We are on a 6-month tour of northern and eastern Europe in our motorhome Vanni, and have recently been in Latvia. Then we crossed easily from Latvia into Lithuania, and our first stop there was the Hill of Crosses near the town of Šiauliai.
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| Leigh at the Hill of Crosses, Šiauliai, Lithuania |
This amazing place consists of a small hill absolutely covered in 100,000+ large and small crosses. Why the crosses were left here is uncertain, but the practice dates back to 1831. It is now the site of an annual pilgrimage which takes place tomorrow!
Driving on, we headed to the city of Klaipėda on the Baltic Coast and found a campsite there for a few nights. It seemed lovely, until we heard the trains passing nearby. Bother! Ear plugs helped but there did seem to be quite a lot of trains that first night.
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| Danê boats on the river at Klaipėda, Lithuania |
The next day, we cycled into Klaipėda city to discover that their annual Festival of the Sea was in full swing. We happily wandered around the old city and into the harbour area enjoying the stalls, and traditional food, music and dance, along with a Viking ship race, and a parade of ancient sailing boats. The place was absolutely buzzing.
After a few days in Klaipėda, we caught a car ferry to the Curonian Spit, a 50 km long strip of land separating the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon, and stretching between Lithuania and Kaliningrad (Russia). It is a UNESCO world heritage site and home to huge sand dunes, old fishing villages, and a variety of birdlife.
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| Marg with historic boat in Smiltynė, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
Our first stop on the Spit was Smiltynė, one of the oldest settlements of the Curonian Spit. We stopped there for lunch and had a wander around looking at some historic sailing boats.
Then we visited Smiltynė’s old fortress. It is now an interesting Sea Museum, with pelicans and seals frolicking in its moat. While there, we were approached by a man who said he had seen our NZ flag on Vanni, and that he was originally from Christchurch but now lived in Lithuania. We had a nice chat with him.
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| Hill of Witches carving, Juodkrantė, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
Driving on, we arrived in Alksnynė, paid a toll to enter the Curonian Spit National Park, then drove on to Juodkrantė to see the Hill of Witches. This is a forested hill that is covered in amazing sculptures carved in oak. The sculpture theme is witches, demons, and characters from Lithuanian fairy tales.
Juodkrantė is the second biggest settlement on the Spit (about 700 people). It is a very attractive, clean and tidy seaside town, with lovely old wooden houses and a very traditional look. Apparently, the town name means “black coast” because it once looked dark near this part of the Curonian Lagoon.
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| Marg at the Dead Dunes, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
Half an hour later, we stopped to climb up the Dead Dunes. This very large, prehistoric, mass of shifting sand dunes is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Between 1675 and 1854 the sand was drifting up to 15 meters per year, and eventually smothered four villages and two cemeteries.
The dunes can get up to 60 metres high, and despite the very hot and humid weather, we climbed one and were rewarded with fantastic views back over the Curonian Lagoon to the Klaipėda coast.
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| Typical house in Nida, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
Leaving the dunes, we drove to Nida, which is very close to the Russian border at Kaliningrad. We’d heard that Nida is full of traditional-style Lithuanian wooden houses, with colourful flower gardens and we wanted to see them.
We found a campsite in Nida, and as we were unpacking our gear, we bumped into a lovely German couple who had been at Klaipėda when we were there. Then we discovered they had also been in Rīga at the same time as us. Small world!
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| Marg and houses in Nida, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
Cycling is the thing to do on the Curonian Spit so the next morning, we cycled into the town of Nida and explored. Nida began as a fishing village in 1385, and by the 16th century, was part of the Prussian empire. Today it is home to around 2,300 people and a holiday resort. We had a lovely time exploring there.
That night, we went to the campsite café for dinner and the food was great. The World Swimming Championships were on TV to show a Lithuanian girl swimming the 100-metre breaststroke. She went on to win, setting a world record, and one of the proud local onlookers told us she was only 16 years of age!
