Stories about Lithuania from January, 2008
Lithuania: Vytautas Sriubikis; the Hill of Crosses
Viola in Vilnius writes about Lithuanian flautist Vytautas Sriubikis – and briefly mentions the Hill of Crosses, quite an extraordinary place near the town of Siauliai, which “not surprisingly is a hill covered in crosses, and a bit of a place of pilgrimage.”
EU, Mauritania: Faraway Fishing
Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian fishers are robbing Mauritania of its fish – all because “the EU has methodically depleted fish stocks in its own waters, and now, it is buying fish quotas from poor countries in the third world,” Jonathan Newton reports.
The Baltics: Missing the Borders 2
Lituanica has more on the story of the missing borders and one poor cleaning lady, who was on her way to work in Kaunas, Lithuania, but fell asleep and found herself in Tartu, Estonia, instead.
The Baltics: Missing the Borders
Latvian Abroad notes that the lack of borders in the Schengen Zone can be quite a nuisance: “A woman from rural Lithuania tries to catch a ride to Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. A miscommunication with the driver leads to … her being dropped off in Tartu, Estonia!”
Soviet History: Fartsovshchiki
Window on Eurasia writes about a review of a new book on Soviet fartsovshchiki: “In the 1970s and 1980s, ‘fartsovka’ grew so large that Vasil’yev suggests there were six different groups involved in acquiring goods — hotel workers, sailors on Soviet cargo ships, long-distance truckers, participants in Interclubs, guides, and...
Lithuania: January 13, 1991
Lituanica remembers January 13, 1991 – and those who lost their lives on that day: “Some died from the shot wounds; the Soviet tanks crushed some. In total 14 peaceful civilian freedom defenders lost their lives, hundreds more wounded.” Viola in Vilnius attends an annual memorial concert dedicated to the...
Lithuania: Edmundas Gedvilas’ Nobel Quest
Lituanica reports: “a Lithuanian man has started a procedure to contest the authorship of a physics law, which has been awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize and is ascribed to American scientists.”
