The Curonian spit in one day

Yes, it is possible, although not advisable. I usually recommend spending more than one day. But then again, sometimes a day is all you have.

The Curonian spit - possible to cover in a day

Assuming that Klaipeda is your base and that you are organizing the excursion yourself, you first of all need transportation. Busses not belonging to tourist parties are few and far between on the spit, so if you didn`t bring your own car you should rent one. Or a motorcycle, if there is only one or two of you.

The Ferry from Klaipeda to the Curonian spit

If driving is not an option, there is a boat route from Klaipeda to the Sea Museum which allows you to visit the northern tip of the spit on foot. This does however not allow you to visit the small fishing villages further south, as they are too far away to reach without transportation.

Set off early. Most of the people going to the Curonian spit come from further away than Klaipeda, so the busiest time on the ferry is not until later in the day. Leaving just after the morning rush in the city is perhaps a good idea. Then keep driving all the way until you reach Nida.

Nida - the place to start

In Nida you will find enough things to do to keep you entertained until it`s time for lunch. Preferably, an early lunch. Have a walk in the village itself and visit a museum or two, like for instance the Thomas Mann museum. A visit to the white dunes is also recommended, but those are outside the village so that you can do on your way back.

The Nida dunes

After walking around for a few hours, you will probably start remembering what products you need from the nearest shop to endure the rest of the day. Like water, suncream, new shoes and similar. Luckily, Nida is the only place on the Curonian spit that has a proper shop, and a visit there might be in order before having luch. The area around the pier has several good places for that purpose, and I recommend a lavish plate of herring. This is a fishing community, after all.

Traditional fishing community architecture in Nida

After dinner, it is time to leave and head north again. Check the white dunes on the way out, and the beach if you have to. Neither should take up too much of your time. The next stop is Preila, only about six kilometers away. Take a quick walk through the village, have a cup of coffe or glas beer (if someone else is driving, that is), and make a quick visit to the beach if you want to.  A visit to the beach usually has no place in a one day program, but if you are hell bent on doing so anyway you should do it in Nida if you want fine sand, or in one of the smaller villages if you want peace and quiet. I recommend the quiet beaches, like the one in Preila.

Preila beach

From Preila you head towards Pervalka, some five kilometers further north. If you`ve wasted time on the beach and is starting to feel hungry again, it`s not a bad idea to eat here. Cold beetroot soup or herring I must recommend once again. Mostly because the best herring I have ever had was served to me in a restaurant in Pervalka. Walk the streets of the village and enjoy the great view of the Curonian lagoon before it is time to get back on the road yet again.

The beach is not bad in Pervalka either

This time for a bit longer drive. About 15 kilometers further north lies the village of Juodkrantė, and there you should spend at least a couple of hours. This place also has a nice beach promenade, and in combination with the expanding sculpture park, it offers good opportunities for a scenic walk. If you are in the mood for food, this is also the place to but smoked fish, which is a local speciality. I recommend smoked eel, although they sell at outrageous prices these days. Probably because they are hard to come by legally in other countries these days.

Having smoked eel in Juodkrante

Don`t speed too much, even though everybody else does, and make sure to make a complete stop at the stop sign by the toll booth. The police here seem to be rather active these days. Also, those paying close attention will have noticed a pattern in my recommendations for the villages on the spit – you should walk through all of them. The reason for this is that walking and observing is how I think time is best spent if you only have one day to visit the Curonian spit. You want to see the place, and not waste time looking through souvenir shops and improvised museums that basically look more or less the same all over the country.

The promenade in Joudkrante

At the end of the day, if there is still time, go to the northernmost point on the spit and enjoy the view to Klaipeda. The Sea museum will probably be closed by then, but if it isn`t it is well worth a visit. If you spend the extra Euros and time on a visit to the dolphinarium, you will not regret it. Although the view is the main point, that and the realization that this is all you would have seen of the Curonian spit had you not rented that car.

What Klaipeda looks like from the tip of the spit

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you cover the entire Curonian spit in just one a day.

The best place to visit while in Lithuania

If I had to make a choice for the country as a whole, I would recommend The Curonian spit. Provided of course that the intention of the visit is to relax, which indeed was the original purpose of holidays. I am aware that some people claim that drinking and partying is their way of relaxing while on holiday and for them I would rather recommend some noisy beach resort like Palanga. Or indeed the airport hotel. Drinking can be done anywhere, and the Lithuanian beverages being of the potency they are, you are not likely to remember much anyway.

