Vila Ramybe Palanga

... sind ein ganz gewöhnlicher, gleichsam genutzter Teil des Verkehrsnetzes, nicht davon irritieren lassen.<br>Wie auch immer... Jedenfalls ging die Reise durch das idyllische Land Litauens.<br>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!<br>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. <br>

... are covered by people seeking shelter and possibly privacy. <br><br>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.<br><br>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. <br><br>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 ...

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 ...

... not one oceanfront hotel. There is simply a beautiful sandy beach with nothing but pine trees to be seen for miles. A network of bike paths and trails is used to access the long stretch of beach. There are few hotels of any size so there are no big tour groups. People mainly stay in private homes or condos in the small town or camp on the outskirts. Palanga is principally a Lithuanian beach resort and I don't recall hearing another American during my entire stay. The only time ...

... 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..........

... eit interessant land som eg aldri har vore i før. Av dei baltiske landa har det lenge vore rekna for å vera det rikaste, men eg må vedgå at eg er litt usikker på korleis dette er no som Estland har opplevd ein økonomisk vekst dei siste åra. I marknadsøkonomihelvetet er det også vanskeleg å måla slike ting, då det er lett å manipulera tala, slik at rikdomen til landet seier lite om korleis vanlege folk har ...

... 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 :)

... Luckily, not everyone headed towards the buses, but as we lined up at the only bus leaving soon, there were lots of people pushing and the queue went to 'mush'. The bus was packed already and let alone getting a seat, we were pushed to even get on the bus! We were jam packed in the isle, barely past the bus driver, with a stack more people to get on still. The bus driver grabbed Christie's bag off her and shoved it in front of him to make more room for more people to jump on ...