Baltics - 14 June 2012 (3)

On to Lithuania

We crossed into Lithuania and stopped for people to exchange currency.  When I looked up while I waited, it appeared to be snowing.  These were the seeds of the poplar trees.

Swallow Nesting in Snack Bar

On the way to the Hill of Crosses, we passed a deer farm.  It was almost like being back in New Zealand.

Swallow Checking Out Coffee Stocks

Before going to the Hill of Crosses, we stopped at the souvenir stall, which also sold drinks and snacks.  I was more interested in the swallows which had made a nest inside the stall.  One of them sat on the nest and another perched on a box of supplies at the back.

Hill of Crosses

Eventually we walked towards the Hill of Crosses.  It spooked me, so I decided it would be best if I walked round.  It was a lovely walk in the sunshine – until cars came past, throwing up a cloud of dust behind.  Luckily, there were not that many cars and I got a good view of the hill from the side.

Hill of Crosses

When I reached the monastery at the end, the others were starting to arrive.  The trees nearby were full of birdsong, but I only saw one sparrow.  Two very noisy jets flew over.  As we were getting back on the bus, some people spotted a stork on a nest, which I had missed.

Stork at Franciscan Monastery, Hill of Crosses

We stopped for lunch at the Motelis Restoranas, which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.  To be quick, most people had soup.  I had a smoothie, made up of layers of kiwi, mango and strawberry – the colours of the Lithuanian flag, but in the wrong order.  I sat with Harry and Angie, Bob and Ann and we had a good chat.

Lithuanian Smoothie

Then we got back on the bus for a long drive to the seaside.  Most of us slept, but I managed to wake up for a while.  We passed through a few towns which weren’t especially picturesque.

Eventually we arrived at Palanga, where we walked through a park to reach the Amber Museum.  It was quite a long walk so, because Aija wanted us back on the bus at 18.45 and entry was LTL8.00, most of us decided not to go in.  Instead, we walked to the beach nearby, where, it is said, people could find amber, which had been washed ashore.

Amber Museum, Palanga

The beach was uninspiring and there was no sign of amber, so we walked back to the main road and went for a coffee.  We went into the Gabija Restoranas, which was near to where the bus was parked.  I had a freshly squeezed orange juice for just LTL9.00, which was very nice.  A trip to the loo brought a couple of problems.  The doors had a series of small, wavy lines, one broken by what looked like a hill with a sun on top and the other broken by a V with a sun inside.  My guess as to which was the ladies was wrong but, luckily, I checked before going in.  The ladies was the sign with a hill, which was counter-intuitive.  Then the automatic glass door to get back into the café shut on my wrist, which was fairly painful.

Beach at Palanga

We got on the bus and waited for Ian and Sue to come back.  While we waited, a wedding party came out of the park.  We noticed that the bride and at least one of the bridesmaids had bare feet.  We wondered why.  Had their shoes had been hurting?  Had they been for a paddle in the sea or one of the ponds in the park?  Was it a custom in Lithuania?

When Ian and Sue appeared – they were late because they had made a late decision to go into the Amber Museum – we set off for Klaipeda.

It didn’t take long to get there, but Dzintars took us for a short drive around the Old Town as there was no other opportunity to see it.  The streets were cobbled and we were limited to those wide enough to take the bus.  There were some wooden buildings, but it wasn’t that picturesque.