Travelsmartplanet

Guilds were formed back in the Middle Ages to bring like-minded tradesmen together and to form a teaching method for continuity of the trade. In Riga, Latvia, there are 19th century guild buildings still standing – one for big companies and one for the small merchants.

The guilds set the standards of hours, quality, number of masters, apprentices, etc. Each apprentice had to prove his competence to become a master by creating a “masterpiece” which was judged. Sometimes apprentices faked their credentials by just marrying the widow of their master and continuing his work.

The Museum of Bags and Purses (www.tassenmuseum.nl or www.museumofbagsandpurses.com) has over 4,000 fabulous examples collected over 35 years  by Henkrikje Ivo, and was a favorite of this smart shopper. It covers the history of purses, which started as loose pockets on the tops of petticoats. You’ll see armadillo purses, beaded ones, ironwork, tortoise shell, ivory, stocking purses and then the famous ones: Chanel 2.55 and Kelly by Hermes, etc.

You can have a light lunch in their café or pause for a break in their garden. And yes, you can buy purses in the gift shop (bring me home the tulip one).

Toodle 2 min. down the street from the Anne Frank House to the famous Pancake Bakery (www.pancake.nl) located in a Dutch East India Company canal house. It is reasonably priced, and we suggest you order a simple one so the taste of the light delicate dough comes through. The traditional one is with sugar and syrup but the menu is like pizza – you can have chicken, ham, pineapple, cheese and a whole slew of international varieties (think souvlaki, etc).

Dessert ones are topped with ginger, apple, nutella, Grand Marnier, bananas, or Dutch hot cherries with vanilla ice cream and cherry liqueur. Kids get kiddie meals: police, animal, princess or magic which come with an appropriate toy. You can just stop in for a drink as there’s a varied drink menu from buttermilk to cider, port, or hot chocolate and Baileys.

When the Soviets took over the Baltic States after WWII, the Lithuanian underground went overground into the forests (50% of the country is forest). They were waiting for help from the West, but none came. Eventually the KGB infiltrated the ranks, and by 1955 none were left.

The last one to turn out the lights managed to hide out until 1973, but had to commit suicide before the KGB captured him.

The last Lithuanian President was an American named Valdas Adamkus.

The current President is a woman, Dalia Grybauskaitė

Esperanto was created in the late 1870s by Dr. Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof, an ophthalmologist from Bialystok, Poland.

Here are some sample phrases in the language.

(per Wikipedia)

Ever the scapegoats, during the 14th century Jews were being blamed for spreading the black plague.

In 1346 Kazimierz III of Poland decreed Royal protection against persecution of the Jews. This is a reason so many Jews migrated to Poland. Over the centuries, more Jews wound up here than any other country in Europe.

It is said that Napoleon always wore a red shirt so if he got shot, his troops would not see the blood and be discouraged.

Berliners like to joke that that’s why Hitler wore brown pants.

German hunters in the north sit in raised  little wooden huts out in the fields. This way the animals do not smell them as easily. They would be hunting rabbit,  pheasant or deer.

On secondary roads in Poland, you might see women in scanty clothing standing on the sides. They provide “comfort” for travelers. Many are from other countries like the Ukraine, Romania, Thailand, etc.