Witches and Whatnots

Amber on sale

For us, Klaipeda was our jump off point to the UNESCO World Heritage Curonian Spit. No, we'd never heard of it before either!  The Spit is a narrow neck of land protecting the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea.  Its pine forests and sand dunes support an environment in delicate balance, rich in wildlife and plant life.  This National Park was created in 1991 and listed with UNESCO in 2000. 

So, why were we here?  Sandy Baltic beaches on cool windy days?  Well, not really…  So we bussed to the Parnidis Dune where we had great views over the Baltic Sea, Lagoon, Nida village and the border with Russia.  Yes indeed, a little slice of Russia still fronts the Baltic bringing into stark reality opinions Lithuanians have of their former occupiers. 

These are fine timber "weathervanes" once flown from Curonian fishing
boats to designate their village.  Sadly their bright colours did not come
out well against those grey skies!

But it's pink!  And cold.....

From the shifting Parnidis Dune, now thankfully contained with planted vegetation, we hiked along the lagoon to Nida to stop for a bite to eat.  Latvian fare of course - pale pink (cold) borscht soup, mounds of melted cheese over crunchy garlic bread and fresh Baltic salmon! 

Nida had its own little marina and the now lonesome Cap’n spent a few quiet minutes reflecting on life in Baltic waters.  I wonder… Did he see those mammoth-sized swans bearing down on him in time to avoid an epic sea battle?

J

From beastly swans to a primal forest brimming with witches, elves, fairies and goblins!  The Hill of Witches reacquaints you with fairy stories.  Dappled light filters onto intersecting "bush" paths and provides atmospheric cover for “enchanting” wooden sculptures.  Each piece, and there are hundreds of them, depicts a folklore tale; the whole effect highlighting an inherited regard for superstition and a tribute to pagan origins. 

Our guide for the day treated us to a scramble through the woods, showed us how to avoid nasty trolls with evil intentions and related folk tales that made the Brothers Grimm seem tepid.  Deep in the dark forest we could understand how easy it would be to lose your way and your mind. 

Still, we really loved the story of Eglè, Queen of the Serpents who turned her children into forest trees. Its ok, her name means spruce!  (Check the full story here.)

Meanwhile, we avoided any traps that forest folk with less than good intentions had set for us and escaped to the safety of a nearby bar for a reviving beer or two.

Sculptures abound and are clearly important to appreciative Lithuanians.  Klaipeda could well be designated “The City of Sculptures”.  You’ll be pleased to know that we didn’t see a single one adorned with graffiti…  Given time, a walking trail across the city & surrounds to discover these treasures could be a rather fun activity.  Sadly we had too little time to cover them all; glad though, to have found these rustic (and rather appealing) forest folk. 

Klaipeda's Old Town

On return, Klaipeda proved no less scary.  We met a weird, skull-masked & leathered bikie on our walk through the old town, nibbled interesting Lithuanian sausages (offal…gack!) and then walked back through the town park - on dark - to search for madam’s camera lens cap, mysteriously gone AWOL.  We made it back to our digs unharmed, but not before tripping over a strange cat with silvery leopard spots and bright blue eyes.  A stiff drink was certainly in order…

Theatre Square - the centre of town.  Hitler delivered a speech from the balcony
of this Drama Theatre in March 1939.  Klaipeda was a territorial acquisition.
(Its port remains ice-free in winter months & provides access to the Dane River.)