October 7

 Dzien dobry from Poland!

I don’t know if it’s sunny or not because the sun is not yet up. We had to get up early today, just before 6AM. How discouraging for me; me who loves to sleep. However, port time was short today and also the port is about a 45 minute bus drive from Gdansk, which is the town we are going to visit today. And, other than the early morning when we left Cranbrook, we have had no early starts, so I really shouldn’t complain about one day. Sheesh, what a whiner. 

There is nothing at this port at all, very industrial, so you had to take a tour/bus to do anything, there were all sorts of tours to take, and they all left early so I knew the restaurants would be crowded, and finding a table might be an issue so last night I brought us orange juice, yogurt, a banana  and a couple of small strudels to our room so that we could have a peaceful breakfast. 

The tours varied from kayaking to beer crawls at various pubs, tours to other towns, tours on bicycles, but I just wanted a ride to town and a ride back to the ship, and I wanted to book it with NCL so that if an issue arose, the ship would wait for us. 

We met in the Stardust Theatre and were assigned our bus and were on the road by 7:45. It appeared that the sun was making an effort to show up. 

The bus ride was uneventful. The drive took us through Poland’s Tri-City  region, where three separate cites have grown together along the Baltic coast. There were a lot of ship building factories (“factories” isn’t quite the right word. “Ship-works” maybe?)

The “tour guide” who was giving commentary on what we were seeing was extremely strange. Quotations used because she wasn’t exactly what I would call a tour guide. Her English alternated between really good and impossible to understand. She would talk and then her voice would fade away into a mumble that was indistinguishable from any known language, and then dead silence for a minute. Honestly, I thought maybe she was having a stroke. It was like listening to a female Trump, rambling on about unknown things. Very weird. 

But when she did enunciate clearly, she was very informative and even though the area was sad and grey, it was informative to learn about (once again) the Soviet influence as well as the issues of WW2.

Eventually we arrived at the bus parking lot, and good god, what a scary sort of place. The tour guide opened her green umbrella and told us to follow her as she dashed off. The buildings were covered with graffiti, and looked bombed out. We crossed the road and walked under another road via this tunnel. She was fairly running, and it was a good thing there were other people as slow as us or we would be living in that tunnel now.

However, upon getting out into the daylight, we were in an area with a clean river & older looking buildings on either side. The sun was coming out and everything looked very pretty .

As we crossed the river you could see a wall with four arches in it, our tour guide took us through an arch and informed us that if we wanted to catch the bus back to ship that we would have to to meet right here and to not try to get back to the bus ourselves as it would be parked in a different  place altogether. She folded up her green umbrella and vanished like a reverse Mary Poppins. 

This is called The Green Gate, even though it’s neither green, nor a gate. But you walk through it and it’s like a whole other world. After the drive from the port it was a pleasure to see this side of the city.

Our first view was along the main street with those iconic 17th century merchant houses, with restaurants spilling out into the streets. 

I don’t know if there was even an option to sit inside any of them. (Of course there was, but it seemed like a bit of a maze to get past all the tables and foliage. I did step inside one place, but the actual seating area was up some stairs to an inside pub/bar with no view. 

This area is called The Long Market and it’s famous for its gothic and renaissance architecture, as well as the intricate designs of the merchant houses. It stuck me that I kept thinking to myself at every town “Oh, it looks so much like Amsterdam” until I realized that it’s actually Amsterdam that looks like all these places. It was the style of the day, not anything that was specific to Amsterdam itself.

Everywhere I go, I preach the virtues of finding a local café, drinking the local coffee and sampling a traditional pastry. So here, in the beautiful old ton of Gdańsk, naturally I chose….Starbucks. Yes, I committed the ultimate travel sin. 

I can only plead temporary caffeine desperation. Please don’t revoke my traveler’s licence, I promise to do better tomorrow. I will say that the coffee and frothy drink were delicious and the bathroom was spotless. 

