A Journey through Lithuania 2
After a busy weekend in Vilnius, it was time to learn a bit about Lithuanian history and culture. The best place for this is the open-air museum of country life and art, in Rumšiškės. So Debbie and I left Vilnius and headed to Rumšiškės, a small town near Kaunas’ Lagoon.
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We arrived at the open-air museum in Rumšiškės. The Museum’s exhibition is divided into four parts, featuring 18th–19th century steadings from Lithuania‘s four regions: Aukštaitija, Žemaitija, Dzūkija and Suvalkija. |
 Image courtesy the Lithuanian State Department of Tourism |
Here we see houses from the Dzūkija region. |
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and this is a traditional krosnis (stove) that all houses would have for cooking on. |
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This is a house from Aukštaitija region. The houses here are comparatively small but rather pretty… |
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…and inside one of the houses. We liked the beautifully carved chairs. |
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The fireplace. You can imagine this was the heart of the house in those cold winters! |
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Houses from the Žemaitija region were much bigger. |
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Inside a foresters’ hut. Very basic – it’s almost a modern minimalist style! |
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A primary school (in 1879) |
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In the classroom. Can you imagine sitting up straight on those hard seats? |
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No computers then! They learned to count on counting frames like this one. |
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This is the blackboard. Notice the teacher stood near the warm stove! |
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The kitchen and bedroom in the teacher’s house. The teacher had it tough too! |
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The washstand in the teacher’s house, where the teacher would have to wash in cold water! Can you imagine? |
