Day 20 - Šiauliai, Lithuania - Hill of the Crosses is Wow!

Joan's View

Tony pulled the bike out of the narrow apartment doorway this morning. We got a little earlier start because we had planned stops. We rode on a nice bike route heading out of town and even had some shoulder on the first stretch of highway. Our first break was a deluxe bus stop. Today is a little warmer and Tony could feel it.

Second stop was a little town off of the highway. We had about 14 miles of highway today, some with a little shoulder and some with none except some broken up pieces of asphalt. Where there was no shoulder Tony would ride in the gravel off of the road if a semi was passing us. It slowed us down a tad, but it definitely felt safer. We also got slowed down by the particularly strong headwinds coming from the south.

The highlight of today was The Hill of Crosses. It is outside of Šiauliai among farmland. There are over 200,000 crosses there today and people keep adding more. The hill has special religious significance and shows of the resilience of the Lithuanians. The Soviet Union destroyed it several times, but each time it was rebuilt. You can read more about the fascinating history in the picture. There were sooo many unique crosses on the hill along with rosaries, pictures, statues, etc. It is a place of pilgrimage for many especially since Pope John Paul II celebrated mass there and gave a special blessing. We were lucky today that very few tour buses were there.

We spent several hours on the hill just being amazed at how each cross has a story of faith. The Franciscans also have a monestery built nearby of which we could visit the chapel. Pope John Paul II recommended to the Franciscans to built it here.

We also heard several fighter jets pass over us during our visit. There is another NATO Air Force base in Šiauliai. One more wide shot of the Hill of Crosses:

Dinner tonight was at an Irish Rock 'n Roll Pub. Lots of 80s music including AC/DC. Tony got his first taste of Monkey Shoulder whiskey after we quizzed the server about her t-shirt.

Tony's Extras

The Hill of Crosses was amazing that all these many crosses had a very personal story for each and every one. We had one cross placed with our personal story too. 

Besides that we did see so many unique crosses here. You got to love this one made out of bicycle parts. There were many crosses that touch you in different ways.

Here is a unique one that my skiing friends will enjoy especially Eric and my ex-friend Dan. Can't wait to go to Park City Utah and Colorado.

I did get a text message from Brittany and she said no applications for Choice One yet 😂