It was so bizarre to see a little Starbucks tucked into a corner of one of these amazing old buildings, and while I’m not a fan of Starbucks at all, at least it was reasonably discrete

We walked the length of the Long Market, which dates back to the 13th century and was once the Royal Route where Polish Kings made their ceremonial entrances, thus the width of the street. Much of it was destroyed in WW2, but has been meticulously restored.

 

The town hall.

The building is The Artus Court, originally erected in 1348, named after the legendary King Arthur. It was a meeting place for knights, fraternities and wealthy merchants and is now a museum. The fountain outside is Neptune’s Fountain, which represents Gdansk’s deep bond with the sea. It was installed in 1633, but was removed and hidden during WW2 and reinstalled in 1954. 

It is said the an angry Neptune struck the water with his trident, shattering the gold coins that had been tossed there into tiny flakes to help create the famous liquor, Goldwasser. 

Little bottles of Goldwasser were sold in every single store/shop/stall you could see, and people were buying them like crazy. Small airplane size bottles (smart marketing!) right up to huge bottles that would likely need a checked suitcase of their own. The gold is real, 22 karat, and the look of the shimmering flakes in your glass feels very luxurious. I actually have a bottle of it at home, from years ago. The taste is like herbal licorice and quite yummy. I might go have a swig right now, and when I go out later I can say “Excuse me, do I have some gold stuck in my teeth?”

We walked to the end of the Long Market which has another, smaller arch which leads you to more of the Old Town, but while the buildings were just as amazing, it didn’t have quite the appeal of the street we were on. It was more residential, even though the buildings were still from the 1600’s.

Walking towards the end of the Long Market street.

This was originally a bank (Bank of Prussia) and is still a bank, although a local one. (On the outer side of the Long Market)

This was built in the 14th century and was a prison and torture chamber. It was heavily damaged in WW2 and has been restored and is now is the Amber Museum.

There didn’t seem to be much of interest to see on that side of the arch, and since we didn’t have a lot of time left, we turned back and wandered some more though the Long Market. It was so beautiful and is my new favourite place! (Every new place is my new favourite place.) 

This little door was like 2 feet tall, I desperately wanted to know what was in there, but alas it had no signs and was locked. 

We made our way back to where we last saw our tour guide, and she was there, waiting, but thank goodness we weren’t the last to arrive. She was frantically trying to count us, but it was like herding cats, as they say. Everyone was milling around and it was getting ridiculous as she counted and recounted, and every time she turned around she lost count. Finally one annoyed fellow hollered, in a musical, military tone:”Count Off! One!” His wife then said “2” and the rest of us followed suit. It took about 15 seconds and we were done.

We walked back to the bus, which was indeed in an entirely new place, and off we went. We took a different route back to the port, and most of the buildings were much nicer and more modern, but the further from the city, the sadder they got.

Nice.

Also nice.

Not quite so nice .

Not nice at all.
 

Back on the boat we went back to cabin to refresh and I sat on the balcony for a while, but it was actually too hot out to sit for long. 

Gdansk is very much an industrial port, but it was interesting to watch the loading and mechanical aspect of things. You can see what a gorgeous day it turned out to be. 

We went for dinner at The Seven Seas. I had baked Brie w/pear and walnuts, a paella, and a Snicker cake for dessert. He had a Caesar salad, baked ziti and the same desert.

SO good, I wish I had ordered two.

The paella was delicious except for the calamari. I could have worn it as a bracelet, it was that tough.

I didn’t think there was anything “Snicker-ish” about this, but it was sure good!

The entertainment that night was “A Broadway Cabaret”, it was a routine with songs and scenes from famous Broadway shows, from Cats to The Lion King to Wicked and Hamilton, plus others. It was really, really, good.

A short visit to the casino, a walk around the outside of the ship, and off to bed. 

October 6

Today I flung the curtains open with such abandon that I realized that two of the hooks that hold the curtain up had broken. Surely that wasn’t me, what with my flinging things open? Steven managed to stand on a chair and fix them without falling overboard, so that was a good start to the day. Also the sun was shining, so that was an excellent way to greet Lithuania! To be honest, when I looked outside I saw a beautiful, sandy beach with rolling waves and I thought maybe the storm last night had blown us clear to the Caribbean. 

