Pajuris Klaipeda

... 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 ...

... 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.

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

So much for me not writing about places I visit! I couldn't let this one go by without a little more detail than the photos can provide. First of all, Palanga is the most gorgeous beach town I have ever visited! It is simply perfect (assuming you replace the Baltic with the Adriatic). The town is spotlessly clean, incredibly well-designed, full of art and flowers, has a long and wide sandy beach backed by millions of pine trees and plenty to do for every age and interest. There ...

... of Klaipeda's architecture is simple, tasteful and inoffensive. In keeping with the rest of Lithuania, it's a fairly well-wooded place too, so the softness of numerous parks and tree-lined streets makes it an agreeable locale. I can't say it's among the more interesting cities I've visited recently, but Klaipeda's definitely not a bad place to while away a couple days. That's due less to what's in town, and more a result of what's arguably the main draw for ...

... 30 Litas for a day) and explore the rest of the Spit and its national parks. I only aimed to cycle half the length of the Lithuanian side of the Curonian Spit but I got lost (which is quite remarkable on a well marked cycle track) and ended up cycling over 80km. It was only when I was cycling back to Nida when I found the signposted turning I was suppose to ...

... off to Nida. Along both sides of the whole road was think forest so all you could see were trees and little dolls hanging from the roof of the bus windshield bobbing about. We walked through Nida and along a bit of the coast before cutting into the woods to get to the top of the dunes. It seemed to have warmed right up and layers were actually coming off which this morning seemed like an impossible thought. We carried on through the woods ...

Klaipeda. A small coastal town and port on the Baltic Sea and gateway to the Curonian Spit (UNESCO world heritage landscape) - a peninsular shared by Lithuania and Kaliningrad, Russia. It is a 4km wide national park with small settlements and stretches of gorgeous sandy dunes and beaches. At least that's what it's meant to be. We arrived in Klaipeda after a 5hour bus trip from ...

... the German name. And to my WW2 buff liking Adolf hitler at the balcony of the theatre i was looking at from accross the old town square. Very exciting for me. We chilled out and enjoyed the scene, then headed for the local youth hostel. The only one in town. It was a small cosy one but it was actually better then the party one before because the people werent party animals. Also that night we went to check out the night scene. Unfortunatley on a Wednesday night in Klaipeda there isnt ...