A painting on one panel.
A painting on the other panel.
Mari found peanut butter yesterday afternoon. So Elena had a great breakfast while we all navigated a horde of Polish tourists at the breakfast buffet. But we ate and got ourselves packed for a trip to the Baltic coast. Dalius drove us past the hill where Kestas and Aldona have built (Yes, as usual, they means they.) their new house and past the church where Rasa and Evaldas were married. And on to Veliuona, where Gediminas was buried in 1291.
The sexton showed us around the 400-year-old church. It may be the only one in the world with three displays behind the altar: two sliding paintings, both of which can be slid back to display a statue. The sexton showed us how it all works.
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A painting on one panel. |
A painting on the other panel. |
The statue. |
Then Kestas & Aldona arrived, with their cute dog and her 2 puppies. So here we are in front of a statue of Vytautas that the locals buried to keep it safe from the Soviets. Aldona, Sharon, Vikki, Elena, Mari, me, & Kestas. |
Along the River Nemunas. Tete loved that river. Sharon remembers his stories of travelling the river on skates. Next stop was Penemune castle, where we met up with Aurija, Adrijus, and Orestas. Orestas and Elena got to run around, explore the area, and pick up seed pods from various trees.
Orestas, his dad Adrijus, & Vikki. Back in the 1980s, when they were in high school, Vikki & Adrijus were pen pals. They finally got to meet. |
Sharon, Aldona, & Adrijus in front of the eastern building of the castle. The western one - just a big - was for sale. Sharon & I thought it would be a great vacation get-away. Sharon, Pat, Andy, Sterling, Alan, & I - and all our progeny - could all vacation at the same time. Alas, no realtor in sight. |
From there, we formed a caravan along to Silute for lunch at a posh kavina. I had a delicious mushroom soup with thyme. So light and delicate. While we adults ate, Elena & Orestas played around the fenced grounds and played hide & seek outside and in our room. Not speaking each other's language was no problem. Kids are just kids. Isn't it wonderful?
Kestas & Aldona headed to their vacation home. The rest of us drove to Klaipeda and took the ferry - in a strong rain - to Neringa, Lithuania's barrier peninsula, and all the way to the dunes that border Kaliningrad, the Russian province.
Vikki, Elena, Dalius, Adrijus, Orestas, Aurija, & Sharon at the top of the dunes overlook. Yes, it was quite windy - and raining a bit. But it was beautiful. |
What they were viewing. Maybe I'm a tad odd, but I love this kind of wild and bleak beauty. That's Russia sticking out into the Kurs^iu Lagoon. |
However, Orestas was developing a cold. And the wind and rain had done no good. So he and Adrijus headed back to Kaunas. Aurija joined us in the van, and we drove into Nida, a resort town on the Kurs^iu Lagoon.
Nida - vacation houses across the green. |
An interesting street sign. Definitely a warning. |
We all shopped for amber souvenirs, with great success. Then strolled around the town.
No, although we were all impressed with these, we did not buy any. |
On the boardwalk: Vikki, Elena, Dalius, Aurija, & me. |
Then across through the forests to the Baltic Sea.
Elena, barefoot of course, at the Baltic. |
I went wading. Yes, as I turned, the Baltic got me - above the knees. So I accepted it and played in the icy surf. |
Dalius showed us how to find amber! Here, Vikki & I found some tiny pebbles. Mari & Elena did, too. In Lithuanian, it's "gintatas", which also means "protector". |
The Baltic said good-bye. |
Back to the ferry. Dalius was disappointed that, as always for him, we spotted no boars. But we did see a red fox. It was drizzly for our ride back to Klaipeda.
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We had watched this girl and a friend ride these horses as we waited for out ferry. And they got on behind us! The girl was so nice to let Elena pat her horses. And we were all amazed at how much she reminded us of Ardyn, who is also a horsegirl. |
It was dark when we drove past Palanga and into the vacation compound that Kestas & Aldona have built. Of course, literally. With Dalius, Rasa & Evaldas, and supervision by Jonas. I will consider it a compound because, although it is not as large as the Kennedy one at Hyannis, it is at least as secluded - and way more attractive.
I changed into my running tights (lucky I brought them) because my jeans were soaked. We had, beer & vodka - and cola - with thick pork cutlets, boar sausage, Aldona's own yellow beans and cukes and pickles, tomatoes, ham, rice, bread and butter. And then a creamy snow-cream type of ice cream with black current sauce. Eat, talk, play with their dog, Tiki, and her pups. A great relaxing evening.
Then Vikki loaned me her jeans and offered to babysit Elena so Dalius could take Mari, Sharon, & me to "the best beer in Lithuania". And it definitely was! Kestas, Aldona, & Aurija came in the other car. I'll put Juodas Alus up against my favorite hand-pulled Yorkshire ales any day. Beautiful brew-pub, which we had to ourselves. We had a long evening talking about attitudes and laws about both drinking and driving. Finally, Dalius left with Aurija and the pups to go back to Kaunas - and work, tomorrow. We drove back with Kestas & Aldona. I walked a bit in their yard; the stars were incredible. Then we all fell into bed.
The next day: 9/29
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