My son lived in Vilnius for over a year (just a few meters outside the
protected Unesco centre), so we have visited there. He has been to all
the places you mention. Brought us Stalin and Lenin mugs for Christmas
one year from Stalinworld. In particular, he highly recommends Nida
and the Curonian Spit (another Unesco site) jointly owned by Lithuania
and Russia. The highest sand dunes in all of Europe. Google Witch's
Hill on the spit. And, even better, google Hill of Crosses. Try
Images. Empowering story attached to it. And Lithuania has a
sculpture park that marks the exact centre of Europe.
Lithuania was quite an eye-opener. The food was lovely -- much better
than Prague. Better ingredients. Better presentation. Better
everything. One of my fondest memories (we were there at Christmastime)
was of an ice storm. Someone (the city?) delivered great piles of sand
to certain street corners and the elderly ladies came out with little
buckets and distributed the sand along the sidewalks. Such sense of
responsibility for others. Such sense of community. I would certainly
recommend Lithuania (and the lovely Turkish restaurant near the city
centre).
What does "pub quiz silver line to Stalin" mean? Ursula, lost in North Bay
Teemu Pyyluoma wrote:
--- Ursula Stange <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Let's talk travel instead of war... We're off to Paris, Berlin, Riga and Avignon this August.
Baltics in general is home to a lot that is weird and wonderful, so if you have time, take a sidestrip from Riga. Jurmala is a nice beach town, although I'd recommend Pärnu up North in Estonian side of the border, two hours drive from Riga. If you are traveling overland from Berlin, do consider stopping at Lithuania. Vilnius is a fine medieval postcard city, never been to Kaunas myself but people seem to like it too. Or you can go to the Stalin World (http://www.grutoparkas.lt/index-en.htm)
What intrigues me however, I am kind of itching to just hop a ferry to Tallin and drive south, is the beaches in Lithuania. Best in North Europe they say, and as answer to pub quiz silver line to Stalin. They were pretty much closed (!) during the Communist rule, which means they are not yet full of sea side resorts. The idea was that the traditional fishing was impeding progress and thus no entry to the beaches, or something like that. Nida would be the town to go, and by the way is an Unesco World Heritage site. The tourist sites inform me that Thomas Mann used to spend some summers there, I wonder if he wrote anything about the place?
Cheers, Teemu Helsinki, Finland
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