The guided tour ended at the scaffolded Church of St. Anne….View image… one of the most beautiful churches in Vilnius and in Lithuania. The Church of St. Anne (Onos) is being restored, ergo the scaffolding, because. bricks keep falling out of the facade. It is a masterpiece of “Flamboyant” Gothic style, built with 33 different kinds of bricks and painted red. St. Anne survived for 500 years before restoration began. (It’s no wonder bricks are falling out!)

There is a well-known legend courtesy of both Wikipedia and Stefan, our guide, that Emperor Napoleon, after seeing the church during the course of the Franco-Russian War in 1812, expressed a wish to carry the church home with him to Paris in the palm of his hand but gave it to his cavalry instead.

Tour over, it was a beautiful day to continue exploring Vilnius on our own and we headed down Pilies Street to Cathedral Square, the historical heart of Vilnius with the Bell Tower, Palace of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and monument to Gediminas (the founder of Vilnius and Trakai).

Church of St. Anne, Vilnius, Lithuania
Cathedral Square looked different in the middle ages when the Vilnia River flowed around it. Streets now cover this. Also in Cathedral Square is The Cathedral (Basilica) of Vilnius (the principal place of worship in Lithuania), a Monument to Gediminas and the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.

- The Bell tower is the only remaining tower of the former Vilnius defense wall. It is believed that the underground part of the tower was built in the 13th or 14th century and up to a few years ago, the clock installed in the 17th century had to be wound once a week. A clock supervisor would climb 92 steps to the top of the tower…View image…wind, and come back down. His job was finally rendered obsolete a few years ago when an automatic mechanism replaced him.

the Bell Tower in Cathedral Square, Vilnius, Lithuania
- Gediminas, Grand Duke and founder of Vilnius and Trakai, lived between 1275 and 1341 and ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for 25 years. Gediminas expanded his state borders, had a great sphere of influence and turned his country into an empire. He also has the reputation of being a pagan who resisted Christianity.

Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania and his trusty steed, Vilnius, Lithuania
- The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania was Gediminas’ castle and the original territory was inhabited back in the 4th to 8th centuries. The Palace was still being restored but has become a center of museum expositions and exhibitions.

Walking the long walk back towards our hotel, we were determined to locate a Frank Zappa statue but first sat for a bit on lively Pilies Street, are ice cream, enjoyed the ambience of this lively city and finally bought some Amber earrings. A brief word on shopping for Amber. Walk in a store…any store…pick something out and buy, otherwise you’ll have a breakdown trying to compare apples to apples.

Back through Old Town Square past Hugo Boss, Armani, Escada, Dolce & Gabbana, United Colors of Benetton, Mango, and other expensive boutiques to begin the search for Frank Zappa. A memorial was erected by a group of his fans and we walked more miles, seeking, looking and asking before giving up. We’d been on our feet for almost six hours straight, feet were killing us and we had still never gotten through half of the sights. There were three that I really would have liked to visit.

- The Uzupis district. Think Soho or Montmartre. Uzupis is a bohemian area largely unrestored and also an independent republic of artists with its own rules and bylaws. It is supposed to be very charming;

- Visit at least one of the many, many museums that are not open on Monday (today); and

- The Upper Castle and Gediminas Tower.

One day in Vilnius was emphatically not enough. We did our valiant best but totally pooped out, got a pizza and went to sleep. It would be back on the road tomorrow and into Latvia once again…

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