Week 10 - 4th June -> 10th June

All is not lost yet - beach weather is making a comeback!

Hooray for that, because this week was spent mostly entertaining my visitors from Finland and I needed the weather to be on my side! I insisted that come rain or shine, we would be heading to the beach no matter what.

Matti in Palanga.

But before that, I had other important things to show them. When Matti arrived late Wednesday afternoon, I ended up taking him to the last place on my agenda: Akropolis. But he had somehow discovered that the daughter company of the cinema company he works for in Turku operate in Lithuania, and he wanted to find out if it's possible to get free movie tickets with his work card. So the evening panned out like a typical evening in Turku: I'm ashamed to admit that Matti's first experience of Klaipeda was Forum cinemas and Hesburger. I was rather appalled by the standard of our Hesburger experience though - the drink that came with my meal was kiddie's size and the ketchup cost an extra 50 cents. Such a travesty would not occur in the hometown of Hesburger. (We did manage to get 2 free movie tickets to see Men in Black 3 in 3D - worth a watch - but tried our luck again a couple of nights later only to be refused with their insistence that they don't recall ever having that situation in the first place!)

The four of us at the end of the Klaipeda tour.

Later in the evening we met Jacky & Mihir at the bus station, following their time spent in Vilnius. Warm greetings were exchanged and a small late-night feast was had before we retired for the night. We met again early the next morning - I had conveniently been informed by one of my "students" (a programme co-ordinator in the university) that a guided tour of Klaipeda old town had been arranged for a group of teaching professionals coming from all over Europe (including Omagh, NI - a bit of homeland accent for me!) on a Comenius project. All four of us were permitted to join the tour for free - and later found out why. Although it was an opportunity for me to mingle with professionals from my field, I feel I could have given a better tour myself. Some interesting things were mentioned, but it was not a trained tour guide, rather it was led by a teacher from the university, so she didn't quite speak loud enough or keep the group together. Nevertheless, some of Klaipeda was explored, some even new for me, before we ventured further afield to Neringa.

I knew this would be the highlight of Klaipeda - getting the ferry out of Klaipeda to the beach on the Curonian Spit - and I think my friends would agree! After seeing the beach for themselves, they appreciated this gem of Lithuania. Mihir, who has visited beaches in the likes of India and Australia, even said this beach would rank in his Top 3. It was a relief for me that they liked it, as I found it surprisingly challenging to keep them entertained. In the evening we enjoyed great food in the Amberton, before meeting with the rest of the Erasmus group for the beginning of the end. The time has come for most of the Erasmus students here to say their goodbyes or "see ya laters" and head home.

Palanga Pier.

But before that, we managed to squeeze in a couple of extra excursions to Palanga and Nida. Though many of them had been to Palanga before, it was a first for me (besides the airport, which doesn't count). Contrastingly, while I had been to Nida twice already, the others hadn't been at all. 

The view from the amber museum.

We got a great day to go to Palanga, and I enjoyed the company, the food, the views, and the weather. The beach and pier in Palanga was even more impressive than I had imagined after having seen only pictures. It's a rather touristy place, especially in comparison to Klaipeda, but nice to walk through and enjoy a summer's day. It's convenient too, as it is only a cheap, 30 minute bus ride away. I had heard many times before that I should visit the amber museum in Palanga, so since we were there Matti and I took the opportunity to see it. The building (which is a palace) and surroundings of the museum are rather impressive, but the museum itself was a little disappointing for me. I have come to the conclusion that I much prefer museums with a guide to explain and tell stories, rather than being left to explore alone and just read the text. Although at least this time there was some information in English! 

The Parnidis Dune.

The weather remained kind for our trip to Nida, despite the growing infestation of mosquitoes. We went as a group of five, with Nida being new for Matti, the two Spanish girls and the Latvian girl. I think we all agreed that it was worth it, because Nida offers something different than the other coastal cities of Lithuania: that comes in the form of sand dunes. It is home to some of the highest dunes in Europe, including the 52m high Parnidis dune (Parndzio kopa). We braved the many, many wooden steps to reach the top of this sand dune, where we could admire the view of the Baltic Sea, the Curonian Lagoon and Kaliningrad. I was actually amazed by this view; last time I climbed to the top of that dune it was impossible to see the sea or the lagoon because of the large amount of dark, grey clouds and rain. So this time I really appreciated it!

The five of us at the top of the 52m sand dune.

As the time drew to an end for my visitors, and for many of the other Erasmus students, they prepared for their onward journeys. Unfortunately, there seems to be a curse of the Riga bus. Every single visitor to come to Klaipeda to see me has had a problem with getting the bus to Riga at the end of their stay. First, there was Thomas back in April, who had to catch a flight from Riga, but ended up running for it because his bus from Klaipeda was one hour late. 
Then, Jacky & Mihir attempted to buy a bus ticket to leave Klaipeda on Friday, but there were no seats left on the 14:30 bus, and it turned out that that was the last bus of the day. They searched for any other means of transport from any place in Lithuania to reach Riga that same day, but found nothing. So they were forced to book the next bus, leaving at 3:40am, without anywhere to sleep before then. Eventually, they made it to Riga on Saturday morning, probably exhausted. 
Finally, Matti discovered his problem on the bus to Nida - he had asked for a ticket for the 11:30 bus to Riga, but they had given him one for 14:30, which would be too late for him to catch his flight back to Turku. But we were spending the day in Nida, so no solution could be sought for until the next day. However, it's lucky we discovered this the day before his departure, so it wasn't too late. In the end, he went to the bus station at 6:30am the next morning to try to make sure he could get an earlier bus. It turned out easier than expected to exchange his ticket for an earlier time, and he indeed managed to get the 11:30 bus. We met for coffee before he left, and I now hope he returns to Turku safely and on time. 

I try not to become overwelmed by goodbyes, or even partake in them at all, but now I can't help but think that without my lovely friends from Finland, and the fun Erasmus folk in Klaipeda, my social life will come to an abrupt halt here in Lithuania. But I do have plans to go to Sweden for midsummer, and I have a lot of work to do, so the time will no doubt be filled and continue to fly by.