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| Traditional house on the Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
When the Lithuanian National Anthem was played, everyone was glued to the TV but they did not sing along like we tend to do in NZ. These folks are reserved, but the patriotism was really evident. It felt lovely to be in Lithuania at that moment, sensing the pride.
The next day we decided to attempt quite a long ride along the Curonian Lagoon cycling path, to the villages of Preila and Pervalka.
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| Lunch at Preila, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
Just on the edge of the pretty coastal village of Preila we spotted a lovely restaurant right on the waterfront. We stopped there and had a delicious meal of cold local marinated fish, potatoes, and salad. We sat there for some time enjoying the attractive view.
After lunch, we travelled along the cycle path to the next coastal village of Pervalka which was pretty, but perhaps not quite as charming as Preila. On our return to camp, we stopped off at a smoked fish shop and bought a lovely big fresh smoked mackerel for dinner.
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| Marg at Pervalka beach, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
After that, we deviated a couple of kilometres to visit the ocean beach. It was covered in lovely white sand, and lots of holiday makers enjoying the high temperatures.
We arrived back at camp and were relaxing, when the skies suddenly opened and it poured with rain. We congratulated ourselves on our timing as we watched a lot of very wet campers trickling back to camp as the rain set in. That night we endured a spectacular but noisy thunder and lightning storm which was quite scary.
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| Main street of Mingė, Nemunas Delta, Curonian Spit (UNESCO), Lithuania |
Leaving Nida, we drove back to the top of the Spit, caught the ferry back to Klaipėda, then drove to towns on the Nemunas Delta. Our destination was Mingė, known as the “Venice of Lithuania”. As we entered the town we could see why, as it is surrounded by canals.
In Mingė the river Minija is the main street and it is lined with buildings. There is no bridge from one side to the other, so a 13 km detour is needed to go from one bank of the village to the other if not using a boat. Not surprisingly, most homes had a large modern launch or yacht moored at the end of the garden.
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| Marg enjoying a break at our camp in Kaunas, Lithuania |
After that, we drove through a lot of small villages to reach Kaunas. Arriving quite late in the day, our first stop was a camping ground. We found one at the side of a man-made lake with a lovely beach. The sun was shining, so we relaxed outside with a glass of wine before enjoying another Curonian smoked fish for dinner.
Kaunas, with a population of around 300,000 is the second largest city in Lithuania (after the capital Vilnius). It sits on the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers, and is apparently one of the top Eastern European cities to visit.
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| Marg at the Kaunas Castle ruins, Kaunas, Lithuania |
The next day, we rode along a riverside cycle track toward Kaunas city. On the way, we visited the ruins of the Kaunas Castle. Built in the 14th century, this impressive ruin has an interesting siege tower with a series of rooms built off it, and a small segment of wall. It’s original walls were apparently, over 11 metres high.
Leaving the Castle, we carried on into Kaunas city and after parking the bikes, we walked and walked, seeing as much as we could.
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| Marg at the red phone boxes, Kaunas, Lithuania |
We entered into the Old Town first, and particularly liked the old-fashioned red phone booths, white town hall, and Town Hall Square with its 15 and 16 century merchant houses. We also saw some interesting and unique architecture there, including some large churches.
Then we stopped at a cosy looking café and had a fabulous pizza for lunch. After that, we walked into the New Town area to find that, like the old town, it is quite compact and walkable. We walked around for hours, and by the end of the day, we were really hot and weary.
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| Leigh with street art in the town square, Kaunas, Lithuania |
Before heading home, we went back to the old town square, admired the street art, and enjoyed a delicious dinner. Kaunas, as with other Lithuanian towns with a tourism emphasis, is very modern. But, rural areas of Lithuania seemed less up-to-date with some farmers still using traditional methods.
Leaving Kaunas, we also left Lithuania. So we used up our last bit of Lithuanian cash, then drove toward the Masurian Lakes in Poland, but you can read about that in the next blog.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around north-eastern Europe, which began in Prague.