|
|
I was out at 7:30 for a run to the Old Town and out onto Nemuno salo parkas, where I saw rooks, a magpie, 3 cute partridges bopping along, and a teen-age class out to practice football (soccer, for you Yanks) in groups of 5. Back for the hottest shower of our visit. Bless those Italian rugby guys! Valentina calls to set up a visit so she can get the names of all the children and grandchildren in Mom's (actually, Mama's) family in the U.S. We know our group and are pretty sure about Milly's. But we aren't even sure about Babs's granddaughters, never mind their spouses and children. Heck, I have trouble keeping my own kids straight. I point a lot: "I don't know who you are, but I know what you did!"
We tried a different breakfast: soft boiled eggs (which Tete always liked). The next table was an American couple and their teen-aged daughter (obvious from their conversation at such a close table). We stopped to talk on our way out. They have been in Kaunas 5 years, after 5 years in Kaliningrad, running a translation service for businesses. They love the local prices but have nothing positive, or even kind, to say out Lithuania except that it is better than Kaliningrad. Of course, they have a huge apartment nearby, can afford to eat all their meals out, have daily help, travel extensively.... They seem to charge U.S. rates and pay Lithuanian ones. Then run the place down. Gee, if it's so bad, why don't they go home? It's not like they were forced here; this is their own business. I do hate the classic Ugly American.
Roze is waiting in the lobby. Adrijus is here to drive us to Neringa! We though today would be for wandering Kaunas, and that trip was later. But we understand that Adrijus runs a business, so he can take time off when it fits his business. And we're nothing if not willing to tour. But I have to get through to Litinterp to fire that @#$%^&* driver. Which I manage. the woman is very understanding and apologetic. We agree the man needs to be hauling good, not humans. So we're off to Neringa at 10 AM. We have been led to believe that it takes 4-6 hours to get there, so this is a bit curious. Then again, these are relatives who do this themselves, not car hires who want to convince me to spend the night (and pay extra for the driver and his stay). I'll bet on family.
| So, with Adrijus driving, Mom riding shotgun, and me in the back with Roze and Darius (who is along to talk to old "one-language" me), we take the scenic route along the Nemunas, west to the Baltic! |  Looking south across the Nemunas. |
We drive up a hill past the grave of Gediminas and see the one other old statue of Vytautas that was saved from the Soviets, in Raudone. This route is not only scenic; it is a historically important route (of course, along the major river). So there are hill forts and castles all along. My favorite is the castle in the town of Pile, which means Castle: the Castle castle.
 Vytautas (the pedestal has the dates 1430-1930; this was dedicated for his 500th anniversary. |
 Pile pilis. |
We drive along, eating apples from Roze's garden, looking at photos of Adrijus's photos of his canoe/kayak trip in the Lithuanian northeast and his bike trip across Turkestan, seeing vacations photos of Aurija's family at Neringa, enjoying the scenery, getting views of Russia (Kaliningrad) across the Nemunas, and checking out towns along the way. Adrijus actually still has some letters, with song lyrics even, that Vikki wrote around 1981. Hard to believe they go back 20 years.
| I swear it took no more than 3 hours, including stops and side trips to sightsee, to get to Klaipeda. Adrijus drives straight to the ferry terminal, where we get to stretch our legs a bit. Mom & Roze look like movie stars, with those big dark glasses. It's quite warm, but the breeze off the Kursiu marios (Kursiai lagoon) makes us glad for warm jackets. |  |
On the ferry, the girls stay in the car, but the boys and I wander the deck and watch people feed the seagulls. It's a quick trip to Neringa. It's sort of a barrier peninsular. Rather like North Carolina's Outer Banks (and it is also a national park), except that it's connected to the mainland way down in Kaliningrad. So we crossed a lagoon instead of a sound. It is also wider and much more forested than our barrier islands, and quite high in the middle. These are a specific type of pine tree that they plant to sort of anchor the huge dunes against the wind, which wants to move them as it does our islands. On a quick stop, the boys and I climb to an overlook where we can see both the Kursiu marios and the Baltijos jura (Baltic Sea), over thick fir forest.
 "Boarlet" |
As we drive, an oncoming car flashes its lights. This usually means the police are looking for speeders. Nope! It was to warn us of a family of wild boars! Mama and Papa, some adolescents, and a bunch of babies. We pull over and I try to get some photos. We roll the back window down just enough to get the camera up and a few apples out. But I have to be quick. These guys can get mean, especially if they are suspicious of our intentions for the babies. Darius says he has met such groups while mushrooming or biking in the woods. You know, I think I'll stick to biking on roads and picking only blackberries. Prickers and chiggers are nothing compared to these huge and bad tempered beasts. |  Really big boar I swear it's 3 feet tall. |
 Mom at the Baltic |
Adrijus stops at a beautiful beach near Nida, where we park, walk down a long lane with (closed) food shops, to the boardwalk on the dunes and stairs down to the sea. |  Me in the Baltic |
The boys and I head for the water; Adrijus and I leave our shoes and socks on the sand and roll up our slacks. The water is cold. But the waves are tiny and gentle. The sand is clean and soft, with no shells. We check little stones for amber (gintaras) - Darius bites them to see if they are soft enough. No luck; the sea is too mild. But I do collect a few stones. There is something about getting my feet into the sea that somehow grounds me to the land. OK, so I'm strange. An older woman, just at the dunes, strips to a skirt and undershirt, then wades. My nerves freeze enough that the water feels fine.
