Tauras Palanga

... Oder kennt ihr viele Ostamerikaner, Halbjude mit plonischem Einschlag, Halbitalienermix, abgeschlossenes Philosophiestudium, Autor, Schwerstinteressiert am 30 Jährigen Krieg, der einfach mal so sein Gespartes nimmt und damit durch Osteuropa trampt? Also ich nich. Und wenn ich mal einen treffe, wird er ausgequetscht! Sollte dann auch 3 Tage Zeit haben ;)<br>Der Typ is crazy! <br>Naja, wir haben uns dann die Unterkunft geteilt und zusammen die kurische Nehrung unsicher gemacht.<br><br>

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.

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

... know it was there. They built four silos, each housing nuclear missiles, each of which was 10x the power of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and being in Western Lithuania, had enough range to reach anywhere in Europe or Turkey. It was mobilised, ready to launch on a few occasions during the cold war. In fact during that time the Russians had so many enemies (perceived or ...

... 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 ...

Ignore what we said about the worst campsite this beats the lot - toilets were holes in the ground, the shower was invented by the local made professor and was patented trust me when i say no one will by buying it!. As for Palanga it deserves better a great beach resort with loads to do and see, cheap and good fun for a few days or a week well worth a visit. While we were their they were holding a ...

... frå russisken litt langt bak i hjernebarken i augneblinken). Som sagt kan eg ikkje litauisk. Med språket satsar eg likevel på at det skal gå bra på dette mystiske reisemålet. Fleire og fleire lærer seg engelsk, det har tradisjonelt vore eit turistmål for tyskarar, og på grunn av sovjettida, sit det vel att ein del russisk også. Sidan eg er utlending, går det vel bra å prata russisk. Men eg gler meg!

... 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 ...

... Klaipeda to ask about accommodation before catching the ferry over there... but they didn't open until 10am! (Glenn had misread the guidebook that information was closed in Nida on a Sunday - in fact it was low season that it was closed, not high season... Oops again). When they opened, we had a rather unhelpful guy that said that it would be impossible to get accommodation in Nida for this night... quite a dash to our hopes. We persisted and he finally relented saying that his ...