Albina Sturiene Fischerhaus Nida

... am besten hingeht:
Bagpacker- und normaler Rucksack in Kombination mit dem suchenden Blick, den ich ohne Spiegel bei mir feststellen konnte sind ein sicheres Zeichen für ortsfremde Reisende.
Dann wurde dieser Mensch von einem offensichtlich Ortsansässigen angesprochen und erwiderte lediglich eine hilflose Geste, die zweifelsohne symoblisierte, dass er der Sprach NULL mächtig war.
Kurz und gut, der junge Mann heißt Daniel und kommt aus den Staaten und ist seit 2 und für weitere 2 ...

... aus, wenn ich einen Beweis habe, dass ich hier richtig bin!!!
Gut, in Klaipeda angekommen (soetwas wie das deutsche Hamburg, größte Handels- und Hafenstadt, industriell pulsierende Metropole des größten der drei baltischen Staaten), habe ich erstmal nach meiner Orientierung gesucht. Ich wollte ja zum Fährhafen. Zack, die Landkarte abfotografiert und wollte eigentlich schon weiter, da wurde ein Mensch mit riesigem Rucksack von nem Litauer angesprochen. Den hilflos wedelnden ...

... town there were no tourists, no people as it was off season. We felt like we had whole town only for us...and the beaches!
There are also interesting places to see nearby, including some of the highest sand dunes in Europe, fisherman's ethnographic museum, gallery-museum of amber, neo-Gothic church (built in 1888).

... dark at night when walking back, but didnt feel unsafe to me. From the hotel to old town takes around 15 minutes on foot. Most of the way is a shopping street. The old town it self is small and not very exciting, but has some nice restaurants and bars. I had dinner somewhere outside in the city centre, which was very cheap. This being a Sunday evening, it was pretty quiet.

... thick for use on the body. I am directed to a pharmacy. The least expensive is $30 for a decent sized tube. Oh well.

I am off to Nida, a beach resort town on the Curonian Spit. Pretty place with a nice beach. It is a 15 minute walk to the beach. The beaches have a much larger crowd than yesterday. This seems more of a vacation place whereas yesterday was the local beach.

Back is still ...

... I find a table (few available) and grab a Lithuanian beer which is pretty much like the Polish beer. Great spot for people watching by 8:00 or so (it is still light and I am in my beach attire) people start showing up in evening wear (it is a Friday). I take my cue and go back to the hostel for a shower.

I have consistently found that people in the service industry on this trip have been at best indifferent and generally rude. Not sure if it is being an American ...

... park, with forests full of wild boar, elk, and deer, and photogenic sand dunes which stretch as far as the eye can see. Brad became mildly obsessive about spotting elks (and was probably the only foreigner around who hadn't yet seen one on the spit, and STILL left without seeing one). We couldn't leave the spit without having tried its local specialties, which were its smoked fish which was fantastic, and another odd Lithuanian ...

... and cycled along the high part some fifty meters to find our own spot. The next morning we had our very first lay-inn, really untill half past nine ;-) We started to cycle around noon, great to have a morning-rest! After seeing Pavilosta, an over-rated village, we took a crazy forest-path full of holes, high grass, horseflies and stones. We ended on a better sandroad that led one way to the coast ...

... tourists flock to this village of 1500, but fortunately for me, few of them choose to come in mid-September. Getting to the spit from Klaipeda requires a 7-minute ferry ride. The strait is quite narrow enough to allow a bridge to be built, but environmentalists worry that increased accessibility to the region would cause excessive environmental damage. Most transportation around the spit is by bus or bicycle. The ferries ...

... of everything nice had been destroyed. Was pleasantly surprised with how nice the town was and how comfortable I felt walking around everywhere (again, I had been warned). Found my way to the ferry terminal and froze a little waiting for the ferry to take us across to Smiltynes. Once on the other side I had quite a bit of time to kill until the next bus to Nida. I went to the pub and had some lunch (I am guessing everyone has figured out by now ...