to bless travelers.

Church of the Holy Spirit.  This is the first Russian Orthodox church I visited on this trip and it was incredibly ornate!

In the 1300s, this area was ruled by the pagan Grand Duke of Lithuania, Algiras.  He was married to an Orthodox Christian princess, Maria of Vitebsk.  Monks were only allowed to minister to the religious needs of the princess and not to openly practice their faith.  Anthony, John, and Eustathios were monks arrested for preaching in public and eventually tortured and executed for refusing to eat meat during an Orthodox fasting period.  When they were canonized, their bodies were placed in a glass reliquary near the main altar.  They are said to be incorruptible.  Everything I learned on this trip was so interesting!

Vilnius Town Hall, a great example of Neoclassical architecture.

The Presidential Palace.  It was originally built as a palace for the Bishop of Lithuania in the 14th century and once served as Napoleon's headquarters during his ill-fated invasion of Russia.  Now it serves as the office of the President of Lithuania.  The current president is a woman who is extremely popular.  The presidential coat of arms was flying above the palace which meant that she was in residence while we were there.

House of the Signatories. The Act of Independence of Lithuania was signed here on February 16, 1918 and speeches are made from the balcony every year on that day.

Cathedral Square, which was the center of life during medieval times.  Vilnius Cathedral is another beautiful Neoclassical building and the Bell Tower, which is separate from the cathedral, is believed to be a remnant of the old city wall.  The lower portion of the tower dates back to the 13th century.  In the evening I returned to the cathedral to attend mass.  It was all in Lithuanian but it was incredibly beautiful!

Gediminas' Tower.  This is all that remains of the Upper Castle began by Grand Duke Gediminas in the 15th century and completed by Grand Duke Vytautus (more about him coming up).

I really love castles so I was excited to take an afternoon trip to visit Trakai Castle in the middle of Lake Galve.  It is literally in the middle of the lake and you reach it by crossing two bridges.

Outer towers.

Moat and drawbridge.

The Ducal Palace.

The inner courtyard of the palace (the guide said this courtyard is used in a lot of period movies).

Inside the Ducal palace.  The castle was begun by Grand Duke Kestutis in the 14th century and, after it was besieged by the Teutonic Knights, it was finished by his son Grand Duke Vytautus (considered the greatest ruler in medieval Lithuania).  Vytautus converted to Christianity and received the right to be crowned King of Lithuania by the Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund, but died in Trakai Castle while waiting for the crown to be transported from Poland.  I have realized that I don't know much about the history of medieval Eastern Europe!  The castle was all but destroyed by the seven years war with Russia in the 17th century but was reconstructed after World War II.

On the way to Latvia we stopped at the Hill of Crosses near the city of Siauliai.  When Lithuania became part of the Russian empire in 1795, there were two unsuccessful rebellions.  After these uprisings, many families couldn't find the bodies of their loved ones and began to place symbolic crosses on the hill of a defensive fort.  The hill gained significance once again when Soviet forces invaded Lithuania.  One in three families had loved ones deported to Siberia and crosses were placed here in remembrance of them.  The Soviets tried to bulldoze the hill three times but it was always reestablished.  Today people come from around the world to place crosses (you can buy them outside the gates) and mine is one of the hundreds of thousands there.  It was quite a sight to see!

The Music of U2

One of my very favorite things to do in the summer is to see a Utah Symphony concert at the Deer Valley resort.  I love being in the mountains and I love listening to music!  Several months ago, I was picking up some tickets from the box office at Abravanel Hall and I saw a concert entitled "The Music of U2" on a brochure for the Deer Valley Music Festival.  I may or may not have hyperventilated because I really love U2.  The ticket representative took great pains to assure me that U2 would not actually be performing, which I thought was hilarious!  Marilyn and I always see a concert every summer and I told her this was the one I wanted.  I imagined that U2's music would sound fantastic played by a symphony orchestra (and it did).  Marilyn was not able to go to the concert last Saturday night so Tashena volunteered because she is required to see one live music performance every term in her orchestra class.  She is already thinking ahead to the new school year!

Most people bring picnics to eat before the concert so Tashena and I stopped at Subway for ours and it was delicious.  Tashena enjoyed people-watching because some bring very elaborate picnics and she was particularly fascinated by the wine glass holders that stick in the ground.

