The Lithuanian City I Can't Pronounce

There are a lot of reasons to visit Siauliai, the main one being the hill of crosses. However, it's worth sticking around for a day or two to enjoy the museums and appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds the country.
The apartment where I stayed in Siauliai: www.booking.com/hotel/lt/pigi...
Follow my daily adventures on Instagram: / eternalexpat
Get the best travel credit card that I personally use to save me tons on travel: www.referyourchasecard.com/6b...
Check out my Guidebooks: www.eternal-expat.com/laura-b...
For more travel tips, check out my blog: eternal-expat.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow along on Social Media!
Facebook: / theeternalexpat
Instagram: / eternalexpat
Twitter: / eternal_expat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
All Songs from Epidemic Sound
Song One: Into Pieces by Amos Noah
Song Two: Thoroughfares and turnpikes by River Foxcroft
Song Three: Wandering Nomad by Cody Francis

[@smolko08]

Hello Laura! I’m an American working over here in Siauliai with the NATO program. Let me know when you visit next and we could possibly do lunch or something.. I have been exploring Lithuania and Latvia when I get off time and love the beauty of it. Take care, Kathleen

[@ZhylvisLT]

Thanks for your service on LT land 🙌

[@tautvydasm7512]

Thank you for your service!

[@laura-bronner]

Hi Kathleen! Thanks for your message, I'll get it in touch when I'm next around that area!

[@miguelb.3951]

"Seriously, who drinks tea in the morning" You were so funny in this segment! Enjoying as always....

[@laura-bronner]

haha thanks Mike! It's always a long debate with every video about how much of my sarcastic commentary to keep in 😂

[@VytasNeviera]

Fun fact! Victor David Brenner, a Litvak-American sculptor, engraver, and medalist, who is best known as the designer of the 1909 U.S. Lincoln Cent, better known as the penny, which features an iconic bust of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, was born in Šiauliai! The image he created is still in use on the coin today, including Brenner's initials and there's a little plaque in Šiauliai celebrating him. :)

[@joeschu7794]

My Wife and I have been viewing all your videos from the beginning and we have just finished watching this one. The crosses were interesting. Looking forward to get caught up with all your videos. From Parkland County, Alberta, Canada

[@mildabucaite5525]

That's my home town I am from, I almost cried because I miss it so much, and while I am away from the country I can really appreciate the simple things there that makes me miss it so much - other museums you have to go is definetly cat museum, with 6 wonderful cats and exotic animals, chocolate museum, you can book a chocolate making session, also we have so many lakes around golden boy statue, radio museum Salduves Hill. I am so happy you liked it. I hope you gonna be back there again ❤️

[@Bad_Artist_]

I admire how you make every attempt to pronounce place-names correctly. You are always so respectful to that beautiful country and its people!

[@jag5798]

I enjoy watching these, as I miss my home there with my LT husband. Although American myself, I find LT all that I need. Safety, cleanliness and good beer/basketball. Yet, I am enjoying the weather here in Sydney, AUS - with the cool mornings and warm afternoons. Summer is about to begin, but nothing is like the first snowfall @ the cathedral in Vilnius.

[@laura-bronner]

Sydney is one of my favorite cities in the world. I don't miss those crazy hot summers, but it's a beautiful city. I feel the same about being here in Lithuania though, I feel calmer and more relaxed than I have in a very long time.

[@k.g.m.254]

@@laura-bronner I picked up on that from the beginning. Of all your videos these have stood out to me....and I want to be there. 😊

[@ZhylvisLT]

The very first attempt was perfect, you can pronounce it right 👏🙂

[@sirgalahad1470]

I am finally going to get to visit Lithuania this year. Thanks so much Laura for all these wonderful videos about Lithuania

[@lauraworkman6922]

I have been watching your videos for some time now and I was very happy to see you visiting my hometown , I no longer live in Lithuania so this brought some tears in my eyes!

[@laura-bronner]

I'm glad I could share a slice of your hometown with you while you're away. Hope it brought back some happy memories :)

[@ringailetervydiene5942]

You talk about green spaces and here I am living by the forest in Vilnius and thinking we should really move to the countryside, cause I can still see the light polution and hear cars. We lithuanians would not survive in a real urban environment 😆

[@laura-bronner]

haha I'm starting to feel like that already and I've only been here a few months!

