About the holiday
06 July Statehood Day or King Mindaugas Coronation Day. It is an annual public holiday in Lithuania to commemorate the coronation in 1253 of Mindaugas as the first King of Lithuania. The day has officially been celebrated since 1991.
What do you miss most about home?
My sauna at home, which I used at least twice per week and my 12m2 greenhouse with cucumbers, tomatoes, and other plants. I love gardening and enjoy seeing (and eating) the results at the end of the process.
What do you find rewarding about working in a multinational environment like JALLC?
You can have a really good fact and evidence based discussion with pretty much anyone at the JALLC on a lot of different topics. Here, at the JALLC, we get to get to work with highly professional personnel from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds. Everyone brings their expertise and experience to the table so that we can all learn from
What is something unique in Portugal that others may not know?
The Marvila district (where I live) in Lisbon has a lot of local craft breweries with some really amusing beer bars all in close proximity to each other. In a distance of just one kilometre, there are three. My favourite is the Musa de Marvila but Dois Corvos Cervejeira and Cerveja Lince are incredible too, each offering around fifteen kinds of craft beer. I am lucky to live thereJ
How do you usually celebrate this national day (in Portugal or in your country)?
At 21.00 every year on this day, Lithuanians all over the world are encouraged to sing the national anthem in the name of unity. The tradition has been around since 2009, when the anthem was sung to commemorate the millennium of the name of Lithuania.
Pictures: Top, the statue of King Mindaugas in Vilnius. Bottom, Bishop Henry Heidenreich of Culm presided over the ecclesiastical ceremonies and Andreas Stirland conferred the crown. To this day, however, the location of the coronation, remains unknown.