Hotel Tulpe Palanga

So, jetzt finde ich endlich mal wieder die Muße mich hier literarisch zu ergießen.
Ich habe meinen Rucksack gepackt, hab die Tür hinter mir abgeschlossen und bin zum Busbahnhof. Habe es irgendwie der dicken Dame hinter dem Schalter begreiflich gemacht, dass ich nach Klaipeda möchte. Ja ich bin Student, ja in Vilnius... WO IST DAS PROBLEM? Im allgemeinen lösen sich Sprachbarrieren aufgrund unterschiedlicher Verständigungsbasis nicht durch Erhöhen der Lautstärke, aber auch das ...

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 ...

... are covered by people seeking shelter and possibly privacy.

Wimbledon and the 1000 year Lithuanian celebration are that night so I head back. The receptionist does not know of any sports bar. I go in search. No luck. Any TVs are on the independence celebration. I ended up missing a match that concluded with Federer winning 16 games to 14 in the final set.

I head over to the dock where ...

... the US but is starting to really hurt. Not good when I have to carry 75 pounds of stuff.

Only 1 hostel in Klaipeda. It borders the bus station. Rooms seem to be clean. I an in a 12 person with 2 or 3 beds taken at the moment. Not many reasonably priced choices and the reduced impact to my back from a close place wraps it up. It is only a place to sleep.

I am off immediately to lose my family resemblance to Casper. How white can I get? A 20 minute walk ...

And now to one of the most bizarre things we've gone to see on this trip. In 1960 the Russians, who occupied Lithuania at the time, built a nuclear weapon facility in the middle of a forest. It took 10,000 people to build it over 2 years, all done in secret. Much of it had to be done by hand because of the noise factor - in fact it was so secret the local population didn't ...

... sure if the device was an expensive ring cleaner or an expensive machine that bubbled water. I don't think it was a very hard sell since we were able to leave as a group when he finished speaking. I asked the guys afterwards how much he wanted for the contraption and they said about 1000 Euros ($1650!!!). It was ironic to think that in Lithuania they have sales scams just like we do. After that episode the guys decided they really wanted to have breakfast so we split since I ...

... race competition which looked as if anyone could enter we thought about entering winnie but didnt want to put all the fancy cars to shame. Claire was gutted by the time we had set up camp and got back into town it was all over so no pics ahhhhh bet your all really sad. The best of it all was they closed a public highway for all these petrol heads as if they would do that in England no chance..........

Days 13 Palanga-Leipeja A most unsatisfactory nights sleep, my makeshift bedding of my silk sleeping bag and inflatable travel pillow wrapped in a sweatshirt is cold and uncomfortable. Because of the Early start I also slept without earplugs for the first time in a while so I can hear my alarm. At some ungodly hour after having woken up a dozen times already I wake up again to a loud knocking noise, thinking it to be the plumbing or next door I drift off ...

... to Nida to catch the bus. Once we were back in Smilthynes we decided to venture into the pub for a pint. We also gave the famous Lithuanian beer snack a try, strips of fried dark garlic bread with cheese. Pretty tasty with a beer! Caught the ferry back and grabbed a cup a noodles and a beer and headed back to the hostel. Ended up staying up quite late with the girl working at the hostel and another Lithuanian guy. I had to try the local cider :)

... dat Ingrids zoon, Nick, omgekomen was bij een verkeersongeluk. Frank heeft toen een kruisje geplaatst op de Kruisheuvel, een indrukwekkende plek waar miljoenen kruisjes staan ter herinnering aan zij die er misschien niet meer zijn, maar toch niet vergeten werden. Toen ik vorig jaar Ingrid over deze plek vertelde, besliste ze om ...