THE VOICE OF INTERNATIONAL LITHUANIA
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Mushroom ‘outlet’ at a Varena roadside.
Mushroom picking is undoubtedly one of the favourite activities of the Lithuanian people. It starts in the spring and lasts till the first frosts, normally early November. Mushroom hunting is probably Lithuania’s second most popular sport, after basketball. When rumours start to float around that the first mushrooms of the year have been seen in the woods, people get up at 6 am on Saturday morning and go to the woods with their baskets and plastic bags. You can actually experience traffic jams at that time on a Saturday morning! Entire families go mushrooming and return with overflowing baskets.
The most abundant forests are in Dzukija, the south eastern region. Traditionally the inhabitants of this part of the country are the most prolific mushroom gatherers and this region's cooks are known for the most creative mushroom recipes. The mushroom capital of Lithuania is the town Varena, founded in 1862 as centre of the Varena District.
Mushroom ‘outlet’ at a Varena roadside.
Mushroom picking is undoubtedly one of the favourite activities of the Lithuanian people. It starts in the spring and lasts till the first frosts, normally early November. Mushroom hunting is probably Lithuania’s second most popular sport, after basketball. When rumours start to float around that the first mushrooms of the year have been seen in the woods, people get up at 6 am on Saturday morning and go to the woods with their baskets and plastic bags. You can actually experience traffic jams at that time on a Saturday morning! Entire families go mushrooming and return with overflowing baskets.
The most abundant forests are in Dzukija, the south eastern region. Traditionally the inhabitants of this part of the country are the most prolific mushroom gatherers and this region's cooks are known for the most creative mushroom recipes. The mushroom capital of Lithuania is the town Varena, founded in 1862 as centre of the Varena District. Due to lower harvests in infertile soil, local farmers had to supplement their yields with edible mushrooms and berries collected in the forests. Still today mushroom collecting remains an important part of the local economy.
All over Lithuania mushrooms are used in many dishes, to add special flavor to meat, fish and potato dishes. Mushrooms are used fresh, dried, salted or marinated. More than four hundred edible varieties are found in the Lithuanian forests. The most popular are boletes. Also collected are chanterelles, blevits, morels and many others.
Mushroom recipes from the book LITHIANIAN TRADIONAL FOOD
Compiled by Birutë Imbrasienė
Edited and translated by Giedrė Ambrozaitienė
Lithuania offers a modern, international cuisine
fully on par with western Europe.
Text: Aage Myhre
Did you think that this country only offers traditional food? Think again… Today’s situation is that numerous Lithuanian restaurants follow the best world traditions of offering exceptional international cuisine, as well as a number of Lithuanian masterpieces, first-class service in surroundings of refined elegance and impeccable hospitality. Modern Lithuania’s excellent cuisine together with a high class service will leave you a memorable experience.
Let me bring you to some of my favourite international cuisine restaurants, this time unfortunately only in Vilnius!
Welcome to Lithuanian Heritage Night
Roslyn, State of Washington, Saturday, Sept. 1
Carol Luschas, Pennsylvania, USA
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Lithuania has struggled to define itself. It turned its back to "Mother Russia" and looked toward the west becoming a member of NATO and later formed and economic union by joining the EU. Unfortunately, the "Baltic Brain Drain" is still occurring, as the youth have their sights set on the West seeking comfort of material wealth and goods accompanied with a lack of a moral compass, values or care and compassion for humanity. This is extremely dangerous and is causing Lithuania to collapse and fall behind.
Now this small Baltic Republic must look towards itself to inspire a new generation to have a sense of national pride, spirit, and above all hope for the future. The country needs to believe that giving back is ultimately about serving others and having a positive impact on people's happiness, health and well-being. Each citizen has a common mission and holds a moral responsibility to relinquish the gift of time to improve their country and make it a better place. For "we make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."
More attention needs to be given to developing small businesses, industry, technology, and real estate opportunities throughout Lithuania. I admire the mayor of Vilnius, Arturas Zuokas for his effort to create a business district similar to New York's Manhattan. But the modern cityscape competes with lovely panorama of the Old Town. Vilnius is a city that takes pride in being a heavily forested and environmentally friendly. I hope the Old Town will never lose its charm and continue to expand, reconstruct, and refurbish the beauty of this green lovely Old Town.