[@kazkasKitoBaisaus]

Damn, I really wish there was an English version of "Pietinia Kronikas" by Rimantas Kmita for you to read. It's amazing book about life in one of the Šiauliai districts at the time of collapse of Soviet Union and Lithuania independence...

[@laura-bronner]

Sounds very interesting! Maybe my Lithuanian will be good enough to read it one day 😅

[@pontiuspilates]

Trust me, there's better literature worth your time.

[@MinMin-kv3rv]

The decor is.. special 😆😆😆 Omg.. you are very polite 🤣

[@enrikazzz]

The decor is interesting to say the least... I do question choices made haha

[@Skovtrolden70]

looks like a very beautiful place, I would like to visit one day

[@baktom]

They have the best quality chocolate that is produced in Lithuania: "Rūta". But you can get it in any supermarket, don't really have to travel to Šiauliai to taste it 😋

[@Ugapiku]

My home city, nice! Also the city's life depends on the weather, if it's sunny every person will be outside in cafes and such if it's cold, barely any people outside. And ofc perfect time to visit it is during summer.

[@aurimaslabanauskas]

All people of Šiauliai are in Akropolis and Saulės miestas 🙃

[@diana-cy4kj]

It’s pronounced like “show lay”.

[@afbeardsley3137]

Well Done an interesting video as always. Your zest for life and your surroundings is always so infectious.

[@laura-bronner]

Thank you so much!

[@natalijaivanova7235]

Hi, I've seen people recommending a lot of great places for you to visit next, and I think I haven't seen anyone mention Zarasai - a town in the northeast of Lithuania near Latvia border, the region with most lakes in the country. There's a very beautiful lake island in Zarasai town really worth visiting.

[@laura-bronner]

Headed there very soon! Thanks for the tip :) It's an easy day trip from Utena!

[@arturass3896]

There is a roof terrace at the local library with a fantastic view of the town and surroundings in Zarasai. Nearby Visaginas is worth a visit too. A modernist Soviet town in the middle of a forest.

[@krameris1000]

Greatings from Biržai 🤝, nice video 👌👍

[@laura-bronner]

Thanks!

[@thetravelstamps]

You are spoiling us again with a new intro! Another content worth saving. Keep 'em coming.

[@tadasklovas3024]

oh wow.. welcome to my home town this time :D

[@donce161]

Hi Siauliai have a big forest park call kurtuvenu regioninis parkas in that park is 10km walking for pedastriens and 2 way for bike 33km and other 50km wery big forest

[@agnetata8661]

You should go to :Rūta"chocolate factory in Šiauliai..

[@laura-bronner]

I tried to visit while I was there but there was a school trip inside the museum, so I didn't go in.

[@greilyrovira4679]

I left my cross just a week before

[@Sarunas841]

The historical buildings of the city Šiauliai was 95% destroyed during WW2 bombing campaign which left almost everything in ruins. Eventually city was rebuild in soviet times and this is what we got today…

[@domeswall]

Yes, I think that's a palatised s sound at the beginning! Great scenery in the fall there!

[@blueeyedbaer]

No, a palatatalized sound "s" sounds like in "silk". Šiauliai has a palatalized sound "sh", like in "shin".

[@gowithzy]

Hill of crosses impressive!!!! An apartment very good!!! Lithuania autumn is very beautiful!!!

[@gokelis100]

Visit Panevėžys , Biržai, Anykščiai please, you will love it!

[@emuxkr]

Oh the bicycle museum is fun. I was there twice: once with school trip in early 2000 and once as an adult. It was fun both times. Tell me is Šiauliai always so empty? Once a year me and my brothers go from Vilnius to Zemaitija region to clean grandparents and great grandparents graves and one of the stops is Šiauliai. I am 34 and it seems that Šiauliai always without people on the streets, I find it quite strange yet peaceful.

[@laura-bronner]

I don't know if it's usually this empty. I was visiting on a Monday and Tuesday and walking around during the day so it could just be that people were at work/school.

