Klaipeda and Palanga, Lithuania
Amber, Ships and Sands in Lithuania
Our early disembarkation in the third largest city and only Lithuanian port of Klaipeda proved invigorating due to the ravishing morning seaside light enveloping ships, dockside fishermen and a folklore band. An enormous sailing vessel decorated with a silhouette of multi-colored flags was quickly recognized as the Kruzenstern, the famous Russian training ship. On the landing there was a lone rundown bicycle and an amusing bronze statue of a boy with a dog greeting ships. As the leash was flexible, it all seemed quite real, and the boy was decked out with two different sports jerseys during the day in honor of competing teams in a hotly contested basketball tournament.
The city of Klaipeda (etymology: marshy foot lands or bread eaters!) provided a special welcome in the form of a five-piece folk group dressed in traditional costumes and plucking kankles (zither) and playing birbynes (clarinet-like instruments). Several guests were tempted to kick up their heels when the skrabalas was played, best described as wooden “spoons” rhythmically striking tuned boxes.
Modern architecture has sprung up beside ancient brick buildings in Old Town Klaipeda, called Memel by the Germans whose strong influence held sway in the region for centuries. One of the oldest among Indo-European languages and closest to Sanskrit, Lithuanian was first translated from the German by Mhžvydas in 1547. A season with the composer Richard Wagner and a speech by Hitler are remembered at the town theater, now under total renovation. Among the 28 local high schools, there are five Russian ones and a single German one. Noted for its maritime studies, the university is housed in old German military barracks. We were surprised to learn that Lithuania has both a woman as head of state and as commander of the armed forces.
As we drove through lush verdant forests on the way to Palanga, we were reminded that the name of the country Lietuva stems from the word “rain.” Past swans on ponds and strange round granite stones we strolled through the spacious 19th century Botanical Gardens to the Sea Shore National Park with pristine white sands and roaring surf. As the story goes, this site becomes the capital of Lithuania in summertime.
We left the surf and sands to visit the brand new exhibition at the Amber Museum in this great park in Palanga, which houses some 20,000 amber specimens in a gracious palace. Both informative and spectacular were the exhibitions of amber, a stone created from resin some 30 – 50 million years ago. Primarily found in the Baltics, this feather light stone occurs in colors ranging from golden or cognac to white and anthracite, or even green and blue. More highly prized than gold in prehistoric times, amber was one of the major trading items as far away as Mycenae and ancient Greece. Amber (bernstein, elektron, gentare) has always been treasured for its color, warmth and beauty, as well as its healing and magical powers, and its Greek name “elektron” gave the name to electricity. There was a unique collection of inclusions with preserved insects and a lizard, unusually large amber pieces and amulets or figurines dating from Neolithic times forward.
Our intense day was further rounded out with stimulating lectures by our Global Luminary Dr. Gro Brundtland on the history and current politics of Norway, by historian David Barnes on the Hanseatic League, and a complementary photo presentation by National Geographic Photographer Sisse Brimberg.
The delights of Lithuania were enjoyed on deck, too, with pungent 12- and 48-month-old cheeses, fresh oysters and three kinds of Svyturys beer. We will long savor the memories of amber, ships and sands in Lithuania!