 

If this is your idea of a good day at the beach, you are better off in Palanga

Those looking to relax in calm and beautiful surrounding should head to the Curonian spit. This near 100 km long strip of sand is shared by Lithuania and Russia, after originally being a part of East Prussia. The area changed hands after WWII, when what remained of the original German population was forcefully expelled. Many of the old German building did however survive, and this helps the villages on the spit to maintain their image as traditional fishing villages.





Juodkrante beach on the Curonian spit

The people who populate the area today are consequently not indigenous to the place. They are mostly Lithuanians or Russians whose families were resettled there after the war, or who have moved there since. They do on the other hand make an effort to keep the old traditions alive, and you can see examples of this in every village on the spit. One of the more tasty examples is the traditionally smoked eel, which is on sale in at least the two bigger villages. It might seem indecently overpriced, but keep in mind that eel is already something of an endangered species and consequently hard to come by.  




Smoked eel from the Curonian lagoon

The Lithuanian half of The Curonian spit has in all four main villages: Nida, Juodkrante, Preila and Pervalka. Since they all were originally German, they also have German names, respectively Nidden, Schwarzort, Preil and Perwelk. They are all worth a visit, and one of the best ways of doing just that is by bicycle. If you have luxurious amounts of time on your hands, I would recommend spending at least one day in each village. That would give you a rather short stretch to travel each day, and leave you with plenty of time to spend on the beach.

 

Traditional houses in Nida

The Curonian spit is generally great for bicycling, with its long stretches of bicycle roads and complete lack of steep hills. Bicycling on the main road is also possible, but not recommended because speeds outside the villages can be rather high and the roads are generally quite narrow. Bicycles are available for rent in most of the villages, and it is possible to rent the bike in one village and leave it in another.

 

The beach promenade in Juodkrante

The Curonian spit is even a good place to go in winter, if all you are looking for is tranquillity and beautiful surroundings. The Baltic Sea looks good in winter, and the spit provides you with 50 kilometres of undisturbed beach to stroll on while you watch the waves in winter. The place is largely deserted during the off-season, but since tourism is the main industry in this place it is no problem finding a place to stay.

The "Hill of witches" sculpture park in winter

The best place to visit while in Kaunas

I was skeptical at first, but now I have seen the light! When TripAdvisor first told me several years ago that the modest looking, awkwardly located open air museum of Rumšiškės was the best attraction to visit while in Kaunas, I assumed it was some kind of computer error. Some odd result caused by the fact that so few people visit this this particular area. As it turns out, those who do are rather impressed, and for good reason.



Rumšiškės open air museum

This is no half-assed attraction hastily put together to attract tourists in order to make quick profits. This is a high quality preservation project dating back to soviet times, which probably cost a fortune both to establish and to run. Anyone interested in history, architecture, ethnography or similar oddities will love it. People capable of appreciating the beauty and tranquility of traditional rural life will probably also appreciate it quite a bit, while others are perhaps best advised to stay away.



Cash is king at Rumšiškės

The first rule of thumb is to bring cash! They do not accept cards in this place. After all, it is a traditional museum. They do not understand this modern concept of “money that you cannot see”, but prefer money “in the hand” instead. This caused my first visit to Rumšiškės to become a complete failure, since all I had was my trusty Visa. In my ignorance, I thought that this would be sufficient, since most Places nowadays (even in Lithuania) have cash machines. However, the appropriately elderly lady at the entrance could inform me that the closest cash machine was in Kaunas city center. Which for the record is quite far away.



Get the tickets that allow you to bring the car

Upon returning with hard cash a week later, I was eventually allowed to enter. This time as a big spender since I was previously turned down because of my lack of cash, and so I consequently bought the most expensive tickets - those that allow you to drive Your car around the museum. And I would recommend all visitor who can afford it to do the same! Particularly if you are visiting With small children. The area is huge and it takes forever to walk through it all. With a car, you can cover the entire place in a few hours, but on foot it will take the entire day if not more. 

A typical Rumšiškės building

Another way to enter the museum is by boat from Kaunas. I have not tried this myself, but it is probably a both comfortable and scenic way of getting there. For this reason, the museum has its own port, but other than that, there are few if any maritime items on display. Most of the exhibits are farm related.

The replicated village

An exception to this is the replicated village square with a few more urban buildings. Among them is the museums bookstore, which has a large collection of books dealing with Lithuanian history and ethnography. The staff here is well informed, as in deed most employees here, and very helpful.

