Klaipeda, Lithuania
Klaipeda, Lithuania Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Ohmygoodness,
we have another guide who is also a teacher!
Sanna is a literature professor who enjoys collecting stories. She is originally from Sweden, fell in love
with a man from Lithuania—a country she had never heard of—“and now I speak a
language with my two children, a language I had never heard.” She gave us an oral quiz before we
started. Thankfully we passed. With grace.
Today’s
tour was both shorter and more geographically confined. And very different. Hopefully we can explain. If you look at a map of Klaipeda, Lithuania,
you will notice that a very narrow strip of land somehow separated from the
mainland and extends along its coastline for 100 km in length and the width of
400 yards to 2 km. Our guide called it a
“spit.” Half of the Curonian Spit
belongs to Russia and half to Lithuania.
This spit was our destination and we needed to drive our big tour bus
(loaded at half strength) onto the ferry to get across the short channel. We then drove along some of the spit’s length
marveling at the established mountain pine forest that had taken root on the
sand dunes. It felt like another entire
world. And that’s what we found when we
stopped. Outside the seaside resort of
Juodkrante is…The Witch’s Hill! This is
a 45-minute walk among towering trees to see sculptures carved from oak
depicting the local lore. Each year on
June 24, people across Lithuania dance, sing, and bring in the midsummer with
the older folk traditions of the country. “After Christianity came to
Lithuania, the celebration was renamed Saint Jonas’ Festival, but many of the
practices still have pagan roots, as is echoed by the fantastic world of the
Hill of Witches sculptures.” (www.atlasobscura.com)
Our
guide embraced the drama of the story and acted out scenes. We laughed together and thoroughly enjoyed
the casual walk up and down among the tree roots.
Back in
the resort town, again, we visited a weathervane gallery. Their colorful
history, and some of the symbols used as they decorated fishing boats and just
about anything else.
Last stop in town was to a Lutheran church that also shared its space with a Catholic church. Both the Lutheran pastor and the Catholic priest have two parishes—the second is nearby in separate buildings, so it is handy to alternate worship times. The town is small, so the building is also. Unusual to see Stations of the Cross closely lined on the walls. Had a history lesson from the Pastor, Jonas Liorancas “who likes to talk” then also found out that our guide grew up Lutheran, married a nondenominational pastor, houses two Ukrainians in their home, and their congregation is housing 55 Ukrainians in a hotel in Klaipeda (KLAY peh deh)
To read about the history in a Young Adult novel, read Between Shades of Gray.
A short stop to see the extensive beach area on the land spit before going back to
the ship via tight fit on the ferry boat.
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