Wu Wei

Old Soviet Postcards of Vilnius

You know, those ones that were all you could buy: terrible blurry colour printing, and supplied in a komplekt (little folder of 10 or so).

Here's a few from Facebook here.

  

No prizes for guessing this is Lenin Square, now Lukiskiu Square.

And this one of the Rotuse Square complete with statue:

  

The inevitable bleak blocks of new housing (though to be fair, there are plenty of places built like this in Britain in the 60s and 70s, with the same effect)

  

Some of the comments on the photos are quite funny, if you read Lithuanian.

Gassy water machines

Someone is kindly posting old photos of Lithuanian cities on Facebook. There is now a "modern" series from the late 70s early 80s here.

It's a bit strange. It's almost the same as now, but the Soviet statues are still there. I arrived in Vilnius long after they had gone, and I only ever met one person who talked about Lenin Prospect as opposed to Gedimino prospect.

Here's a photo of the old "gassy water" machines about which I have had many nostalgic conversations with people who remember them, while Bee and Sloph were amazed: gassy water instead of coca cola?

 

It seems that I am not the only nostalgic one, as 103 people like them on Facebook.

Old photos

How do I know my flat is in the right place?  Because it is right next to the offices of Lietuvos Energija and the Energy Museum.

And on the old photographs now being collected on Facebook here, you can see a rather smart power station and some trees where my flat will appear later.

Apologies for the lack of posting.  Just not much happening these days, plus it's too cold. Tbilisi may not be so cold, but it makes up for that by the bitterly cold howling wind.  Unusual in a town to have such strong winds.