The Rumšiškės bookstore

Also, don`t forget to visit the restaurant. They offer traditional Lithuanian food and drinks at a very modest price, and there is an area for children to play outside. The premises are big, so this a place where you can bring a large group of people. You will probably have to wait a while for your food, but then again – this museum takes all day anyway.

The restaurant

Also, try to find the Siberian yurt while you are there. This building is a bit of an oddity at the museum, and placed a bit away from the other exhibits, but there should be a sign. It should be of interest for all who are into old building techniques. It may not be open, and there might be no staff around, so if you want to see the yurt from the inside it`s probably a good idea to ask about this before you enter the museum.

The siberian yurt

All in all, this is by far the Lithuanian museum with the most unleashed potential. The items on display are great, the staff is well informed, the surroundings are beautiful, the area is huge with lots of empty space, and still – almost no visitors? We were practically all alone! There were more staff than visitors! This is outrageous, because you cannot truly claim to have seen Lithuania without having visited Rumšiškės.

Windmill at Rumšiškės

  

10 things you must do while in Lithuania

I should perhaps point out that by “must,” I mean that I highly recommend them. There are no angry people standing by at the airport to make sure that you actually complete the list before leaving the country. It is quite possible to visit Lithuania without doing any of these things, and most visitors will not have the time to do half of them. I do however hope that some might find the list inspirational.






The Palanga pier. The place to be in summer for successful people.

#1 Eat cepelinai in one of the restaurants in Basanavičiaus street in Palanga

...drive a brand new BMW to the end of the pier and have a swim in the Baltic sea. Make sure you successfully bribe any police officers that try to disturb you. Then go back to the restaurant, pay the band to play only your requests all night and keep drinking Lithuanian vodka until you can safely pass out in your bed at one of the luxury hotels. Still wearing your expensive tracksuit, with the zipper casually pulled down to expose your golden chain dandling elegantly above your black tank top, and your plastic slippers. You can the later wake up knowing that you have just lived the Lithuanian dream – at least the male version of it.




Vilnius TV-Tower. It is quite tall enough for most people.

#2: Take the elevator up to the top of the Vilnius TV-tower

...wait for an agonizing 30 seconds until the elevator has stopped bobbing up and down, and enter the rotating restaurant. Have a cup of coffee and some cake while you enjoy the undisputed best view of the city, and send give some thought to the workers who, according to legend, had to be issued special rations of vodka to be able to do construction work at such altitudes.




A budget hotel room. A stay in one of these during winter can lead to many fruitful reflections. 

#3: Freeze your ass off in a budget hotel

...with most of the lights off, while drinking Lithuanian vodka and flicking through the Lithuanian and Russian TV channels. All while hoping that tomorrows hot shower will hold a temperature of at least 25 degrees and reminding yourself that you can afford to stay at decent hotels if you want to.



The swans of Trakai. Ready to trade attention for breadcrumbs on short notice

#4: Paddle around the Trakai castle

Bring some bags of breadcrumbs to make friends with the swans, and you will have a majestic escort for the entire voyage. Trakai is one of the most popular tourist sites in Lithuania, so it is quite likely that that you have friends or colleagues that have been there. But only you swam with the swans. (the Lithuanian word for swimming is the same as the ones used to describe how a boat moves through water, so yes – you really did “swim” with the swans).




A typical soviet dinner plate - as it is recreated at Grutas Park

#5: Go to Grutas Park

...and see some of the old communist statues that used to adorn Lithuanian cities, and get a visual impression of what life was like during the communist years. All while educational music or propaganda is being shouted at you from speakers mounted on (rather poorly) reconstructed guard towers. At Grutas Park, you even have a chance to address the local soviet in the reconstructed assembly hall, complete with speakers stand, voting booth and everything. Afterwards, you can enjoy a nice communist dinner at the local diner. My personal favorite.



Parts of it might look a bit like the basement of your crazy uncle, but this place was actually capable of destroying four major cities

#6: Go stand in the place of evil

Visit the Plokstine missile base and stand in the actual place where the missile aimed at one of Europe’s largest cities were once ready to launch. See the primitive guiding systems, and contemplate how easy it in fact can be to kill lots of innocent people with relatively simple means. Any well reflected human being should leave this place with a reduced interest in war history.




What does Baltimore and Vilnius have in common? Well, at least they have Frank Zappa.

  

#7: Have a cigarette while leaning against the monument in over Frank Zappa,

and meditate on how millions of smart people smoke every day despite being well aware that it will eventually kill them. Like it perhaps also killed Zappa, whose head (not the actual one) now rests on top of a cigarette-shaped stainless steel post in Vilnius. For a long time the only Zappa monument in the world, until someone ruined everything by making a second one.