I really had no idea that Lithuania had such beautiful beaches.

All three Baltic countries share a complicated history with foreign rule, but I noticed a distinct difference between Estonia and Latvia, as compared to Lithuania. Estonia and Latvia have a more visible trace of their Russian past, while Lithuania felt more German, maybe due to its closer ties to Poland and Germany, or maybe because as we got off the ship there was a fabulous “Oom-pah-pah” band that sounded like they had come straight from Oktoberfest! What a fun welcome!

Again, it was an extremely short walk to the old town centre, but we spotted this little train that would also shuttle you through the city and give a little commentary on things to see. It was interesting, but wow, those cobblestones combined with those little train wheels were mighty bumpy. We hopped off close to the town centre before our teeth were jarred right from our heads. 

The town we are in is Klaipèda, which is not pronounced “Kly-peeda” as I had assumed, but rather KLY-peda”. The city is almost 800 years old, the Teutonic Knights established a castle here in 1252 and in about the 1500’s the town continued to develop under Prussian and Germanic influence, thus the German feeling. In 1854 a terrible fire destroyed most of the city and there was further destruction during WW2, so the city doesn’t have that medieval magical feeling that Latvia and Estonia did, but it was still a beautiful place.

The town square felt surprisingly ordinary, other than the cobblestones. It was more of a local gathering place with a market-like atmosphere, rather than a grand historic square. There were many vendors trying desperately to sell their wares, as well as so much amber. Every stall had buckets of it, in all shapes and sizes, some made into jewelry and other trinkets,  and some just loose, in chunks, like in Jurassic Park. I didn’t see any with a mosquito embedded inside so I think we’re safe for now. Amber is a massively huge industry in the Baltics. Who knew? The city is fascinating, but we had to walk a bit further to find the beauty.

Note the sun dogs surrounding the sun as it tries to break through the clouds. 

This is the Drama Theatre, the largest theatre in Lithuania. It hosts many concerts and plays, as well as an annual film festival.

So we walked further into the town and discovered a whole different atmosphere. It was like an entirely different city within just a few short blocks.

The Dané river runs through the centre of this part of town, with lots of cafés, shops and restaurants as well as hotels and hostels.

These amazing shrubs were everywhere. 

A park meant for strolling slowly.

• This arch was at the entrance to the park.
• “The small red granite column represents Lithuania Minor.
• The large gray granite portion represents the rest of Lithuania.
• The broken/detached top piece symbolizes lost territories (such as parts of Lithuania Minor in the Kaliningrad region and Poland).”

The only elk he’ll see this year.

The other side of the river (the park is on the left now) This is where all the good cafés are.

Never in my widest dreams did I think I’d be following my husband down a path in Lithuania. Nor did he, in his wildest dreams ever think he’d be walking down a path there either! Just goes to show, you can never foretell your future.

My “Coffee in another Country” moment today included cream filled eclairs. Mine was pistachio and his was chocolate. Needless to say, delicious!. Also, the water bottle was glass and painted with flowers. I’m not sure what it cost, but I think it was likely substantial. But you could prepare baby food with it, so the price was inconsequential! Or, the price was “a moo point” as Joey would say.

We meandered through some of the streets and eventually made our way back to the ship area.

I told you those shrubs were everywhere!

I kept seeing this tower everywhere, but with no visible means of getting there. There was no bridge crossing the water that I could see. A mystery.

Back at the ship he decided to have a rest before dinner, but I was determined to figure out that tower, so off I went. 

I followed this path to the left, as all the maps said, when getting of the ship. I did see this ghostly fellow. I crossed the bridge behind him, which has a crank in the middle of it. When the crank is turned, the whole bridge swings sideways to let boats pass through.

This is The Black Ghost of Klaipeda, and he is clawing his way out of the harbour, inspired by a 16th century legend. Apparently he would appear to warn the townspeople of impending shortages of food, making him a sort of guardian of the city. Although his appearance did mean that bad times were coming.