[@vaidasvezelis8497]

oh my god.. Shoe lay! And... thank you for bringing this up!

[@laimasadauskaite5949]

6:27 The owner has a lot of imagination but... no taste! :DD Thanks for the nice video Laura!

[@laura-bronner]

haha yes lots of imagination! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Hoshi976]

So nice to see you had visited my hometown. I been living in UK for 10y and traveling all over, last year I came back and I do think same it's a nice city with loads off green place well actually allot I've been surprised. Would be nice If you could come and explore town more. Give me a shout and we can stroll arround it as well. As I mentioned after comming back town actually changed allot and more places theres so see, which is surprising.

[@zasciura]

Thanks!

[@interestingvideos1014]

Nice video😍

[@supermario6999]

Canada 🇨🇦

[@Kund1s]

Honestly who drinks tea in the morning.. I do i drink tea all day long beacause coffe for me is a rubbish :)

[@eleanorbertuch135]

So interesting and lovely 🥰

[@tomasn9872]

Beautiful lady in beautiful city...

[@Flufwhite789]

Its so beutifull here i live in Siauliai

[@anneli1735]

Love your vids ❣️ Comparing Lithuania to some big German cities walking around in the area of the main station seems a bit „unfair“ to me 😉 Living in a smaller town there you would get quite a different impression 😁 the north being much alike Lithuania while the south (Bavaria for example) compares very much to Austria 🙃

[@EddyRulz]

Shoe-lay. Seems accurate :D :D

[@RusokuLab]

Laura, you missed the radio and television museum in SIauliai ;-)

[@lattenoisette]

I think there are all kinds of strangest museums in Šiauliai : bikes', dolls', horses', cats', chocolate'... just name it and you have it :D

[@RusokuLab]

@@lattenoisette Also museum of: photography, film, telephony, cats, railway. angel, chocolate "Ruta" and so on .. ;-)

[@bladerunner4425]

Show-Lay. You're welcome.

[@manometras]

Oh, you explored, and explained what the meaning of the wall was. And we wondered! The square seemed so big, empty, and pointless.

[@gretux946]

Visit Biržai. Its soo beautiful there

[@GeneratorOfDarkness]

Show-Lay, it's easy

[@paleface953]

naaaah.. not quite :)

[@VytasNeviera]

"Special" is such a kind way to call it. :D Eclectic would be another nice way to put it!

[@dainiusm5436]

👍

[@bakedsoupwithcakes5025]

7:45 I do 😭

[@RusokuLab]

It was the last beautiful day before the month of June next year ;-)

[@laura-bronner]

😂

[@angelajames9853]

An absolutely beautiful city with wonderful people..

[@ekon777]

Start watching lithuanian show cops, you’ll quickly learn how to pronounce Siauliai.

[@limaontoby3300]

Hello please how much is a room apartment in Sialuia

[@viratsinghroha1813]

Love you ♥🇮🇳

[@tomasvaicius6355]

try Kastinys.

[@user-ct7zj8ry6s]

Just say: Show-Lay

[@blueeyedbaer]

Gosh, that apartment is ugly! I'm saying that as a Lithuanian. But yeah, the price is good.

[@RichieLarpa]

I will help you a little, read it like "shou-lee-yay". It won't be perfect, but it will give you an idea.

[@valderomatadoro1577]

Hi,I'm from Šiauliai :)

[@tadeuszc3552]

Respect right minority in Litwa

[@AmputeeAdventures]

Mexico misses you :)

[@jabhutt1013]

Show (like shower) and then Lei, like some asian name:) Showlei

[@DepozidoX]