I wasn't sure if Tashena would like this concert so I told her to bring something to do.  She told me if she got bored she would just go to sleep.  She ended up really enjoying it but she was horrified because I was screaming and singing along!  It's not a successful outing unless I can embarrass her!  The Utah Symphony was joined by vocalist Brody Dolyniuk who sounded remarkably like Bono.  Apparently he also performs the music of The Who, Queen, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and the Eagles with symphony orchestras around the country.  I would love to see the Led Zeppelin show!

They played a cross-section of music spanning U2's thirty year career including "Vertigo," "Angel of Harlem," "Desire," "In God's Country," "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "New Year's Day," "I Will Follow," "Walk On," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "One," "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of," "Bad," "Mysterious Ways," "With or Without You," and "Pride (In The Name of Love).  For the encore they performed "Where The Streets have No Name."  I thought it was a great selection.  Tashena recognized "I Still Haven't Found..." and "With or Without You" and she danced to "Mysterious Ways."  During the intermission I asked her if she was bored and she told me she really liked it and wanted to look at her parents' iTunes account to see if they had any U2 songs she could download.  I had so much fun with her!

Note:  On the way home I let Tashena pick the radio station and I didn't recognize any of the songs.  It occurred to me that "Sunday Bloody Sunday" came out when I was approximately Tashena's age and I probably annoyed my parents singing U2 songs all the time!

Wanderlust

This morning I am on my way to the countries of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Russia and I really could not be happier!  Traveling is my passion.  When I was a little girl, all I dreamed about was traveling the world.  I wanted to see all of the places I read about in history books, I wanted to immerse myself in different cultures, and I wanted to wander the streets of cities that existed hundreds and hundreds of years ago.  I wanted to see, do, and experience everything.  When I graduated from high school I vowed to myself that I would do whatever I had to so that I could travel.  When I got to college, I discovered that my school offered many study abroad programs and I decided to go my senior year.  Luckily I had a scholarship to pay for school so I saved almost every penny that I made from my various jobs and was able to travel to France my last semester in college (I graduated two days after I got home).  I sacrificed a lot to be able to go on this trip but it literally changed my life.  I learned more about art, literature, architecture, and history than I did in four years of college.  I actually got to speak French after studying it for six years.  I got to see the musical Les Miserables in London (a dream come true) and thus began a love of the theatre which continues to this day.  I got to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and gamble in the casinos of Monte Carlo.  I got lost wandering the streets of Paris and, in the process, I found myself!  Studying abroad only increased my desire to travel so, with a few exceptions, I have gone overseas every summer since and have had some incredible experiences.  I hope to create more wonderful memories wandering the medieval cobblestone streets of Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn and I want to get lost in the imperial Russia of the czars.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

When I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes two years ago, I had very low expectations.  I am definitely not a fan of James Franco and the premise of the film didn't interest me very much.  It turns out that I loved it.  I became very emotionally involved in Caesar's (the chimpanzee rescued by Franco's character) plight which, in turn, made me question the ethics of animal testing.   I love a movie that is both entertaining and thought-provoking!  So, even though I was extremely tired from a leadership conference (and driving home for six hours), I just had to see the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Friday night!  It is a great movie, one of the best I've seen this year!  The virus used in the first movie has decimated the population leaving a small colony of survivors in San Francisco.  Caesar has become the leader of a community of apes in the Muir Woods just outside the city.  A group of survivors travel to the forest hoping to get a hydroelectric dam working to give the colony electricity and encounter the apes.  Caesar reluctantly allows this group to work on the dam and they bond with the apes but Dreyfus, the leader of the colony, doesn't trust the apes and secretly arms the colonists.  Koba, an ape who was a test subject and tortured his whole life, hates the humans and challenges Caesar's loyalty.  This leads to confrontations between the humans, between the apes, and between the apes and humans.  Everything I loved about the first movie is even better in this one.  I was even more emotionally attached to the apes.  The scene where Caesar's mate gives birth to a baby is tender and beautiful (I almost cried) and I loved the scene where a teenager working on the dam reads a book to Maurice, an orangutan.  In the last movie, my sympathies were so firmly with the apes but in this one I was conflicted.  As Caesar learns, there are good apes and bad apes and there are good humans and bad humans.  Dawn made me think about the notion of diplomacy (particularly salient in light of recent events in Israel) and how easy it is for extremists to undermine the work of leaders.  Finally, the storytelling is incredible.  The tension builds and builds until the epic showdown (which is not what you expect) and, while the special effects are dazzling, the plot is what held my attention.  Go see this movie!

Note:  I've heard a rumor that a third installment is in the works!  Great news!