And I’m off! Today I’m heading to a different part of Lithuania, called the Curonian Spit. This national park is one of the most unique places in the Baltics. It was about a 4 1/2 hour drive from Vilnius, so I debated trying to do it and how to make the journey make sense. But how often am I going to be here?!? So I went for it, and found a guy (Martynas, my new friend!) willing to take me, and the Kaunas starting location meant I got to sleep a bit more and didn’t leave until 6:30, shaving an hour off the trip. Around 6:15 I was questioning the choice, but too late!
Martynas did give me a bar as a snack, that he illegally smuggled in from Belarus. He said they’re sold in pharmacies and very good for our health. He ate one too. It was…weird. Very dense and a bit sweet.
First big stop (other than coffee) was Klaipedia. This is where I’ll be spending the night, later. But for now, we had to board a ferry to an island/peninsula-y thing called the Curonian Spit.
Once we crossed over, we went to the Hill of Witches. It is, as the name suggests, a hill of witches – along with some devils and other terrifying sculptures. Apparently the area had initially been the site of an annual festival called St John’s Eve, which was a mixture of pagan and Christian celebrations. As a part of the celebration, you would go into the woods at midnight to find the “magic fern blossom.” Perhaps a few too many fern blossoms were eaten, and someone decided to start carving sculptures.
The hill is now dedicated to Neringa. She was a beautiful giant with braided hair that reached the ground – like Rapunzel, but really big. One day, a huge storm came, which was going to destroy the area. She started gathering a huge pile of sand from the sea bed, depositing it in front of the shore, to protect the castle that was there. This is obviously how the Curonian Spit was formed. Martynas is very adamant that this is true, because there can be no other explanation. (I believe the magic fern blossoms may have come back into play, but who knows).
There are over 80 oak statues.
After that, we went to see a former Cormorants and Heron colony. Their excrement is so acidic that it killed the trees. It created a lot of drama with some believing you needed to get rid of the birds entirely. The birds were shooed off to another area – but a different kind of nature came back and the area is regrowing.
And then, what the Spit is famous for. This area is a narrow peninsula full of sand dunes, along the Baltic Sea. It’s about 61 miles long, and separates the sea from the Curonian Lagoon. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The sea is saltwater, but not as salty as the ocean, and the lagoon is freshwater.
Hiking in sand dunes is hard work, but worth the views. These first sand dunes are considered “dead” – fences were buried to stop the sand from moving, which made them die. But not before 14 villages were sand-buried and everyone died. It’s best not to think too much about that on the walk.
We went to another set of dunes, which includes a solar clock. The top half (the lighter color) was broken off in a hurricane a few years ago, so a new one had to be made.
These dunes are still alive, so you cannot walk on them.
We stopped for dinner along the lagoon side.
We then headed over to the other side (at its widest point, the spit is only about 2 miles wide) to see the Baltic Sea. The water was much calmer than the lagoon. I stuck my hand in it, so I could say I had technically been in it.
After that, back to Klaipeda, where I checked into my hotel, which is a cool repurposed Mill on the water, and then wandered around the area for just a few minutes – it was already really late, and I have another early day tomorrow.
I didn’t go in, but the Palanga Amber Museum was next door, and it includes about 15,000 pieces that have insects in them. I have watched Jurassic Park one too many times, and wasn’t getting near that nonsense. There are actually amber fisherman here – a ton of amber comes up in the shallow waves, and it is very light and sort of floats, so they skim the tops of the waves with nets.
Today, I was very very close to Russia. Like, 3 miles or so. I was very careful in my research and verified with a number of people that it would be safe, and I kept all of my politics to myself while on the Spit, just in case. Because honestly, 3 miles is a bit too close to Russia, even for me.