Hill of crosses. Unfortunately, I can`t find my own pictures from when I visited, so I had to resort to wikipedia.

#8: Visit the hill of crosses

Yes, everyone goes, and yes, it is just a pile of crosses in the middle of nowhere, but have you ever considered how odd this place really is? A bunch of people simply decided to start putting similarly looking objects in the same place, and after some time it really took off. Makes you wonder if there could ever be such a thing as “the hill of old cell phones” or “hill of abandoned sofas”.  After all, Oslo already has its “hill of redundant baby pacifiers”. 










Thomas Mann’s summerhouse. Where he hardly spent any time at all

#9: Go to Neringa and have a picnic outside Thomas Mann’s summerhouse

Eat some locally smoked (and globally endangered) eel, drink some kvass and contemplate the complexity of life. Like for instance, how ironic it is that this Nobel laureate was denied access to his summerhouse by both Hitler and Stalin, although at different times and for different reasons. All while you thoughtfully gaze at the muddy waters of the Curonian lagoon.




Lithuanian bread served in a creative way

#10: Have some bread

Lithuanian bread is reputed to be the best in the world, at least in Lithuania, and there is quite a bit of truth to this. The very filling, dark rye bread is rich in flavor, and can be enjoyed in various ways. Either traditionally (along with a little Lašinukas and some onion), creatively (you can for instance have soup served in it), or irresponsibly (fried in plenty of oil, and served with melted cheese). The latter variant is sometimes also known as Lithuanian nachos.

Lašinukas. Goes well with bread



Lithuanian nachos

Recommended related post: Suggested program for a one weekvisit to Lithuania

Kaziuko mugė

There are not too many public celebrations in Lithuania, and even when there is something going on people don`t really tend to paint the town red and go bananas in the streets. People looking for such things would be better advised to seek out countries where there is hot sun, a poorly regulated drug market, and a more irresponsible population. Meanwhile, the rest of us can have a decent time with such things as for instance the Lithuanian Kaziukas fair.

 

Kaziuko mugė in Kaunas botanical garden

This celebration is for some reason the one that often receives the most attention from authors of travel guides, blogs and others who write about Lithuanian folklore. They usually emphasize that it is a crafts fair, where folk art plays a vital role. I myself has probably been in the wrong place at the right time, since I so far have witnessed neither when I took part in the celebrations. With the exception of singing, dancing and the ritual burning of a witch, that is.

The celebration I witnessed seemed to be more about dressing up, having a drink and a snack, and letting the children play irresponsible games on the ice. To me, the locals seemed more bored with winter than filled with a burning desire to celebrate the late St. Casimir. A significant part of the fun was for instance historical cannon (which can hardly be related to the saint), that was kept ready to fire at any moment. It also eventually did, when everyone’s attention was directed elsewhere, and by use of unnecessarily loud blanks, they succeeded in scaring both the children and many of the adult spectators.

But the came elderly ladies dressed as medical personnel and distributed moonshine from medicine bottles, and all was forgotten. Everyone bought pastry of unknown origin, we burned the witch, and we all went home happy. So if you are starved for entertainment next 4^th of March – seek out the nearest Kaziukas fest. And if you are bored, just look for the elderly nurses.

Recommended related post: Soviet bunker

Soviet bunker

Now, who said there is nothing fun going on in the Lithuanian countryside? As it turns out, a small place called Naujasodes kaimas, just out side of  Nemenčinė, is home to one of the more eccentric tourist attractions in Lithuania. Or, since you are not merely invited to observe but also take part in all the retrospective fun that goes on there, it is perhaps more of an amusement park than an attraction.




Looks dull enough from the outside. I suspect the fun starts when you enter.

At first, it sound like the worst business idea ever. To acquire some old soviet bunker, hire a bunch of actors, and invite tourists for an evening of interrogations, various forced exercises and communist indoctrinations. All while being shouted at by angry men at and threatened by guard dogs. In an authentic soviet style atmosphere. Not everyone’s cup of tea, one should imagine, but the fact that these people are still open for business after several years just proves that there is a market even for this.




Is it safe? (ancient referance, but still seems appropriate)

If anyone is in doubt – this is in terrible taste! And if anyone did this with a Nazi theme, rather than a communist one, there would be an outrage. On the other hand, I am personally quite in favor of  challenging the borders of what qualifies as “the correct way” of communicating history. After all, there are plenty of well-recognized museums and memorials that already do this in a more than questionable way, so there should be plenty of room for some totalitarian reenactment facilities. The deciding factor is usually what kind of main message the place conveys. And since I have yet to visit this place, that remains to be seen.