I disagree, the "show" in "show-lay" for "Šiau-liai" is a much better representation for "šiau" than the "show" in "show-er" is. The latter version just sounds off, as the correct stress is on the "u" in "Šiau". However, the word "šiaudas" (=straw) has the "šiau" as in "show" from the word "show-er", since the stress is on the "ia". All of this underscores that in Lithuanian the stress plays an important role. Unfortunately, we do not usually write down the stress, unless it is in a dictionary, to the detriment of foreigners (and native Lithuanians alike 😅). And, to make matters worse, the stress in Lithuanian is dynamic, as in, it changes based on the tense, declension, and so on. So.. Good luck, Laura! By the way, Laura, whenever you see an "i" before a hard vowel, as in "ia", "io", or "iu", all it means is that the hard wovel after "i" is softened. Oh, and one last thing I've noticed: your "L" is much harder than it is in the "standard/common" Lithuanian. Lithuanians like their L's soft. Unless you are trying to speak in a dialect, in which case some dialects have an even harder "L" (which you may sometimes notice in folk songs, such as in Rasa ir Jonas - "Teka Saulė"). This last point may not matter much, as your attempts at speaking Lithuanian already sound like a convincing case of a rural dialect, but I thought you might want to note this if you try to nail down the "standard" accent. Good luck!

[@user-py9cy1sy9u]

Vėlinės are close. Just a reminder

[@laura-bronner]

What day does everyone go to the cemetaries? The 1st or the 2nd?

[@JonasSlivka]

@@laura-bronner the 1st of November.

[@vytautasjacunskas1133]

@@laura-bronner usually most of the people were going on 1st of November, but the actual Vėlinės day is 2nd of November, but we only had 1st of november as national holiday and non working day, since this year we have both 1st and 2nd of November as day off, and as it combines to the weekend 30-31 of October, so it will be long weekend, and people will go to cemetaries any day from 30 of October to 2nd of November. Definately on the 1st of November it will be many candle lights ant the evening - you should check this out :)

[@tomaud]

Just say: SHOW-LAY.

[@audriuspetrikas883]

The son of Žemaičio murdered in Butirkai (President of Lithuania) was imprisoned here, and such a Mindaugas kidnapped Martha from here with a clear conscience, because he already lived in such an ugly place and then became king.

[@Matotaupa5]

LABA

[@jongabrielsen3868]

I did not have though that there would ever be anything you couldn't pronounce

[@spottyty]

Prounounce it as Shaulei

[@indrebartaseviciute913]

I think she did a pretty good job pronouncing it at the end of this video ;)

[@audrispurlys6351]

no man city?

[@vaidasukolovas1302]

Try to pronounce Druskininkai 🤪

[@laura-bronner]

haha still easier than Siauliai! haha

[@vaidasukolovas1302]

We have no proof lol

[@auricgoldfinger8478]

Beautiful video, but no humans. It’s post apocalyptic

[@dexteriuxas]

It happens when you visit a town during working hours :)

[@auricgoldfinger8478]

@@dexteriuxas No shoppers, no cars, no sounds. Only crosses. I did see Rick Grimes driving the yellow bus

[@paleface953]

​@@auricgoldfinger8478 Well, Laura obviously made an agreement with the good people of Šiauliai to leave the city just to herself for one day.

[@vytautassulcas6494]

@@auricgoldfinger8478 just author has to follow the law of personal privacy and tries to avoid showing ppl

[@visulino]

It looks empty. It's like the population never recovered after all those wars and deportations to Siberia and the Concentration Camps.

[@pontiuspilates]

Not true. Not only it recovered but it grew from 30k to 160k at it's peak around 89'. A lot of people left after the fall of Soviet Union. Mostly Russian soldiers, engineers and scientists who were stationed here. There was an air base, nuclear war head supply unit, and a semiconductor fab that produced chips for military machines. They were all gone by 1993. Then, during economic crisis of 2009, a lot of people left for UK, Ireland, Norway. There's a significant population of Lithuanians in the British Islands. Some of them returned, but majority are still living there. Now it's a bit more stable. There's around 100k living in the town today. There's also quite a few suburbs, young people tend to move there as well. However, the town, just like the whole country is decreasing demographically, people are aging and young families don't produce enough babies. The reality is, if we don't make more babies or don't allow immigrants, we'll have a lot of dire consequences pretty soon.

[@MrDickharder]

Ухмярга переводится на русский как ухдевка.Оченъ красивая деревня,надо вам обезательно туда съездить.

[@giedriusliubertas8227]

Niet

[@vytautassulcas6494]

Ukmergė comes form Vilkmergė - girl of wolfs