Day 48 - Nida to Vilnius

Today marks exactly 30 years since Laura and I met in Madrid so to commemorate the occasion I gave her a necklace I had bought in Australia before I left, which was enthusiastically received.

View of Nida

After breakfast our first bit of sightseeing for the day was to climb the big Parnidzio dune just on the southern edge of Nida. It wasn’t too hard a climb since there are stairs to prevent people damaging the dune by actually climbing on the sand (though it seems some still do). From the top – which is adorned with a large sundial that also marks months, equinoxes and solstices – we had a panoramic view of Nida, the lagoon, and across the dunes to Russia in the south. On the way down we took a different route through the pine forest and the outskirts of Nida back to our car.

Goblin carving

After checking out of our accommodation we drove back up the Spit, stopping to visit the Cormorant nests (now empty of course), and check out the view from Ram’s hill. Our main stop was on the southern outskirts of Juodkrante where we did a long walk through the pine forest. The path is decorated with various carved wooden statues of witches, goblins, dragons and other creatures from Lithuanian folklore. There were certainly lots of good expressive faces on some of the figures.

Thereafter we considered doing another short walk near the top of the Spit but it was getting close to the 1:50pm ferry after which there was a 40 minute gap, so we skipped that and drove on to join the queue for the ferry. Once again we drove into the wrong queue first (the one for permit holders) but we still managed to get on OK. We were pleased to discover that the ferry fare is only paid one way, which explains why the fare we paid yesterday seemed a bit expensive.

It was now decision time. We had the options of heading straight for Vilnius via the motorway or detouring back via Palanga to try and see the Russian Missile Silos near Plokstine. The guide book suggested that the latter might be closed for the season by now so we drove to the Tourist Info place we had visited yesterday to get some up to date info. The nice chap there explained to Laura that it was indeed closed, but was being prepared during this off season to re-open next year as a permanent attraction with more information in English, etc. Apparently it has proven to be a very popular tourist attraction, making it, as the chap said, “the only useful thing the Russian’s have left us”.

So that settled our travel plans anyway (though it would have been interesting to see the silo) so we set off on the 308km drive to Vilnius. It took us a little under four hours with two rest stops. We managed to find the maze that is Old Vilnius and Laura did a creditable job with our simple maps as we wove in and out of it seeking a place to stay. Our first two options were fully booked and a third was screened by a maze of one-way streets. We ended up at the fourth option, a hostel which was the cheapest and had room for one night only, rather than the two we planned to stay in town. However, since it was getting dark and navigating the maze wasn’t that much fun we decided we might as well take it.

To tell the truth we’re not sure we’d want another night here as it seems over run with single local men who smoke in the kitchen and use the women’s showers. (I stood guard while Laura had a shower, just in case). Also, while making up my bed I managed to break one of the slats.