Europa Royale Klaipeda Hotel

... wieder nach Riga, aber dann doch nach Polen.<br>Das Abenteuer ist noch nicht zu Ende. Angefangen hat es. Sobald man den euphorischen und zugleich beklemmenden Duft von Freiheit in seine Lungen gesogen hat, dringt er in jede noch so kleine Verästelung des Blutkreislaufsystems. Abenteuer schließen keine Lebensgefahr mit ein. Abenteuer verändern einen im Innern. Sie schärfen die Wahrnehmung, rütteln uns aus dem Alltag und lassen uns Kleinigkeiten und beiläufigkeiten schätzen. <br>Ist also ...

... Amis sind ja so furchtbar! Offensichtlichere Floskeln gibs ja wohl GAR NICHT! Aber ich bin ja nicht unhöflich: "Where are you from?" - "US. Nice Shirt." - "Thanks."<br>Gut, dachte ich mir. Was für eine bekloppte Unterhaltung. Er musste möglichst cool wirken, als erfahrener Backpacker, Martina hatte Mühe ihre Augen wieder zuzukriegen, ich glaub er hats gemerkt, aber ich habe an seinen Lippen förmlich gehangen. War ja nun aber auch interessant was der Gute so zu erzählen hatte ...

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. <br><br>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 ...

... celebrations are being held. It is hard to find. I and many others go down some dead ends before finding the path. It is packed with thousands of people. A naval ship is decked out. Huge monitors show the performers who sing, dance and talk. The culmination is the national anthem, supposedly synced with spots all over the world. Very cool to participate in something so monumental for the Lithuanian people.

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

... seem to know what we were talking about so it might not be anything special. We strolled around the M. Mazvydas Sculpture park. It was a former cemetery and wasn't a perfectly manicured park like others I have been to. But things don't always have to be perfect - it was still very enjoyable because it seemingly had more character and an old-world feel to it. Mary-ism #17: We came across a sculpture of a woman that appeared to ...

... rain stopped and we had got back to Nida it was 3 and there would definitely not be time to do the whole 100km ride even if we wanted to. However given that the tourist information said that you could drop the bikes off at the other end of the spit we consoled ourselves to do atleast the one way trip. However at the bike hire place there English was not good but they seemed intent that we would only make it halfway up the spit in the 3 hours they ...

... between ordinary families in bathing suits and stark naked elderly women in sun hats. No one thought to put a stretch of beach in between areas, no one asked for one. As soon as one crossed the 'sign line' the cloths came off. This was grandma's territory sonny, in all her glory... and she's NAKED!!! (some had hats). After getting changed in the fun booths that dotted the beach, we relaxed on the sand for awhile and enjoyed the cool water. Gabrielle eventually ...

... soon headed our way and offered us the journey to the south for the equivalent of 2 pounds. We hopped in and off he went, when I say 'went' I mean he shot off like a jet plane. Overtaking on blind corners, general crazy driving etc... I'm sure he knew what he was doing, or had x-ray eyes or similar! We grabbed some Lunch in the port at a small cafe just on the waterfront, the water was so calm and still with really nice panoramic ...