Lithuania-1

Road Scholar - Baltic Road to Independence 2013 - Lithuania Part 1/2

Lithuania

Hill of Crosses

The Hill of Crosses in Siauliai, Lithuania is the national pilgrimage center.

Thousands of Crosses have been placed on the hill since the 1200's. Over 200,000 crosses.

Another good panoramic photo is available: http://kryziukalnas.lt/piligrimams/fotopanorama/

Klaipeda, Lithuania

Map on Old Town building	New Town buildings


About a block behind the hotel in Klaipeda there is a small park with a statute of a weeping man and many plaques.	The dates on the plaques span 1900 to a few years ago. The guide was not familar with this site.
	An unfinished and seemingly abandoned apartment building.

Ferry to Curonian Spit ( a thin, curved, sand dune peninsula) and town of Nida


	Another ferry. Klaipeda in the background. The ferry trip took ablut 10 minutes.
About midway down the peninsula there is a rather large area where the forest has been taken over by thousands of cormorants, killing the pine trees, and covering the lower areas with white bird dropings.
The Thomas Mann Memorial Museum in Nida was the summer home of the important German novelist of the early 20th century. The peninsula was part of Germany prior to Lithuania independence after World War I.	The blue around the windows is said to be effective in keeping the mosquitoes out.
	The view of the bay Some flowers in the yard

It is about a 10 minute walk along the shore to the edge of Nida




A Panoramio photo by a K. Steiner of the shoreline in Nida	There is an engine in the rectangular enclosure.

We traveled South a few miles to an overlook from which you could see the border area and the Russian part of the pensula. The center part of the sundial (stela) below

is a replacement due to a storm the broke the original. Hard to imagine that force of wind.

The Lithuanian-Russian border is just past the trees

Russian patrol boat

Russian guard tower

Palanga, a summer resort city in Lithuania



	Virgin Mary Church
	The study group
	The main drag
	Poster display - there were also contrasting clean photos

A walk through the Botanical Park to the beach and Amber Museum
Amber Museum housed in the restored 19th-century Tiškeviciai Palace