Kūčios and Kalėdos

Kūčios is the traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve dinner. A group of expats all gathered at my flat to celebrate. The traditional meal includes 12 dishes, one for each month (or apostle depending on who you ask). None of the dishes can have meat or dairy, but I did not follow the tradition strictly. After all, what is Christmas Eve without specialty cheeses to snack on? As you can see, we enjoyed salted herring with oil and onions, potato salad with artichoke hearts, sauteed mushrooms with garlic, cabbage salad and apple pie. All the dishes were served cold, as the Lithuanians do it. Maybe next year I'll make all 12 dishes (without meat or dairy).


On Christmas Day (Kalėdos), we walked through the city to see the Christmas trees in Town Hall Square and Cathedral Square. Many families were out doing the same thing, admiring the city's holiday decorations and taking family pictures. We stopped into the Cathedral to take a look and the mass had just started, the organ was playing and the pews were packed and aisles full of people standing shoulder to shoulder. As we continued walking down Gedimino Avenue, we passed a larger than life menorah set up in front of the Independence monument.


The best part of the day was seeing the lighting of the Vilnius TV tower, which stands 326.5 meters tall (feet) between the Karoliniškės and Lazdynai Soviet-era neighborhoods. This is where 14 unarmed Lithuanians lost their lives when Soviet troops tried to regain control of the tower on June 13, 1991. It is a national symbol of independence and a wonderful place for fireworks. The fireworks display was phenomenal, the most impressive I have ever seen in my life!