Hannah: Klaipeda, Lithuania - August 3, 2015

Wow. I thought I had seen my favorite city, which was Estonia. But now, I think I've found it. Lithuania is my new favorite country. This morning was a late docking. 10:00 am. So we had a relaxed breakfast. After breakfast we got ready and went on the dock. Luckily we weren't in a cargo port this time. Anywho, our guide, Diana, met us and we left. We rode around/through part of Klaipeda and the guide told us about the history of Klaipeda. Formerly it was part of the Soviet Union. We drove for about half an hour. At that point we were already in the country. We stopped at a Lithuanian resort. It was previously a wealthy Lithuanian mansion, but it is now a place where special events are held such as concerts and wedding receptions. When we first entered the resort, we walked on a wide gravel walkway that was lined with beautiful, huge trees. We walked for about 10 minutes. We stopped at this statue that is the basis of a common Lithuanian fairytale. Then we saw the gorgeous white mansion. There was an empty pond (that was under renovation) and rows and rows of flowers lining the walkway. It was so peaceful. After admiring the mansion, we walked again. After about 15 minutes we made it to a beach. It was a wonderful beach full of white sand and calm waves. While admiring the wonderful Lithuanian beach, we saw a group of... Oh say 12 year olds boys, warming up for a soccer practice... Right on the beach. After we stood on the beach for a while, we walked back through the estate. After the wonderful walk through the park, we went to a church run by Franciscan monks. The church was undergoing some renovations, but it still was a very pretty church. We got back in the car and drove through the countryside for about 45 minutes. We arrived at this house in middle of a tiny village. Full of roses, hydrangeas, apple trees, and all kinds of flowers, this property is owned by a man named Victor and his 85 year olds mother. I guess Diana goes there a lot and gets permission to use his yard as a picnic spot for tourists. Our picnic was wonderful. We sat next to a pond and ate this delicious fried/baked bread. It was like eating croutons, but better. We also had cheese with homemade strawberry jam (if you want to try cheese with strawberry jam... I totally recommend it) for drink we had this (nasty) drink made from bread and yeast. (Don't worry... It was alcohol free. It was like the drink I had in Estonia) stop not good.. Haha. we also had Lithuanian dark chocolate with hazelnuts. That was verrryyy tasty. After the delightful lunch, we headed back into town. We actually drove by her house. Diana was like... That's my house. Do you want to go in and have coffee? So we went to her house. I loved it because it wasn't a tour guide and her tourists. Instead it seemed like friends visiting other friends. It was very personal. We had tea/ juice, homemade raspberry muffins, and Lithuanian chocolate. (Right after lunch... But we had to be polite. And plus, the muffins were absolutely divine) We met Diana's 18 year old son, Ignas, and learned that he plays the organ in church, and is heading to England to study chemistry. After a lovely visit in her home, we departed and headed back to Klaipeda. Once there, Diana took us to an Amber shop. I guess Lithuania is one of the biggest producers for Amber. We saw lizards, spiders, flies, pinecones, and so many more things encased in Amber. There was also a frog, ship, dragon, cobra, and a horse thing made out of Amber. I wanted to get the 12 inch cobra, but mom wouldn't let me :) I did get a pendant made from Amber. The cool thing about it, is that it's green. I know it's not the traditional looking Amber. But Diana said that this Amber had leaves and stuff mixed with it, which made it green. After the Amber shop, we basically went back to the ship. We had about an hour to get ready for dinner. Dinner was lovely. We had our normal waiter, and things went a lot smoother. After dinner I went and hung out with some friends I made in the ship. At about 11:30 I went back to the room. Tomorrow is a sea day, so I guess we'll just loll around on the ship. Tonight we also get an extra hour of sleep, which will be nice. Tomorrow's post might be a little... Short and potentially boring. But we'll see.
~Hannah ~