the akropolis

(photos to come...)

America is a mall culture, and in some lesser fortunate areas it is strip mall culture.  Didn’t we invent, or at least perfect the concept of 'mall'? 

The Akropolis is a valiant post-communist attempt at super-consumerism.  This mall, situated on the outskirts of the city (and adjacent to an abandoned stadium construction site), sits on a hill overlooking Vilnius.  You can literally buy everything here, and while you’re shopping you can choose from 3 different ice cream shops and 5 different pizza chains for snacks.  Once you’re full of dough and sugar (and beer!) you can rent a pair of skates and go for a few laps around the ice rink.  After you’ve exhausted yourself from that, you can get a $20 (USD) manicure, and pay for ten minutes on a machine that soothingly jiggles your butt right on the promenade for all to see.  Santa should consider stopping here with his sleigh and elves in the weeks before Christmas (like he does for us in the States) so that all the little boys and girls of Vilnius can sit on his lap and recite their wish lists in his ear.  I’d love to hear those wish lists, myself.

While they meet our overzealous American need to attract shoppers and part them with their hard earned beans they don’t come close in terms of offering quality and bargains.  Imported clothing costs a fortune, and most ‘high-fashion’  clothing is imported, if even from somewhere else in Europe.  Most items from other nearby countries like Belarus and Russia are usually poorly made.  If it isn’t a brand from the USA or Western Europe (France, Italy, UK, etc) it’s likely hoochie gear from the early 90’s, and will quickly fall apart. 

 

The big supermarket chain here is called Maxima, and there is a big one at the Akropolis.  Take your average American A&P or Shop-Rite, take away the mod interior décor and the organic section and you basically have a Maxima.  At the larger stores you can find a huge selection of everything from sausage to breakfast cereals (but don’t expect to find too many familiar brands).  If you’re a little anal about reading labels (like myself), good luck!  Unless you know the language you’ll be lost.  If you’re lucky you’ll find your honey-nut Cheerios and your Dannon yogurt but your comfort zone won’t extend much farther than that.  Most labels come in 3 languages: Lithuanian, Russian and either Latvian or German.  I find that most of the food looks all right.  The fish dept is particularly stinky but the array of meats and breads makes up for that and Maxima always has a fair assortment of reasonably priced, fresh, prepared foods as well.  One thing to remember about Lithuanian food: MAYONAISE.  Get used to it.

mayonnaise gets its own AISLE...

 

Certain things are harder to find like A/V equipment and hardware.  There is no B&H or Circuit City so if you forgot your cables you may be shit out of luck.  Baby clothing/food/gear are lower quality than we are accustomed to in the States.  The trend of BPA-free, organic, free-range babies has yet to hit Lithuania.  In fact, it might be light years away.  There is a great baby store, and stores for electronics and appliances in the Akropolis where you can find just about any relevant item, just be prepared to be flexible. 

 

There is a pharmacy (vaistine) and the attendants are referred to as ‘consultants’.  They hang around the aisles and answer questions about the various health and beauty products or they will help you find the right ointment/hair goop/skin toner/vitamins that you need.  Cashiers will fill prescriptions for you as well.  I noticed drawers full of meds behind the register, and being from a country where meds are kept locked away, I was shocked.  Can’t help but feel this would never work back home.  We are too emotionally repressed and dependent as a culture to trust the general public with our drugs.  Yet we are renowned around the world for our rampant subculture of illegal drug abuse.  Go figure.

 

One very American thing about this mall is that it’s open from 8am until 11pm every day.