Klaipeda is known for having many hidden statues and sculptures, but I didn’t find very many.

This was right at the dock, hard to miss. It’s so that everyone who is either coming or going can have a proper “hello” or “goodbye”. Rub his snout for luck.

This one is called “Cat with the face of a Gentleman”, looks like the Monopoly Man to me.

There was no way of getting to that tower from here, I was getting further and further away. I headed back to the ship and looked to the right this time. A path was right there. I followed it for maybe two minutes, and “surprise” the tower was almost in front of me. Sheesh.

Turns out that it’s a whole museum complex, both above ground (in the Tower) and underground as well. It was fascinating.

History Lesson: The Castle of Klaipeda was first built in 1252 by the Teutonic Knights, who were similar to the Knights Templar. They both protected pilgrims who were travelling to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The Templars became famous for operating a very sophisticated financial and banking network, while the Teutonic Knights built castles, conquered land and fought wars in the name of spreading Christianity.

The Castle has obviously been rebuilt from scratch, but archeologists are excavating the ruins of the original castle. They have opened up the underground passages and tunnels to the public and they are incredible. Also very maze-like. 

Part of the original castle.

This is the entrance to the museum, and all the passages branch off from there, both left and right. They go for thousands of feet with multiple branches but before you enter the tunnels there is a large display which explains what and who the Teutonic Knights were. It was both creepy and amazing. 

The buildings that you see behind these fellows was a movie screen, so it really seemed like you were there, in that timeframe.  I was the only person in there…not sure if I was totally at ease or not. The music was eerie and it was super cold in there. I was sort of nervous to stare at these guys for too long in case they moved. I’ve seen too many movies with this exact plot. 

A Teutonic Knight! They had a black cross on their tunics, whereas the Knight Templar have the more famous Red Cross.

Into the tunnels from almost 1,000 years ago. The flooring and lighting are a bit newer though.😊

What’s that? (Stops and listens…) Do I hear footsteps behind me? Ah, shit, I knew there was someone inside one of those statues and now I’ve obviously seen something I shouldn’t have. I started walking a little quicker and the footsteps behind me became more rapid. (Heartbeat accelerates to an unhealthy level) Dammit, although I guess being stabbed with a medieval dagger in a passage in Lithuania isn’t the worst way to go. I turned a corner, but alas, it did no good. I heard a voice calling out and I turned to meet my fate. 

It was the ticket man, breathless, as he chased me down because I forgot to show my ticket. 

After I wandered through there, wondering if I was going to come across a Minotaur, I found my way out and went over to the tower. 

It’s 7 stories high, with a glass elevator in the centre. You can get off at each floor and walk through museum displays. The 7th floor has wonderful views of the complex and the city. I made sure I showed my ticket before I got into the elevator. 

Views from the top of the tower.

Looking down 7 stories down the elevator shaft and wondering what would happen if everyone went home and no one realized I was here. Maybe the old ticket man has a grudge and will just say he saw me leave. This thought made me call the elevator and get down while it was still daylight. It’s one thing to be alone, but it’s something else to be left alone in a tower when you don’t even know how to holler “Help” in Lithuanian. 

I thought this crane looked like a creature from War of the Worlds. I half expected it to lift up its huge legs and come lumbering after us. 

Sometimes I think I’ve watched too many movies.

Back to the ship for dinner at the specialty Italian restaurant; La Cucina. 

It was so good! I had a sort of capresé salad, but with burrata cheese instead of mozzarella, salmon and a pannacotta for dessert. He had calamari, veal scallopini, and cannolis for desert. We treated ourselves to an excellent Reisling.

The entertainment that night was a magician/comedian who was actually very good. A lot of ship entertainment is pretty cheesy as it has to please, and not offend, so many different people.

Early to bed (after a quick visit to the casino) as we have an early day tomorrow.

Goodnight from fascinating Lithuania.🇱🇹