Gediminas, Vytautas, Et Al

In the mid-1300s Grand Duke Gediminas comes out of much folklore and founds Vilnius, a nice castle downtown, and a dynasty (we hope to see his castle before we go).
What we did see was descendant Vytautus's nice stone & brick castle in Trakai which was built by some of his vassals from Crimea (at that time, Lithuania extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Huge.) the Tatars (of the Golden Horde fame) and the Karaims (a Jewish sect).
While this was going on, Vytautas gets with the Poles and whips the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald on 15 July 1410. This was a military big deal and is a national holiday in Lithuania still. Not sure what became of the Tatars, but the Karaims stuck around and Grand Duke V. gave them land and houses which still stand around the lake. There are fewer than 250 left due to pogroms, persecutions, etc.
We did enjoy V's castle and the displays. Of interest, for 600 years the castle has been heated by hot air from wood fires in the basements. Neato.
The Occupation Museum was simultaneously disheartening and uplifting. It was a grisly reminder of the inhumanity of the Russkies but also reinforcement of the hope that subjugated peoples will persist. Freedom will return; if not in your lifetime then in your children's.
Our morning speaker did say that the war in Ukraine could drag on because neither side was keen to have a bad peace agreement; keeping fighting was a better alternative.
Lastly, he mentioned that the Suwalki Gap (the shortcut across Lithuania/Poland from Belarus to Kaliningrad was an issue on everyone's mind.
Amusingly, besides borders the Baltics have two things in common: a deep fear & loathing of the Russians, and an inability to understand each others language.Read more