Here we go again. You can’t put it all into a story on the EP website, can you? Maybe this blog will help some thoughts on my hometown not to be wasted?

Vilnius

Vilnius has many faces. The old cosy Vilnius of cobbled winding streets. An open, cosmopolitan and tolerant Vilnius that invited foreigners to come and settle since 1323, that has Polish, Jewish, Russian and Byelorussian influences. A city of culture and education with its university dating back from 1579. A green town with rivers Neris and Vilnelė washing its banks. A Vilnius of Baroque with pearls of Gothicism and Classicism.

Angel

A strange and crazy Vilnius with the statue of Frank Zappa and a TV tower which becomes the biggest Christmas tree at the end of each year. A town that has a republic inside of it – “Užupis Republic” inhabited by artists celebrating its independence on April 1, watched over by a sculpture of an angel.

Uzupis

There is also a Vilnius which was occupied by foreign troops for many years and seen soviet tanks crushing people on January 13, 1990. A Vilnius that saw its 40 ancient churches transformed into warehouses (some got lucky – became museums or picture galleries) by the communists… There’s this horrifying feeling that catches you when you visit the KGB museum that used to be pointed at by a hand of a bronze Lenin

A Vilnius that still has a few soviet relicts, starting with mentality leftovers and ending with some ugly soviet blocks of flats baptised “Khruschevka”. A Vilnius that currently happens to have a homophobic mayor who refused to let the EU’s truck “For Diversity. Against Discrimination” into the city.

Vilnelė

Vilnius was burning down and resurrecting, occupied and breaking free. 2009 is one more occasion for revival: the capital of culture’s slogan for festivities is “culture live” that aims at authentic creation.

The year of culture has kicked of with a modern music and dance project @Hoffmann_ Nutcracker followed by a spectacular music and light show directed by Gert Hof. The highlights of the year include Art in Unusual Places, Vilnius Book Fair, Street Musician Day, “The Oak Mystery”, Culture Night and Water Music of Capital City. As Lithuania celebrates its millennium in 2009, other events like The Millennium Song Festival of Lithuania “Songs of the Centuries” are also not to be missed. Come and see it yourself.