Saturday, June 7, 2017
I took the night flight to Oslo where I had a 3.5 hour layover before connecting to Vilnius, Lithuania. I looked at the rail map in the airport terminal. There is a town nearby called Eidsvoll with trains from the airport every half hour. I guessed they would return every half hour as well, so I hopped on the train just to get out of the airport.
Eidsvoll turned out to be a pleasant little town at the southern tip of Mjøsa Lake. I enjoyed a walk in the town and sitting by the lake watching the boats. As expected, there were trains every half hour back to the airport, where I caught the flight to Vilnius.
The airport in Vilnius was small, but very pleasant. It looked much more like a train station than an airport. The access to the airport was also very pedestrian friendly. I took a short walk to the train nearby for the 8 minute ride to central station.
After checking into the hotel, I went for a walk. As I was passing a non-descript church, organ music with a choir was drifting out. I poked my head in for a listen. Inside the Holy Spirit Church there was an elaborate ceremony going on with singing and incense (capes and drapes and smells and bells). The church was jam-packed with people. Although the service was in Lithuanian, I thought I knew where we were in the service, but something seemed a bit off. I also noticed that a bishop was presiding and there were a large number of well dressed kids in their early teens. I had stumbled upon a Catholic confirmation ceremony.
After dinner, I walked to the top of fortress hill. The hill and the bend in the river were defensible and fortifiable, which is why Vilnius is located where it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment