After a few days in the Latvian countryside, Kuldiga being of most interest, we hopped the bus taking us from Riga to Vilnius, the only Baltic republic we have yet to visit. It’s a four-hour drive in the cold gray weather through flat, unremarkable countryside. A few days later I had to make a return visit, having left my Italian passport on a pharmacist’s counter. It was waiting for me at the Italian embassy in the heart of the old town. It was just as uneventful.
The Baltic countries do not get much attention in US history classes but there is much of value and interest. We’ve been to the Ducal Palace, reconstructed on site and now offering a rather detailed story of the country, much more important up to the 1800’s than it is now. But the people here have Russia very looming on their borders, a Russia whose history of occupation dates to around 1700, with but a brief respite between the wars before the occupation resumed as the Nazis retreated. In their world view, the history of their relationship with Russia is not a side-show, of course, nor is the past respect shown them by other European nations. I expect to post more on this.
The University of Vilnius is just a few minutes from our plain vanilla apartment. I have posted some photos of the delightful, on the one hand, and strange art on the other hand, here University’s mural and fresco.
Not far from us as well is the Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, home of the paintings of Lithuania’s most famous painter, who came to light in Paris after escaping from his home country subsequent to the Soviet takeover. It is art worth seeing. His paintings are what I would term transitional, bridging the gap between the figurative and the abstract. Over time he increasingly removes references to the substance of the image until he gets to the essence, still figurative but just a tad away from abstraction. These photos are from the museum that bears his name, Vytautas Kasiulis
Vytautas Kasiulis, earlier pieceVytautas Kasiulis toward abstraction Vytautas Kasiulis, towards abstraction
The old town section is, like that of Tallinn and Riga to the north, is a World Heritage site and the main attraction.
I think this is called The SistersVilnius architectureVilnius Cathedral, some of its artVilnius Cathedral
No visit to any of these countries would be complete without a visit to what the locals call “The Dark History,” referring to the Nazi and Soviet occupations. Here as in Riga you can visit the Gestapo/KGB head quarters for a look at this grim period. It does not seem that the extent of spying on its citizens compares with what happened in East Germany, but the torture, imprisonment and deportation to the sparsely populated areas of the Soviet Union are, and they’ve well documented in the museum. The museum visit includes the dank cellar with its torture, isolation and execution chambers.
Solitary confinement, barely big enough to sit in
I’ll have some notes on the more cherry subject of the hope-you-like-pork cuisine – and what other observations I might have about the culture, such as the dearth of beauty parlors. They have salons where you can get your hair combed out, though.
Artemesia Gentileschi, one of few women painters in the 1600’s, and among the finest of either sex.
Born in Florence in the Baroque era, Artemesia (1593 – c. 1656) was one of the finest painters of her day, and the only one of her sex to achieve recognition. She was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence was employed by patrons from the Papal states Italy, Naples, and England. Her father Orazio was also very well known and respected as a painter, sharing his knowledge with her from an early age, yet for years they were estranged until possibly near the very end of his life when they worked together in London for the royal family.
Her most famous painting is Judith Slaying Holofernes, a bloody affair that demonstrates her powerful use of light and shadow allo Caravaggio. She made use of her own image in this and many of other paintings.
Judith Slaying HolofernesSusanna and the Elders (1610). She was 17
Her success was threatened in the earlier years by the crime to which she was subject, and the subsequent trial. In 1611 at age 18 she was raped by Agostino Tassi, a painter Orazio hired to tutor her. At that time if you were raped and the rapist promised to marry you, rape was acceptable provided the promise was kept. She continued having sex with Tassi but he reneged on the marriage commitment – her continued relations with him was not considered exculpatory of his behavior. At the time he was still married and having a sexual relation with his sister in law as well. Part of the trial ordeal was a required gynecological exam. In addition all witnesses had to undergo torture. Their testimony would be deemed credible if they did not change their story. The prosecution was carried out not by her but her father as women did not have standing in these matters. Tassi was found guilty and sentenced to five years or banishment from Rome. He chose the former.
My Ode to Artesimia, acrylics on acrylic paper, 21 x 29.7 cm, 8.3 x 1St Cecilia Playing a Lute
She handles light beautifully, her underlying drawings are magnificent.
Lucretia
She married a Florentine artist recommended to her by a friend, to which her father grudgingly assented, as was required if she were to marry anyone. Pierantonio Stiattessi was also a painter but not of her stature. He helped her get commissions, fathered their daughter Prudentia but later became a burden. They spent most of her married years apart despite a very good beginning. During these early years in Florence she was accepted into the prestigious Accademia di Arte del Disegno, which also required the approval of her father. During this period Michelangelo Buonarrot, the Michelangelo’s nephew, asked her and other artists to contribute a painting to the house he was building to honor his uncle.
Allegory of the Inclination
Her letters reveal a love affair with a wealthy Florentine named Maringhi . Her husband wrote to her lover in friendly terms using the backside of her love letters. Perhaps Maringhi provided financial or other forms of assistance. By 1621 she and her husband were no longer cohabiting, and she had returned to Rome. She found less success there than in Florence, and by 1630 she moved to Naples, finding lucrative work with the Viceroy. In 1638 she went to London to help her father with a ceiling for which he had been commissioned.
In Alexandra LaPierre’s Artemesia their reunion was awkward at best, coming after 25 years of separation. LaPierre portrays Orazio as fearful of being outranked by his daughter. By 1642 she had finished the work he had been hired to do, leaving England some two years following her father’s sudden death in 1639. She disappears from the records until 1648, when she is back in Naples
While it is true that there were few women painters in this period, there were others. Italians of the era were Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, and Fede Galizia. Per LaPierre, Artemesia’s success in Naples encouraged a number of female competitors.
Judith and Her Maid Servant. Her treatment of robes is as good as anyone’s.
Most of her paintings feature women as protagonists. While most women were portrayed demurely, her’s were strong and uninhibited, and making a mark in history.
For a broader view of women in art in that era see the video by Art Historian Dr. Vida Hull
There is a good article on wiki if you want more information. wiki on Artemisia Gentileschi I highly recommend LaPierre’s historical novel referenced above. There a very good video on youtube. The producer expresses outrage at the lack of exposure of this fine painter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoYF2rjCG68
We are hours away from leaving. There is a special city filled with a special people, who threw off the yoke of Soviet rule, after having been invaded by the Nazis then crushed by the Soviet system, with just 20 years of freedom between the wars. Before that it was the Russia Empire. No wonder they worry about Putin, and made nervous by Trump. The Baltic countries are small, on their own unable to fend off a nation as large and well armed as Putin’s Russia. We need to have their back.
Their separation from the Soviet Union is chronicled in the Museum of the Popular Front, in what was its headquarters on Vespilcetas iela 13/15, a building worth visiting on its own merits. With the loosening of controls under Gorbachev, the Front
elected pro-independence delegates to the Soviet assembly
got recognition of the illegitimacy of the Soviet/Nazi pact of 1941
organized protests including the unbroken human chain that extended from the far end of Lithuania all the way to the coast at Tallin, Estonia, a total of 600 km /375 miles
organized barricades in the event of a crackdown after the one in Lithuania.
It is not just this heroic moment that endears me to this city, country, people. It’s the art, it’s the way they have all acquired a second language, these days mostly English by choice (German and Russian are also officially taught), not the edict of a foreign power.
Madonna of Marijas Street, Karlis PadegsJohan Valters, Market in Jelgava, detail
It’s also the architecture, especially the Art Nouveau for which the city is famous:
Spiral Staircase. Museum of Art Nouveau
I like the fashion
I like the styles- not everyone is so gray!
Model display creations of Latvian fashion designer Agnese Narnicka
The food is less doughy than St Petersburg and much less expensive than Stockholm!
Gray Peas- or what’s left of them. Bit of bacon fat with that?
The most fabulous potato pancakes ever! They were fried in bacon, so no wonder. I will need a new liver by the time I get out of Latvia, though.
And the people are more open, friendly than in St Petersburg.
With the guard at the Art Nouveau Museum. They all dressed in period
More Latvia posts to come, and I hope to return, in the better weather.
Here’s another cuisine surprise – Swedish is more than meatballs and pickled herring. And even these plebeian offerings are delightfully presented.
The presentations are uniformly excellentMeata balls!breaded chicken- they eat quite a bit of this dino
The cuisine centers around sour cream and other cultured dairy products. The grocery stores packed huge blocks of cheese and rows and rows of yogurt, Kefir and I don’t know what.
cheese, glorious cheese! You need help lifting them.
They make gorgeous breads, hearty, seedy, crackery. Mighty fine!
Deserts are a delight. There are lots of fruit deserts as well as creamy and there are lots of cookies.
And there’s lot of cherry desserts!
Watch out for your purse in the cafes, though. Our first cappuccino, espresso and basic cookie cost us $20.00. Eating out is everywhere through the roof. This is a soup eating culture – a bowl will easily run you $10. They make thick fruit soups including rose hip and blueberry. Lingonberries are made into a jam and served with various dishes. It is on the bitter side, not as bitter as cranberries though. Dishes are prepared with butter and margarine, although you can get olive oil in the markets but these are not traditional. Fish is plentiful and not too crazy expensive if prepared at home.
Oh, did I mention that the Swedes have a sweet from time to time?
You find aisles and aisles in the grocery stores.
Alcohol. There’s plenty and it’s taxed highly so the $2 bottle of Spanish wine is $12 (not that different from what you’d pay in the US). Some of that is from transport costs but largely it’s tax, the government’s way of trying to discourage excess consumption. I suppose things might be worse if they didn’t, but the Swedes are known for weekend binges. Have a glass during the week, though, and you might raise eyebrows. The day-to-day is beer. You can buy beer in grocery stores if 3.2% or less. Everything else comes from the state-run liquor stores.
Few people associate Swedish cuisine with the world’s finest, and it might not be, but it’s no slouch either, and their chefs are very well-trained even in inexpensive places. As Joel Gray put it in Cabaret, in Sweden, “Even the orchestra is beautiful.”
Just a two hour flight from St Petersburg and an hour to Riga, Stockholm is built upon a scad of islands (17 in all) with a wealth of architecture set against a slew of harbors, lakes and canals, with much fine exterior decor as well as art, history and more in its many museums. The most famous of its museums is not about art – the Vasa Museum contains the 17th century ship that sank on its maiden voyage, leaving behind a storehouse of information about its time.
Most important structures show foreign influence as French and Italian architects were brought in during the 18th century. Simon de la Vallée designed the Riddarhuset, the House of Knights . His son Jean de la Vallée and the German-born Nicodemus Tessin became a leading architect with buildings such as Södra City Hall , Axel Oxenstierna Palace , Katarina Church , Stenbock Palace, and Wrangelska Palace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_in_Stockholm
City Hall is the site for the Nobel Prize banquet, except for the Peace Prize which is awarded in Norway. The structure is in the style of the Italian Renaissance, though it was built in the early 20th century. It’s interior is astounding, by far the most impressive of the city and competing favorably with others of its ilk in other countries. It’s a fitting venue for the Nobel Prize award dinner, that it seats 3000 or so being a minor advantage. The Queen of Lake Mälaren mosaic is my favorite piece in the hall. The guide said it is in the Byzantine style, but I do not see it that way, having never seen anything quite like her and finding little in common with the Byzantine aside from the gold mosaics.
These mosaics were made in panels in Germany. There are some 8 million tiles, the gold sandwiched between each one before it is attached to the panel.
Queen of Lake Mälaren mosaic in the Golden Hall of the Stockholm City HallSmaller but in the same style as the main figure of the hallStucco figure in City Hallsection of tapestry elsewhere in the building
Gamla Stan, the oldest part of the city, dates from 13th c, shows the influence of the architecture of northern Germany. It retains the narrow medieval streets of the small island.
Gamla Stan
Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, an alley in Gamla Stan
In 1697, the Castle of the Three Crowns was severely damaged in a fire, replaced by the Castle of Stockholm.
Stockholm Castle
Stockholm’s many waterways make for a natural charm to contrast with man-made beauty.
Stockholm harbor area
Sculpture at City Hall
There are many ferries to take you around town
Art Nouveau Architecture
It would not be at all surprising if you were not sure what constitutes Art Nouveau. Literally the term means “New Art,” new being relative to around 1890 (lasting to about 1910). Part of the problem arises from the diverse terminology used to refer to that general style. The Czech term is Secese, Danish Skønvirke or Jugendstil, German Jugendstil, Art Nouveau or Reformstil, Hungarian Szecesszió, Italian Art Nouveau, Stile Liberty or Stile floreale, Norwegian Jugendstil, Polish Secesja, Slovak Secesia, Russian Модерн (Modern), Swedish Jugend. These various countries produced variations on the general theme and can be difficult to categorize. Here are some photos of the Swedish version.
I’ll add posts on the cuisine – surprisingly good- as well as the museums, also excellent. Even without those added delights, and the friendly English speaking populace – you’d swear you were talking to Americans – Stockholm is a great visit.
The main style of building in Riga is Art Nouveau. There are more buildings in this style in Riga than anywhere in the world, making Riga a major destination for aficionados of the style. Here are some excellent examples of what you can see here. I’ll be posting more of both exteriors and interiors. Often these buildings occupy an entire street, making it even more impressive. We saw interiors at the Rich Art Nouveau Museum.
These are fun and creative animations of paintings hanging in the Errata Museum (Contemporary Art, St Petersburg Russia) which we visited recently. You see about several paintings. The second is an installation, not an animation. Enjoy!!
I should have been surprised about how much I would enjoy Russian cuisine, and I would have been had I thought about it all. Who goes to Russia for the food? Most come for the Hermitage, as I was. One would vaguely expecting something gruelish, like kasha (it’s here, unfortunately). Too much bland cabbage dishes and greasy meats – they do like cabbage and you can certainly greasy (as well as quality) meats, including some of the best hard sausage I’ve had anywhere. But so much good stuff? Never!
Lunch at bistro, about $5
So what is it you dine one here? Of course there is the famous borscht, the kind of simple and inexpensive food you would find in a Russian bistro (inexpensive places unlike what the Parisian counterparts have become) , cafeteria or most any hole in wall. I’ve had a bowl for less than $1 with chicken bits in it. They taste much the same and always good.
I am certain the economy would collapse if either sour cream or dill became scarce. The former is dolloped or smeared on half of the things you see in restaurants, such as blinis, which are crepes filled with meat, cheese, veggies, great for a quick inexpensive snack or a whole meal. They can come filled with beef, pork, mushroom and a variety of other veggies, and sweet versions. You can get them for about $3 at Tepemok, a fast food franchise that features them. There they make them as you watch on one of several crepe pans (actually dedicated burners). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teremok (The ‘p’ in Russian is an ‘r’ in the western alphabet. Don’t worry, it is normal to find this confusing.)
Dill is in soups, stews, various versions of blinis and a wide variety of other items. I am not a fan but fortunately there are plenty of things to choose from which do not have it. Sometimes you do not see it as a listed ingredient, although many menus have English translations so you can choose your basic ingredients, sometimes it is just a garnish, but in Georgian food it with parsley is considered the standard spice.
Blinis, around $3. Beer is $2-3
St Petersburg cafeteria- Fast food is everywhere- and I don’t mean McD’s or BK, which are here as well. I mean mom and pop places like this one.
Dumplings are a favorite, stuffed with meat, cheese or veggies, often in soup. Meat pies, Pirozhki (pirogi), are popular and the same or similar dough is used for sweets. Salmon in various forms is common but fairly expensive.
salmon pie
Coffee shops serve coffee for $1- $2, many of them quite good. Some tiny places have push button machines that make a fine cup and there are free standing coffee machines that for $.50 serve up a very good cappuccino – and they use that very word in bars and restaurants. Pizza is popular, although I have had it only once, and it wasn’t bad but hardly what you would find in Italy. While at that restaurant the pizza was good, the white wine was served warm, the fries came out 20 minutes ahead of the burgers our friends ordered, and they were cold, as were the burgers, but this was the exception and not the rule for other places we’ve tried. Pizza, burgers, yep there is foreign food here, and that’s a St Petersburg tradition, having long ties to Europe.
