Baltics - 15 June 2012 (3)

Nida to Kaunas

Sundial on Parnidis Dune

Parnidis Dune

We reached Parnidis Dune and left the bus to walk into Nida.  We spent a few minutes wandering around the top of the dune.  The dune was crowned by a sundial but, as it was overcast, we couldn’t see it working.

Parnidis Dune

At 52m, this was the highest dune I had been on since Kangaroo Island.  Unlike Kangaroo Island, this dune had a boardwalk, which made the descent into Nida relatively easy.  There was a tricky bit halfway down where some men were upgrading the boardwalk and soon after, there were a series of steps.  Luckily, these had a handrail, so they were quickly and safely negotiated.

Parnidis Dune

Nida from Parnidis Dune

The sun came out, making it quite a pleasant walk.  At the bottom, there were carpets of yellow and mauve wildflowers growing amongst the maize stalks.

We walked the short stretch of coast and arrived in Nida.  It is a very smart, modern looking village, with well-paved and well-lit streets, pretty houses and lovely gardens.  Aija led us towards the Tourist Information Office, where we got maps of the village and the Spit.

Wildflowers on Descent from Parnidis Dune

Wildflowers on Descent from Parnidis Dune

Then we split up and our group went in search of food.  The nearby restaurants were full of tourists, so we went further on and reached a restaurant located behind some stands where you could hire bicycles.  The restaurant was a bit like an old-style cinema in shape.  Inside, it was very sparsely decorated with no plaster on the bricks, just whitewash on the walls.

Wildflowers on Descent from Parnidis Dune

Lotmiškio gatvė, Nida

We went upstairs to the terrace and ordered snacks.  After a while, the waiter apologised and said that most of the snacks we had ordered weren’t available, so they would give us our drinks for free.  Three brownies did arrive, along with a plate of ham which May shared round and the bill was just LTL30.

Nida

Our Restaurant in Nida

It started to get colder and quite windy, so we paid and went to leave.  When I got downstairs, I spotted Charlie in the main restaurant, so I went to speak to him.  He invited me to have lunch with him, so I sat down, as did Flo who arrived soon after.  I had goats cheese salad, which was very nice, and then, under Charlie’s bad influence, panacotta.  With peach juice and coffee, the meal came to LTL36.  I think the restaurant was called “Nida” too.

Typical House, Nida

Most of us met at the Tourist Information Office as planned.  Buses were not allowed in the centre of town, so Aija had told us we would all have to walk out of town to reach the bus.  Then Ann appeared in a rush and told us that the bus had come into town and was waiting for us round the corner.

Ferry to Neringa

So we got on the bus and set off back up the spit and then on to the ferry.  We had passed the toll for the National Park, when we were lucky enough to see an elk running off into the trees.  We had to wait for the ferry, so Dzintars let me off the bus so I could get some photos.

Then we had a long drive to Kaunas, but it was on an EU funded motorway, so we could go quite quickly.  We had a brief stop at a service station on the way.

As we approached Kaunas, the oncoming cars had their headlights on.  Then it began to rain.  We were lucky because, by the time we got to our hotel – another Park Inn – it was only spitting.