There would be more than enough reasons to stay longer in Vilnius, however, the scheduled itinerary didn't allow me to do it. On the road again... under rain, sometimes very heavy, others not so, and Kaunas (Lithuania's 2nd largest city) was passed by, without making any stop. Apparently, it didn't look a very attractive city, yet it certainly had its places of interest. When we travel, we can't have the ambition - shall I call it illusion??? - that we can see everything, can we?
Maybe there will be another time. Who knows?
After a while, the rain gradually stopped falling, the dark clouds subsided and the sun came out softly. I was getting close to the former Prussian capital of Klaipeda, Lithuania's only seaport and the northern-most ice-free port on the eastern side of the Baltic Sea.
Although no hotel had been booked in advance, as it was the end of the high season, finding accommodation was not a hard task.
At the hotel lobby. Interesting interior design, don't you think?
In the old town, there is a certain German feel that makes sense if we remember that for a few decades in the XIX century, the population was quite Germanised and very exposed to Nazi influences. Only after the end of WWII, Klaipeda became part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
The agenda for the next day consisted of driving to Riga with a stop at Palanga, the most popular health resort, and another at Siauliai, to visit the Hill of Crosses, a rather hauntingly moving tribute to lost loved ones... I am going to write a post exclusively dedicated to the aforesaid Hill.
While I liked what I saw in Klaipeda, Palanga was not impressive, it just made for a nice stop to have a break and enjoy a snack.
One thing that I've not yet mentioned was how smoking among women is very common in all the three Baltic Republics. There is a wide variety of brands and every supermarket near the cashiers have them on sale. Something that I don't remember to have ever seen before.
Unfortunately, the road didn't run along the coast and if you wanted to see the Baltic you had to make a detour. It seems that bike tourism is very popular and cycling paths run along the coast and sometimes wind through the forest, taking the bikers to their destinations. Lucky bikers...they can enjoy fabulous sceneries. However, they can't cycle along the roads.
Passing by the green pastures, the landscape continued to be flat: one farm here, another farm far away, sometimes one single cow or a horse grazing, a lonely tree standing all by itself in a field. I don’t want to get too philosophical on here, but those lonely trees made me wonder whether Lithuanian people as a whole are a lot like those trees: resilient, melancholic, ready to brave the harsh winds of life alone...
Although no hotel had been booked in advance, as it was the end of the high season, finding accommodation was not a hard task.
In the old town, there is a certain German feel that makes sense if we remember that for a few decades in the XIX century, the population was quite Germanised and very exposed to Nazi influences. Only after the end of WWII, Klaipeda became part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Statue of the lady who stole the heart of the Prussian German poet Simon Dach. Dach fell in love with her at the first sight, but unfortunately she was already engaged. He wrote the poem "Ännchen von Tharau"(Ann from Tharau) for her.
A German bar/restaurant in the Old Town
Rather than funding a tourist info office, the locals rather cunningly painted a map of town on the end of a building.
Sadly for the old town, new malls have opened up on the main strip heading out of town, leaving the lovely old part rather deserted and like a ghost town, except for some Russian and German tourists. The same happened in many other urban centres.
While I liked what I saw in Klaipeda, Palanga was not impressive, it just made for a nice stop to have a break and enjoy a snack.
One thing that I've not yet mentioned was how smoking among women is very common in all the three Baltic Republics. There is a wide variety of brands and every supermarket near the cashiers have them on sale. Something that I don't remember to have ever seen before.
Unfortunately, the road didn't run along the coast and if you wanted to see the Baltic you had to make a detour. It seems that bike tourism is very popular and cycling paths run along the coast and sometimes wind through the forest, taking the bikers to their destinations. Lucky bikers...they can enjoy fabulous sceneries. However, they can't cycle along the roads.
Passing by the green pastures, the landscape continued to be flat: one farm here, another farm far away, sometimes one single cow or a horse grazing, a lonely tree standing all by itself in a field. I don’t want to get too philosophical on here, but those lonely trees made me wonder whether Lithuanian people as a whole are a lot like those trees: resilient, melancholic, ready to brave the harsh winds of life alone...
If you view the slideshow, I suppose you will like touring around the city of Klaipeda, look at the K & D Towers that house both apartments and offices, see the calligraphy elements made on the symbolic sails in the canal*, the tall-ship Meridianas, built in 1948 and used as a sailing school, not to mention the Black Ghost and the hand-operated turn-bridge just outside a hotel and... more.
So enjoy!
* The Calligraphy On Sails project was organized by a group of artists and it featured works by painters from Lithuania, Belarus, Israel and Denmark.
RELATED POST #5 ~ VILNIUS
RELATED POST #4 ON THE ROAD - FROM REZEKNE TO DAUGAVPILS
RELATED POST #3 ON THE ROAD - FROM TALLINN TO REZEKNE
RELATED POST #2 TALLINN
RELATED POST #1 TALLINN
~~ Thank you! ~~
~~ Have a wonderful weekend ~~
Your photos are so nice as always, but about these cities and places I still prefer Vilnius :)
ReplyDeleteThank you to for this interesting slideshow!
I see, Edoardo, you don't betray Vilnius...
DeleteThanks!
Were you on a guided tour bus Belita? I have thought of doing this but don't like having to rush or missing out on seeing everything...Your photos are beautiful and I love going on your journeys with you.Is it my imagination or, were you feeling a little sad/down/tired this trip?
ReplyDeleteHope you have a lovely weekend too. Huggles.
No. Shayna, I do hate travelling on guided tours. We see what they want us to see and we never visit what would be of interest to us. Since my younger age, I have travelled on my own as I really enjoy the before, the during and the time after the trip. I like the preparations and I spend many hours 'studying' places, making the itinerary, booking hotels. Nowadays, I need no travel agency as from buying airline tickets to every arrangement that a trip involves, I do it on-line. I have lots of fun... believe me! Not feeling sad/down/tired but I might say a little disappointed. I had expected those countries to be a bit different from what I found. Shayna, travelling is always fascinating to me and the more I visit or revisit places, the more I want to take a plane...
DeletePS, your slideshow is awesome, loved the big sailing ship with it's sails up, the flowers just about everywhere you walked, all of it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Shayna! I am pleased to know you enjoyed walking with me... Hope you never get fed up with doing it...
DeleteMay the weekend bring you an enjoyable time!
Hi Belita!! Another fascinating part of your tour. I really liked Klaipeda, a most interesting place, again a great mix of old and new. It's a place i certainly would like to visit myself. The map of the town on the side of the building made me smile. Much cheaper, but more artistic, than a tourist office!! Your photos, as always, are fantastic. I really like the second photo from the top, of the clouds over the port. Wonderful quality of light.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mitch!
Deleteah, the trip moves on! I see Kalingrad, south of Lithuania, on your map.... that is where all of my mother's parents and family came from... eastern Prussia. Amazing how the borders changed so often, and interesting to know how the German influence remained for so long! Sad about the smoking.... ;-(
ReplyDeleteI loved the slide show from city sites to the country roads ~ how was the food?
Hi Monica! Interesting to know your ancestors were from Kaliningrad, formerly called Konigsberg, I had no time to go over there but from what read about it, must be a very beautiful city. As to the food, I didn't try it often... high calorie dishes... cream is a constant ingredient in almost every dish....I liked the beetroot soup and once I had borscht, and I found it good.
DeleteThanks for the visit and the comment, Monica!