Herring Under the Fur Coat is a salted herring salad that has several layers: salted herring on the bottom, topped with chopped onions, potatoes, carrots, beet roots and dressed with mayonnaise. Salad Olivier is a winter dish- boiled potatoes, peas, beef, pickled cucumbers, onions, eggs and carrots. Chebureki are a deep-fried turnover with ground or minced meat and onion. I had one at our local Cafe Brynza- it was wonderful! https://cafebrynza.ru/. Their site is in Russian but if you use Chrome you can translate it by right clicking anywhere on their page.
Soups! This is a cold country so they have perfected these. Okroshka is a summer soup. The main ingredients are diced raw vegetables, boiled meat, eggs and potatoes, served with kvas, a popular fermented drink made from black rye (I’ll skip this next time), and sour cream. Of course. Solyanka is a thick, piquant soup popular in Russian and Ukrainian cuisine. It can be cooked with meat, fish, or mushrooms. Other ingredients include olives, pickled cucumbers with brine, cabbage, potatoes, sour cream and dill. Of course.
Beef Stroganof, perhaps named after someone in the Stroganof family, is a common dish, but since it has sour cream, I have avoided it. Other main dishes include grilled and roasted meats, stews and a wide variety of fish. I am seeing a lot of sturgeon and salmon. I’ve bought roasted pork from the upscale Stockmans, which was excellent, as was their ham and Russian cheese.
Did I mention dumplings –Pelmeni? How could I forget (easily, I am not a huge fan). Lots of them around. They love cabbage and eat a lot of it in soup but also they stuff and roll the leaves. Yum! Chicken kiev is a popular dish of chicken breast stuffed with grated cheese, mushrooms, herbs, egg yolk, then breaded and baked in oil. Khachapuri are a thick boat shaped bread filled with varieties of melted cheese with an egg on top. Peg had one. I found the cheese to be rather bland and the dough to be rather, well, doughy, but maybe it was just the way that restaurant does them.
Beer is everywhere and the local stuff is inexpensive and good. Wine is widely available, but you have to get the imports or you will likely get sweet versions, which is how they like it here. But at Barclay Cafe they have a good selection of dry Russian wines, the house barely $2 for a small glass and not bad at all. We are quite far north so they need to add sugar to get enough alcohol and to mask any unpleasant flavors. There is a lot of Spanish wine around, even some from our favorite city there, Valencia, although the labels are not ones we have ever seen.
Desserts are fabulous! Lots of cherries, blueberries and other fruit fill or float on various dough arrangements. Since cherries are hard to come by in some many of the places we live in I am loading up on them here.
Kiosk– just up the street, a woman sits all day ready to get you an excellent and inexpensive cherry or other flavor pie or turnover. Goodies!
More goodies
Russian cuisine is quite sophisticated and varied, and there is so much I have not tried and a lot more that does not even show up in St Petersburg. This is a huge country with many ethnic groups, and other than Georgian (an excellent eggplant rolled around some king of walnut mixture) and the Chebureki (I think I had a Crimean version) we did not knowingly have anything that was from the non-European part of Russia. Visit and enjoy!
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
A video-sharing platform for users to upload, view, and share videos across various genres and topics.
Registers a unique ID on mobile devices to enable tracking based on geographical GPS location.
1 day
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Tries to estimate the users' bandwidth on pages with integrated YouTube videos. Also used for marketing
179 days
PREF
This cookie stores your preferences and other information, in particular preferred language, how many search results you wish to be shown on your page, and whether or not you wish to have Google’s SafeSearch filter turned on.
10 years from set/ update
YSC
Registers a unique ID to keep statistics of what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Session
DEVICE_INFO
Used to detect if the visitor has accepted the marketing category in the cookie banner. This cookie is necessary for GDPR-compliance of the website.
179 days
LOGIN_INFO
This cookie is used to play YouTube videos embedded on the website.
