Baltics - 15 June 2012 (1)

Hill of Witches

I was up at 05.50 and went to breakfast at 07.00.  Most of the others were already there.  There were lots of Germans in the restaurant and the greetings of “Morgan, Morgan” reminded me of our trip on the Shongololo Express in South Africa, when we had to squeeze past Germans and Austrians in the narrow corridor on the train.  I had a slice of some eggy concoction which was very nice, but the rest of the meal was decidedly mediocre.

Charlie Reads a Story

Then we went back to our room for last minute packing, followed by a long wait in the foyer before the bus arrived.

When we were up in the restaurant, we noticed a boat going past in both directions and wondered what it was and why it was doing that.  We now realised that it was the ferry to the Curonian Spit.

When we arrived at the dock, we watched as it set off and were first in the queue for the next ferry.  When it was our turn, the ferry crossing was short and so smooth that I missed it.  I only noticed that the boat had moved when it was time for the bus to disembark!

We set off along a road through a forest until we reached our first stop.  This was the Hill of Witches.  We walked in woods which were full of birdsong, but only a fleeting glimpse of an occasional chaffinch.  The damp weather had brought the midges out in force and I was very glad I was wearing my repellent.  I lent it to some of the others who were being attacked.

Wooden sculptures of fairy tale characters were scattered through the wood.  Aija had a book which told the stories behind some of the sculptures and got some of us to read them.  I enjoyed doing that, but some people were reluctant to take the limelight.  At the end was an area for children with a slide in the shape of two witches with very long tongues and a seesaw.

There were a few stalls at the bottom of the hill and I bought a scarf and then Aija and I got a hot chocolate from a machine in a small shop.

Kogas Ship/Restaurant, Juodkranté

As we walked towards the port of Juodkranté , I asked her if she had taken part in the human chain which linked Vilnius to Talinn via Riga, organised by pro-independence movements on the 50^th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1989.  She said that “of course” she had to.  She had stood on a bridge in Riga.  She said that it was very exciting and showed me how they held the hands of those people standing next to them.  That got me very emotional again.