Good friends of ours Egidijus and Jolanta took us three Lithuanian-American ladies to Neringa for a couple of days. And it was wonderful! I haven’t seen Nida the town, my namesake, for 30 years, or maybe 32. It was sentimental. Luckily – the weather was perfect! Neringa is a narrow slit of sandy dunes and earth blown by winds to this corner of the Baltic sea, where it protects an inner sea from the salty waters and too many boats. The biggest river Nemunas is bringing its waters into this inner sea called Kurￅﾡiu Marios. Several little fishing villages are fighting nature since ages ago. Some of them are under sands, some survived or moved to another location. And now they are flourishing resort towns. Especially Nida, where I used to spend my childhood summers with my parents. I will never forget how we used to fish on this pier at every sunset, and that is where I ran to the first thing we got there:
And I couldn’t help but run to see the sand dunes.They do not look so white this time. Some growth occurred on their slopes, but still it is the most beautiful place in Lithuania for me…
We had a small walk in the very center of Nida and admired the clouds on the East, the flower beds all over with flowers very well matched in colors. And so natural, like it is their place to grow.
We had a real banquet in one of the restaurants there, it was beyond amazing, all Lithuanian tastiest foods in their abundance on a very nicely set up table.Traditional decors…They even have a tuk-tuk, nowhere else I saw it in Lithuania. Those are signs that fishermen had on their sail boats. Each one carries the owner’s story.The next day we went to the sea, sparse visitors, it was good!Then through this and other forest paths towards the big dunes-who can put a price on it?That is what winds do to the pine trees-makes them love each other.A sign towards the beach – made me smile. Luckily it was a cool day and nobody was taking off their panties on tat bench. A sort of wild orchids grows there.On the top of the great dune! It is called Parnidￅﾾio kopa.Hikers can’t walk beyond this fence – it is a protected ecological zone.To see this vastness of nature and no people – what can be better?This a a Lutheran church, an old one. Thom Mahn, the writer, lived in Nida and attended this church. It was an area occupied by Germans for a while, therefore the Lutheran church.We attended a concert there. Our ex president V. Adamkus and his wife were sitting in the first row. The president gave a beautiful speech before the concert.Sunset colors reflected on pines reminded me the colors of our mountains in Utah also during sunset.New buildings are being built strictly in the old style. The promenade by the inner sea is very long and beyond amazing…Far away – the marina building is seen. A new Catholic church, that was not there in my times…Sand sculptures in Juodkrantￄﾗ which we checked on our way back.Straw sculptures on waters in Juodkrantￄﾗ – at some point they get to be burned.The big ferry in Klaipￄﾗda that takes cars and people to Neringa strip.