 |
Just after I got this photo of Darius & Adrijus, Darius regretted not going barefoot, too. the Baltic caught him - and his shoes. The tides might be small, but they do move. |
| That structure on the shore behind them is not a lifeguard station. Far from it. It's from the Soviet days: a guard tower to prevent Lithuanians from trying to swim to freedom. With Kaliningrad and Poland to the southwest, and Latvia, Estonia, and Russia to the northeast, and (as you can see) nothing on the horizon! Now they are used to watch for forest fires. |  |
We retrieve our shoes and socks (one of the pied black & grey crows had hauled a sock onto the sand) and go back to Mom & Roze, up on the boardwalk. Mom really regretted not being able to get down to the water, but there were far too many stairs. So I ran back down with an empty film can to get a tiny Baltic (with sand, even) for her. When I got back up, I noticed a guy on the edge of the water, wearing only a little white suit. Oops, that's not a suit, it's him! He was naked! Mom said he walked down just ahead of me, stripped, took a quick swim, and came out to sun-dry. And I was right down there and missed it. Did look good from up here, though.
| We drive across the spine of Neringa to Nida, a quaint German town on the Kursiu marios, and down to the dock. to the south, we see a huge, odd dune. And there are black, red, and white weathervanes that look like little ships of all kinds all over. We decide to eat on the patio of a kavine that was just across the grass on the right of this photo. |  |
 |
We had great views, ate mushroom soup and fish (them) and potato pancakes(me), and fed all the sparrows of Nida. They were both cute and very brave - practically taking the bread crumbs from Adrijus and Roze's fingers. |
Next we drive through Nida. Aurija and Laimis bring the boys here for their 2-week vacation every summer. It looks like a place Chuck and I would love: lovely cottages grouped in the woods, a quiet town with friendly bars and cafes, lots of places to bike and walk (including over to the sea). It must be wonderfully relaxing. Darius says it's kind of boring for him! Proof that We'd love it.
Just outside town, we head to that odd dune we could see from Nida. It is Parnidas dune, topped by the remains of a sundial that was smashed by hurricane Anatoly. (How a tropical storm hit Nida must involve another translation anomaly.) It's Lithuanian type of sundial: a large spire in the middle of a sort of plaza where you can walk on the time. Because Mom couldn't walk up to the vantage, Adrijus drove her (terribly illegally, but obviously OK) up the paved walkway.
And the dune is enormous. Darius ran down (Like a heron or stork - or a rag doll. When he grows into his arms and legs, he'll one tall handsome guy!) from our vantage and up onto the rim of a formation. The photos will give some perspective. Otherwise, it just looks like normal beach. The ridge is part of a semicircle that surrounds a cemetery of Russian and Napoleonic soldiers who died fighting for this spit of land.
 Looks like a normal beach, right? |
 That tiny spec in the middle is Darius! |
 See? |
It's time to head towards home. But we try to gas up within a stone's throw of the border with Russia (I agree not to throw stones). It's a "gas-o-plex" with high prices. And the border guards are ominously close. I'm relieved that we drive away without stopping. Never having lived under a totalitarian system like the Soviets, I'm a tad frightened by this proximity. How did these relatives survive?
| We stop for a final view of the sunset over the Baltic, then head for the ferry back to the mainland. |  |
Trying to make it to the Old Ferry in time, we have to slow down when oncoming lights flash. And we see a beautiful long-legged deer. But we do miss that ferry. But we see a row of boats at the museum, including Russian patrol boats.
We just catch the regular ferry. The boys and I climb the bridge and try to feed seagull what bread we hoarded from the sparrows. But it's dark and the seagulls are asleep. We get rather silly about the way the ferry seems to be turning in circles to cross the lagoon. Does the captain want the cars to back off; is he Russian? Darius feeds our bread to the fish; we save him from feeding them himself.
Next stop: Palanga. Victorian-era resort homes, a gazillion kavines, loud music, a sort of rock concert at the bar by the pier. No wonder this is where Darius wants to vacation. A teen's paradise! And no wonder his parents stay in Nida. We leave Mom & Roze in the car (their choice) and the boys and I walk out on the L-shaped "bridge (pier) into the Baltic. Man, I've never seen so many stars! And I can also see the faint light from a lighthouse in Latvia. Absolutely gorgeous!. I ask the guys why it is that Lithuanian girls are so tall and thin, but women seem to sort of settle as they get older. They are adamant that women should age so gracefully, instead of obsessing about looking too young and being too thin. It's just not normal. And I have to agree that Lithuanian women look healthier than the skinny ideals we have.
We then drive to a kavine that serves tea in tall glass mugs - just like Tete used. There's some rally good jazz outside. Maybe this does have some advantages over Nida. After our tea, we drive past he hotel owned by Sabonas (Sabo), the Lithuanian star of NBA basketball. Then we hit the highway (the A1) for Kaunas. I get to watch the stars out the back window, with Darius. ALthough we try to find constellations, we are both at the "big star over there; three in a row down there" stage. The sky needs the lines they put in star books. Mom, Adrijus, and Roze chat. We finally get home and fall into bed.
What a wonerful and unexpected adventure. And it sure didn't require an overnight stay. Bless our relatives for helping us out so much!
Back to the Lithuania Journal Page
Back to Nancy's Home Page
Back to the Ciaffone Family Home Page