Tripping With Toby: Klaipeda, Lithuania-Outdoor Day

Sept. 30, 2018- Klaipeda, Lithuania-Outdoor Day

Winds blew in and clouds raced across the sky. The temperature dropped a bit and we awoke before daylight. These are among some of my favorite things. NOT! But group travel is regimented. When they go, we go. For a day spent in nature, it wasn’t the most auspicious, but it was, to borrow a phrase, one of the “funnest” days we’ve spent here.

Our bus boarded a ferry for the Curonian Spit (peninsula), a UNESCO site, which separates the lagoon from the Baltic Sea. We sailed 7 minutes across the Curonian Lagoon, hiked up the Hill of Witches, and traipsed among the pines on a well- groomed path. Around each bend were intricate wood sculptures of witches (80 in all) done by varying artists in 1979. Our guide relayed tales and legends as we gawked, took photos, and made crass comments about our interpretation of some of the poses. The sculptures illustrate creatures from pagan legends and culminate in a clearing where Midsummer Night revelry is still celebrated. We celebrated surviving the cold with shots of 3-9’s. It is an amber liquor with 27 herbs, thus the name.

The Spit has evolved since its settlement in the 1200’s. The Baltic side had “walking dunes” made of fine sand. By the 1600’s, the trees that held back the movement of the dunes had been harvested and the sand was encroaching on and burying towns. Trees were replanted and are carefully monitored. The woods serve as home to moose, deer, and wild boar. No hunting is permitted. Since the 1800’s the Spit has been a resort and artist’s destination.

That is, no animal hunting occurs. Hunting for amber is a different point. We were treated to a walk on the beach in a modest gale to hunt for those precious pieces of resin. I found several that were so tiny I had to step on them to hold them in place so they wouldn’t blow away. All of the 16 childlike seniors in our group stumbled down to the beach and braved the blowing sand and waves that threatened to bury or drown us. The only damage was that David’s shoes and pant legs got soaked and our driver had to vacuum sand from the bus.

Lunch was a hoot. Our hostess was a former singer who still yearned for an audience. It wasn’t long before she had us clapping, dancing, and singing after a lunch of cabbage soup and fried local pike. To me, the song’s refrain sounded like we were repeating “Lipitor, Lipitor.” Very appropriate.

And now we were off to learn to be expert amber analysts and finishers. On a day of whimsy, our teacher was a blowsy blond woman who chanted our instructions as if she were a kindergarten teacher. We sat at a picnic table outdoors (these are hardy folk) and eventually joined her in singing, “sand the amber up and down then round and round;” “ wet the string and put it in the hole, put it in the hole.” It was bizarre, we were in stitches, and all had fun. The finale was standing in a circle holding hands as she threw amber dust on a fire to please the spirits.

I slept on the return to our hotel but did manage to hear that Klaipeda was settled by Germans in the 18th century and became Russian after WWII. There is still a piece of Russia, Kaliningrad, on the mainland at the south end of the Spit. The explanation of how a piece of it is still Russian though separated from the Motherland by Lithuania and Belarus remains a puzzle to me.

Six of us had dinner with Bob. It’s a safe bet he knows the good restaurants. I really wanted mushroom soup, but it was made with bacon. I ended up copping out with salmon on salad. David had cheese filled dumplings the size of baseballs. They were too dense for my liking. Bob promised to give us the recipe for the chocolate dessert we had. It requires no cooking. It’s crumbled shortbread with a dense chocolate batter poured over it. I don’t think I was fond enough of it to bother.

We leave for Riga, Latvia tomorrow.

Toby