Some people can probably find it quite awarding to run around wearing gas masks on their spare time.
Specialists should however have at least one remark to this picture.

I suspect there is one, but I also suspect that the end of the program is quite steep in remembrance of the “happy days of communism”. Because if all they do is to torture and harass their visitors they wouldn`t have that many happy customers. It would be about as appealing as trying to reenact WW1 by digging a trench in the garden, filling it half way with water, and adding rats, lice and random explosions (perhaps an idea for other aspiring businessmen?).

 

Nothing apparently embodies "happy soviet times" more that a shot of vodka

Then again, many people do remember those days as happy times, although few probably have encounters with KGB among their fondest memories. Making entertainment out of remembering various aspects of authoritarian rule can be a tricky exercise, although this is possible. Such sites as for instance Gruto Parkas are good examples, although such places rarely escape criticism.

 

"If you`re a happy communist and you know it, clap your hands"

The entire session take about 3 hours, and the organizers seem to stress that visitors should be “brave”. Whatever they mean by that. For those who are not feeling so brave, there is also a “stress free” alternative. This is perhaps not a bad idea, since it allegedly is quite common even among “brave” visitors to pass out during the “entertainment”. Does this sound like any museum you have visited lately? I hope they are still open for business next time I am in the area, and I can`t help feeling a bit “brave”.

 

Another happy day in the bunker is apparently coming to an end.
The jar of kompot is finished, and the militiaman is singing a final song.
Happy times

And who knows, maybe the Cubans can turn Guantanamo into a theme park sometime in the future and welcome the decedents of yesterday’s terrorists for some friendly reminiscing about the good old days?  If I am still around – count me inn!

 

(all pictures are screen dumps from www.sovietbunker.com)

Buying antiques in Lithuania

If you are looking to combine your holiday with shopping for antiques, Lithuania is perhaps not the best place to go. Specialised antique shops are few and far between, and what they have to offer is usually rather unremarkable. One should think that such an old country also would have loads of old stuff, but this seems not to be the case. To a large extent it is probably due to the many occupations in rather recent history, and the frequent use of deportations by the soviet occupants. At least, that is the explanation given by many locals – that the Russians either stole or destroyed most of what would have been antiques today.




Most of the stuff you will find in Lithuanian antiques
shops is not of Lithuanian origin at all.

This is however only part of the truth. Another explanation is that the strange idea of idolizing old crap has not yet become commonly popular in Lithuania. People there seem still to prefer decorating their homes newer, more flashy interior details, rather than to put grandpas old milk bucket on display. As a consequence, such items are not much valued and are often withering away in barns and outhouses in the countryside. Few people even bother to bring them to market, since such common things rarely can be sold at a good price. After all, the Russians stole all the good stuff, anyway. But then again, they also left some more recent antiques behind, like this one:




Head of Lenin. Such a thing used the be found all over the place.
For instance in schools. There are still a few of the around. 

Such relics of soviet times can still be found in considerable quantities, and with the exception of medals and such, they are usually genuine. As opposed to about 95% of the alleged Nazi Germany antiques that are on sale here.  It seems that many items from everyday life during soviet times have not yet reached the status as collectables, and as a consequence there are very few such items on the market. On the other hand, those that are available are quite often moderately priced.

 

Soviet plate with apporopriate cutlery.
Examples of Items that are not yet regarded as antiques.

Most of what I have seen on sale in Lithuanian antique shops seems to be “leftovers” from western second hand store, most likely sold in bulk at a cheap price. Most of the merchandise in this shop in Urmas, for instance, seems to have originated in Germany:

In other shops, one can find items that seem to have been donated of more or less discarded in other countries, and have no connection to Lithuania whatsoever. How else can for instance this commemorative plate from the Danish Maritime National Guard have found its way into an antique shop in Palanga, if not by way of trash? The value of such an item in Denmark is next to nothing.

 

The official Christmas plates of the Danish Nationa Coastguard.
Unless they were stolen by the KGB during the Cold War, I would hardly say they are antiques.

But there are anyway some treasures to be found, both legal ones and illegal. Even though much of the good stuff is gone, Lithuanian farmers are still plowing Stone Age artifacts up from the soil every year. And a considerable number of them find their way to the back rooms of the antiques shops. For those of us who prefer the righteous path, on the other hand, I recommend buying crafts rather than antiques. After all, the good hand made products of today are the antiques of tomorrow.