Banga Nida

... wurde mir meine Emotionalität ein Hindernis.
Unsere Hintergründe hätten kaum widersprüchlicher sein können, aber sie waren es, die uns soviel Gesprächsstoff verschafften und es noch tun, weil wir, trotz der einseitigen Sprachbarriere, doch etwas gemeinsam haben: Das Interesse an Wissen, Bildung und persönlicher Weiterentwickung sprich permanenter Erweiterung oder zumindest Erhaltung des bisherigen Horizonts.

So waren wir denn auf der riesigen Wanderdüne, die geschmückt ist von ...

... sind ein ganz gewöhnlicher, gleichsam genutzter Teil des Verkehrsnetzes, nicht davon irritieren lassen.
Wie auch immer... Jedenfalls ging die Reise durch das idyllische Land Litauens.
Grasgrüne Weiten, blaue Himmel, aufgepuffte kleine Wölkchen und den Himmel nicht so eintönig wirken zu lassen. Litauen gibt sich wirklich Mühe zu gefallen und tut das auch!
Das gute am Busfahren ist: Es steht dran wo es hingeht, Städtenamen sind international verständlich, ich steige ...

On our way to Nida we stopped to visited one of the most pilgrimage places I have ever been. It's a Hill of Crosses nearby Siauliai City. People come here, leave crosses, icons and pray - and the energy on the hill is simply amazing.

Nida is a resort town in Lithuania, located on the Curonian Spit. When we visited this ...

It took just over 3 hours to drive from Vilnius to Klaipeda with very light traffic. The drive is a little boring, but comfortable. The Magnisima Hotel is in the new (er) part of town within walking distance from the old town and with a secure parking lot in the rear. The room (#7) is very spacious and tastefully furnished. The street misses a couple of light poles, so gets a ...

... but gets better (still a 6 on a pain scale) over the day.

Clouds come in around 3 and it gets cold. People head back to town. Most are staying in Nida but I start the 1.5 hour trip back.

For dinner, I look for a steak house that has an excellent reputation. I don't have enough info to pinpoint it exactly. After 30 minutes and starving, I give up. I go back to the café hot spot from ...

... the ferry. I grab a Kabab and a beer in the 5 minutes I have before the ferry. 60 people join me. The fare is $1.20 round trip. It is a short, 15 minute ride to the Curonian Spit. From the port at Smiltyne, it a 10 minute walk to the beach through some beautiful forested areas. As the forest disappears, the dunes appear. Then, the Baltic Seal.

As I approach the ocean, the path splits. To the right, all the young, beautiful women. To the left, the couples with kids ...

... smoked pigs ear! Imagine the taste of cold grissly chewy skin, fat and cartilage, with a whiff of bonfires and you're pretty much on track! Not a winner! The spit is also renowned for amber, which gets washed up on the beach after heavy storms. There's beautiful walks (check out the photos of the traditional 'ghoul and goblin' statues in the forest), the wildlife, fishing villages, and Brad's new obsession.....hunting the ...

... of the travel had past allready, that was getting there from Tallinn. The next day we took the boat back to Klaipeda, where we were relieved to find out there was space enough for our bicycles on the bus. In the afternoon we were in Riga, where we decided that we might just aswell cycle to Mara's home 40 kilometers further (instead of taking the train). The fun of travelling by bicycle really got to us.

... how important food is in my world!). I had a plate of yummy goulash, it was different this time, almost creamy and with dill, and a heaping salad. Two thumps up and I was nice and warm! Went back to wait for the bus, the driver was sitting outside of it at the stop having a beer. Made me giggle. I made friends with a French couple, Helen was a student in France and Ben was working in Minsk so this was her trip to visit him. Got the bus and ...

Meet up with Eva and Regula around 11am to do a beach day. It was great. The three of us sat out on the beach to soak up rays, chat and take little naps. Chatted about random stuff. Strangely enough it took them a while to mention that they had boyfriends..... either way I'm not a home wrecker. Eva and Regula are both 21 and are about to start University. The Swiss schooling system is weird, they go to university at a much later age but they still have to know what ...