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For Money, and His Life – LIW Magazine History and Culture

By ArnasTraveler87

Friend or foe, fact or fiction, the story of Tadas Blinda continues to capture the popular imaginationEveryone knows about Robin Hood. Several generations of Europeans have been brought up on the story of this noble bandit, as told in books, films, and cartoons.

But few have ever heard the name of Tadas Blinda, and the story of this mysterious figure has gripped the imagination of Lithuanians for more than a century. Blinda could be called the Robin Hood of Lithuania, and the legend of this half-historical, half-mythical hero remains to this day a prominent feature of the country’s culture.

Here is a summary of the important key points by LIW Magazine:

Law-abiding

 

The real story of Blinda is shrouded in mystery, with only a few documents attesting to the
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LIW Magazine Interview

By ArnasTraveler87

Time does not Stop A historian of Yiddish culture has his work cut out

Author:
Tassos Coulaloglou

The conversation on one of Vilnius’s busiest streets would have been common enough 60 years ago. Two men are sitting over coffee, and discussing old times in Yiddish.

 

Before the Second World War and the Holocaust, it was hard to walk ten steps in Vilnius without hearing Yiddish. Back then, the city was roughly half Jewish, and one of the most vibrant centers in the world for Yiddish and Jewish scholarship.

 

But today, with so few Yiddish speakers left alive, the discussion is being recorded for posterity.

 

It is for this reason that Dovid Katz, a renowned professor of Yiddish, moved to Lithuania permanently in 1998. His mission is
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The Roads to Independence – LIW History Archive

By ArnasTraveler87

From The Lithuania News Today History Archive: Maintaining the integrity of the nation state has been a long and continuing process

 

The three Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, declared their wish to be independent almost at the same time in 1918, when at the end of the First World War supranational European empires started to crumble. Their roads to sovereignty were very different. Because of an unfavorable historical situation and the specific geographical location (on the great route from West to East), the Lithuanians faced the greatest difficulties. However, on 16 February 1918, Lithuania was the first to declare independence. Estonia did so on 24 February the same year, and Latvia on 18 November.

 

Founding the state

 

Historians still disagree over when the Lithuanian state appeared.
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LIW Magazine Sports News Update: Win Some, Lose Some

By ArnasTraveler87

The Athens Olympics yet again brought a clutch of surprises

Marius Grinbergas

The 28th Olympic Games, which returned to its homeland in Greece, changed the face of sports in Lithuania, a report by Lithuanian News in English.
Until this year, independent Lithuania did not have a twice-over Olympic champion. After Athens, it now has one in the discus thrower Virgilijus Alekna. If you’d like to try out betting on the Olympics or playing Olympic themed you might first want to grab the no deposit bonus offers from NoDepositDaddy.com to enable you to play your first few games for no cost at all, but you will still have the ability to win some real money in this process which is simply outstanding.

The country also previously did not have any …

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LIW Magazine Sports Update: A Race on Ice

By ArnasTraveler87
Lithuanian News in English Presents : An annual horse race celebrates its 101st year

Rytis Darađkevičius

Once a year, life heats up in Dusetos, a small town in northeast countryside of Lithuania. People from all over the country come to watch the horse races on the ice of Lake Sartai. Craftsmen sell their work, and a large crowd gathers on the shore.

For the horses and their drivers, this is a competition in which horses that have been trained for a whole year are tried out.

For the thousands of spectators, it is a show, a spectacle brimming with emotion and energy. People bet on their favorite horse, music plays, the horses snort, and the voice of the excited announcer can be heard everywhere. Races follow one after another, …

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A Promising Beginning – LIW Featured Author

By ArnasTraveler87

Romain Gary, twice winner of the Prix Goncourt, based parts of his early Books on his childhood in Vilnius

One of the most interesting and colourful 20th-century French novelists was to say about Vilnius: “Perhaps it was here that I was born as an artist.”

 

Romain Gary (his real name was Roman Kacew) was born in the city on 8 May 1914. Later living in Russia with his mother for a while, he returned to Vil­nius for a few years (from 1917 to 1924), and spent several crucial years of his childhood and adolescence at 16 Wielka Pohu­lanka Street (now Basana­vičiaus gat­vė 18).

 

After a one-year stay in Warsaw, he at last reached France, the country of his dreams, to begin to turn into what, in his
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The Baltic Road – LIW Magazine History Archive

By ArnasTraveler87
A massive public demonstration 15 years ago opened the doors to independence for the three Baltic states

Marcelijus Martinaitis

On 23 August 2004, the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, celebrated the 15th anniversary of one of the most unique events in their histories. The Baltijos Kelias (Baltic Road) helped to open the door to the restoration of their independence.

This event 15 years ago was a milestone in the struggle of the three states towards the elimination of the legal and political effects of their occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940.

Of course, people in other countries have all but forgotten the Baltic Road, even though it was widely covered by the press and television at the time. It was then that the Lithuanian word …

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Ten Ways to Tie The Knot – LIW Magazine Lifestyle and Variety

By ArnasTraveler87

Wedding rites are changing

Jolanta Paðkevièienë

These days, when peoples and their customs are all mixing, weddings that are celebrated in accordance with centuries-old traditions can probably only be found in some mountain village, or in an Eskimo community cut off from the world by ice, or seen in films about folk traditions.

Even Lithuanians, who are not enthusiastic about taking on new things, and who are proud of their customs that have lasted since pagan times, no longer have traditional weddings.

They often laugh that the only events they celebrate joyfully are weddings. Maybe that is why the occasion, which is celebrated with relatives and close friends, often adopts customs from other parts of the world.

Traditions Are Barely Alive

Over the last decade, not only premarital life but …

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Made by Wind, Sand and Hands – LIW Magazine Investigates

By ArnasTraveler87

A natural wonder is threatened by human activity

Irena Jomantienė

Legend has it that Neringa, a giant goddess, created the Curonian Spit to shield fishermen from the Baltic Sea.
Fishing has been the main trade on the spit for centuries and also the way of life, and it now bears the name Neringa.

Although fishing is gradually giving up its position to tourism, the spit has preserved the original architectural styles of a fishing village. Perched on the edge of the lagoon are single-story wooden structures with gabled roofs of red tile or thatch. The walls are painted brown, white and blue, and decorated with ornamental weather vanes, which used to be identifying marks on fishing boats. These reflect the functional needs and the aesthetic sensibility of the Kuršiai …

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Bonan Tagon, Amiko – LIW Magazine Culture and Society Update

By ArnasTraveler87

Esperanto opens the door

Laimius Stražnickas

Bonan tagon, amiko [Hello, friend]. Are you going on the boating trip?”

This question to young Lithuanian Esperantists is like the herald of spring.

In early May, the trip is all you hear about, along with telephone calls from Esperantists from neighboring countries to ask about the weather in Lithuania.

Everybody takes it for granted that the traditional boating trip in the Aukštaitija National Park will take place. Even the program is always the same, with boating during the day and entertainment at night.

Around a hundred Esperantists spend three days on the lakes, rivers and streams, visiting museums and other places of interest. Birthday celebrations for those born in May, and the initiation ceremony for new members, take place every year.

The tradition …

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