More effort needs to be made in promoting Lithuania as a prime tourist destination. A stronger wave of healthy tourism in needed to boost the economy. Vilnius seems to fall behind the other Baltic capitals of Tallinn and Riga. Tourists often comment about the beauty and coziness of the compact city of Tallinn and the art nouveau buildings of "Stag" crazed Riga but fail to mention Vilnius. When the city is mentioned many tourists say that it is a "beautiful town but it is a pity about the graffiti." The city needs to present itself as the true "Pearl of the Baltics" so it is not left in the shadows. Vilnius is a city bursting with life, culture, art, museums, concerts, restaurants and cafes.
Kaunas is also another great destination. It is a city that encompasses the true "Lithuanian Spirit." The Old Town" is small but cozy. It is not as architecturally diverse as the Old Town of Vilnius and buildings still need to be renovated. Despite this the town has a lot of potential and can become truly impressive! Tourists can enjoy strolling clean, peaceful medieval cobblestone streets, while admiring beautiful buildings.
I hope this short article will motivate Lithuanian citizens young and old to freely devote their time, energy and skills to improve their country and the place they call home. That they will remain in their country in order to spread this positive message and above all enhance the future of Lithuania!
Text: Aage Myhre
International Lithuania got its “flying start” already in 1323, when Grand Duke Gediminas founded Vilnius as Lithuania’s capital city, and immediately decided to invite merchants, craftsmen, bankers, farmers, and soldiers from all Europe to come to the new capital, guaranteeing all freedom of beliefs and good working conditions. Vilnius became international, though with less of German or Scandinavian influence, as one could expect, rather influenced by Rome – greatly different from the other two Baltic capitals.
VilNews will this autumn and winter publish articles about impacts of foreign nations and cultures here in Lithuania. We also welcome you, dear readers, to share with us information you may have about ‘foreign footprints’ in Lithuania.
Please write us with your ideas and comments!
The illustrations below show some characteristics of the nations we will be writing about, in combination with the Lithuanian flag colours...
The articles marked blue have already been published
(click to read them)
![]() ARTICLE NO. 1 HUNGARY |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 2: ITALY |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 3: KARAIMS |
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![]() ARTICLE NO. 4: DENMARK |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 5: JAPAN |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 6: CANADA |
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![]() ARTICLE NO. 7: GERMANY |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 8: CHINA |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 9: INDIA |
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![]() ARTICLE NO. 10: SWEDEN |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 11: TATARS |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 12: USA |
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![]() ARTICLE NO. 13: RUSSIA |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 14: BELARUS |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 15: ICELAND |
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![]() ARTICLE NO. 16: TURKEY |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 17: FINLAND |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 18: THE UK |
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![]() ARTICLE NO. 19: NORWAY |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 20: POLAND |
![]() ARTICLE NO. 21: FRANCE |
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ARTICLE NO. 22: THE LITVAKS (LITHUANIAN JEWS) |
My first meeting with my family in Lithuania
- we had been searching for 90 years
By KR Slade
It's Saturday, 28 May 2005, 6pm, in Lithuania. I've just returned to my room in the capital city, Vilnius, from my nine-hour day-trip to Kaunas, Lithuania's second-largest city. Kaunas had been the capital of the first Republic of Lithuania, during the inter-world-wars period, and is 90+ percent ethnic-Lithuanian -- compared to 60 percent in Vilnius. Lithuania is, now and since 1990, in its ‘third’ republic, again free, after its second -- and fake --‘Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic’, when it was occupied and annexed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Kaunas is called ‘the heart of Lithuania’, especially by the people of Kaunas. Today is a very special day for my family in Lithuania: the fifth anniversary of the death of our family’s Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevicius.
VilNews is from time to time brining articles under the heading 'The Village Voice'. The articles are written by a retired Englishman, David Holliday, who for the past sixteen years has lived with his wife Migle in the village Lapiai 30 km from Klaipeda. We believe that you, dear reader, appreciate David's subtle tales and stories from his life out there – so far off the beaten track...
By Barbara Isherwood
I thought I would share this with you all. What an exciting country Lithuania is!!
Yesterday evening, as I looked out of my dining room window, I noticed a lot of smoke. It was very close to a new house being built by one of the Iki brothers but behind a huge lilac tree so I could not properly see what the cause was.
I watched for a while and realised that the smoke was actually moving position. I knew I would not be happy until I had found out what was going on.
How I came to Lithuania 21 years ago
Some private memories by Aage Myhre, VilNews Editor-in-Chief
aage.myhre@VilNews.com
VilNews e-magazine is published in Vilnius, Lithuania. Editor-in-Chief: Mr. Aage Myhre. Inquires to the editors: editor@VilNews.com.
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