August 7-9, 2024
We sometimes wonder about cruise route scheduling – for some reason they sailed us back across the Baltic Sea to Lithuania – the southernmost of the three Baltic States (which includes Latvia and Estonia)- if you were to look at the sailing map of this segment parts of it would resemble a ping-pong match. But hey, we’re just along for the ride.
Lithuania spent more time through known history as an independent state than the other Baltic States- having its own Kingdom beginning in 1253, and expanding to become the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. By the mid 1300’s it was the largest country in Europe. In 1386, they created a “de facto” union with Poland, and officially merged in 1569 to become the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a powerhouse in Northern Europe for the next 200 years. In the mid to latter 18th century, wars nibbled away then finally dismantled the country and by 1792 most of Lithuania had been annexed by the Russian Empire. Before the end of WWI, Lithuania declared independence, and remained so until occupied by alternating Nazi and Soviet forces, then annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. Armed resistance continued until the 1950’s, and in 1990 – Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to break from the Soviet Union. (As an aside – DO NOT SPEAK RUSSIAN HERE- even though a lot of the population still understands the language, it is associated with a lot of negative emotions).
We did not find a Guruwalk – so instead utilized the GPSMyCity app, which led us to some interesting spots.
We debated on going into the Clock and Watch Museum (€5pp, €2.5 for seniors and students), with a low entry fee we decided to go ahead – and were very glad we visited.
After the museum, we continued along to one of the “must sees” – the alleyway of fine restaurants called Friedricho Pasazas (Friedrich’s passage)- and found even more local art (and a really nice lunch).
There is a “castle” in Klaipeda near the port – well – there’s a tower under reconstruction and a berm where the castle walls once stood, which is undergoing massive restoration. In the meantime, they’ve created an interesting museum (€4.4pp), although by the time we arrived, we were getting pretty tired.
We crossed partway across the Baltic for the next stop- the island of Bornholm, docking in Ronne, Denmark. Through most of its history, the island – close to Visby, Sweden, has belonged to Denmark, though has belonged to Sweden, Germany and briefly by the Soviet Union at the end of WWII.
The shuttle bus dropped us by the base of the hill by the lighthouse.
As we walked up the hill, we found the walk signs amusing.
And once we made it to the main part of town, we were pleased to stumble upon their Jazz Festival.
We bypassed the fair food and enjoyed some excellent pastries at KonditadorBager- (we’re in Denmark – of course we’re going to enjoy some “danishes” – I had the best raspberry and cinnamon thing – unfortunately no photo – it was this long pastry about 6 inches wide and about two feet long – I requested a slice and was told it came in “whole or half” – so I got half – and did share with sisters and husband.) We wandered to St. Nicholas Church (that was a sub theme – every town had a St. Nicholas Church), and then time for a real lunch in an old Posthouse.
The next day took us back across to Kiel, Germany – a bustling maritime city at the eastern edge of the Baltic Sea. It was a blustery day, so conveniently the Maritime Museum (€3pp) was only about 500 feet away from the cruise dock.
After the museum, we continued along to the main shopping street (Danishestrasse) and to St. Nicholas Church (yes, another one)
And then to the State Museum, which was free to enter since they are reinventing themselves – even taking suggestions and having patrons vote on areas of interest.
Near the museum was a huge, lovely park called the Ratsdienergarten, which provides a lovely place to walk the paths around the pond and avoid the crowded shopping area of Danishestrasse.
With weather looming, rather than continuing on to find lunch, we returned to the ship (just in time – the skies unloaded minutes after we boarded).
Next stop – Copenhagen then into the North Atlantic