By Linda Thalman & Pierre Nagel |
|
Lithuania
Sunday, 21 June 2009 The M7, a dual carriageway, took us northwest to the Lithuanian border and on to Vilnius. A quick 30-minute rigamarole at the border to get out including 11 euros for a transit visit as we didn't leave Belarus at the point where we'd entered.
The hotel, a Carmeltie convent in the 17th century, is now a calm, modern, somewhat spartan accommodation with parking. It's seconds from the main square and the pretty streets, buildings, churches and animation of the town and is an excellent place to stay. Tourist shops, cafes and the Gediminas Hill, accessible by a funicular, were open. A panoramic view at base of the 13th-century red brick tower was perfect. We'd been expecting lots of music for midsummer's night, but we didn't come across any bands at all. There are plenty of bars, cafes and restaurants in the old town and we fell upon Zemaiciu Smukle, a gorgeous tavern with dozens of rooms in the basement with wood, old sewing machines, radios, books, vases, mugs, etc. as decoration. Dinner: Roast chicken breast with a potato/spinach dish for me and pike perch for Pierre, plus wine for 110,000 LTs = 32 euros.
Zemaiciu Smukle restaurant
Monday, 22 June 2009 From Vilnius we went west going through Trakai and then stopping at a grocery store for picnic supplies in Kraunas. This is the old capital city and just as we'd done our shopping torrential rain fell to the tune of thunder and lightening. Tuesday, 23 June 2009 The Corinthian Split. This is a lovely wild UNESCO preserve; it's a 50-kilometer long strip of dunes, pines and beach. To get to this National Park there was a 10-minute ferry ride and we drove down the spit to Nida. Exploring one of the small ports we came upon a delightful bed and breakfast where we relaxed and sat in the garden in the sun.
Much to our surprise Paolo was there with a HUGE camera lens taking photos. I jokingly asked if he worked for National Geographic and he said yes. Wow. He was working on a story about these amazing birds and had been all around the world doing photos and gathering material for a future story. The nesting site in Lithuanian is one of, if not the biggest in the world. Double wow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormorant
but nothing about Lithuania specifically.
Our last night in Lithuania was north of Nida in Pleidas on the way to Riga. Wednesday, 24 June 2009 Klaipeda. This was a 'dead' city on a national holiday morning. Not even any coffee shops were open. It was shut down everywhere. On to Liepaja on this same national holiday day and it was totally empty.
Baltic Trip By Linda Thalman And Pierre Nagel
Email – Linda@wfi.fr
Visit all the WebFrance International Sites
Copyright since 1995 by Linda Thalman - all rights reserved. |
Back in Europe and an alphabet we could decipher and the GPS to help us we arrived spot on at our guest house,
Domus Maria, in the biggest old town of Eastern Europe.
The next morning we followed directions in one of our guide books to the Cormorant nesting site. No sign
what so ever. You really had to look to see the wooden stairs on the left of the road with space for about
three cars to park.
Paris
