Amber in Klaipeda

I know that photo above doesn't look like it has anything to do with amber, but the upper floor is actually an interesting amber museum.  More on that later!

It was the first time in quite a while that we were welcomed into port with music.  Klaipeda is Lithuania’s oldest city, going back to the 7th century and is currently the country’s third largest.  

The original settlement was destroyed by the Teutonic Knights in 1252 but they then founded their own town which they called Memelburg.  From 1252 to 1923 and then again from 1939-1945 it was known as Memel, finally receiving its official Lithuanian name of Klaipeda, which means “flat ground”, after WW2.  One of the things that made this a popular dwelling and port site is because it’s one of a handful of ice-free harbors in Northern Europe during the winter months.  The tower in this photo is all that's left of the fortifications that once stood there.  Obviously it's currently being renovated.

Just the first of many beautiful flowers we saw throughout the day.

Here at Theater Square you'll find, you guessed it, a 19th century theater.  From there on the 2nd story balcony Hitler stood in 1939 and told the people, "Welcome to Germany!". 

You have to know by now that I can't pass up

beautiful flowers and there were so many to choose from today.

At times it looked like we were in Germany here with all the half-wooded houses and that’s due to the fact the country was under Prussian rule for 700 years.  

These old wooden buildings are all that are left of Klaipeda's heydays as a market and shipping town.  A city fire in 1854 destroyed much of wooden structures in the city.

The waterway would have come closer to these buildings then and the doors below made it easy to unload goods.  Our guide, Lina, told us the curved roofs were to allow the merchants to store more goods inside.

I'm guessing there was probably a pulley in the tall tower behind us for hauling goods inside those doors on the second and third stories below it.

A couple of older places in the city, the one on the right with the light brick and the red roof is an original structure.

Along a random wall is this dragon rain spout but thankfully we didn't get to see him in action today.

This marker in one of the small city squares tells of time passing, some things change and some stay the same, but always love remains.

The panel on the left shows new ideas but also a constant love in hand, the one on the right shows keeping relationships going with letters.  I'll admit, it was all a little random if you didn't completely understand the stories behind it, which I didn't.

I found this bronze panel quite interesting.  It had representations of the different types of workers you would have found in the old city, a cobbler, a cook, a fisherman, a chemist, a tailor, a butcher and a beer maker.

Loved this window box.

We've seen a toe and nose to rub for good luck, now it's the Klaipeda magic mouse.

If you sit now next to it and silently whisper your wish in its ear that wish is supposed to come true.  The guys were skeptics but Sally, Holly and I gave it a try.

This square had pretty flowers and a unique water fountain.

The River Dange (dahngai) still runs through the city.  The German minesweeper in this photo was a gift from Germany after Latvia gained independence in 1990.  It's now a museum.

Who knew Popeye was living on a boat in Lithuania?

One of the old brick warehouses along the river.

Klaipeda was the capital of Prussia for a year after Napoleon's invasion of that country so the royal family moved into this small palace and made it their own.

The boat on the left just looked pretty reflected in the river's waters, the ship on the right is a symbol of Klaipeda that is now a restaurant.

Views of the River Dange.

One of the more unique places we've seen where people place their locks of love.

Outside what was the Prussian palace stood the statue on the right.  It was replaced during the Soviet occupation by the fisherman statue on the left because they hated the Germans who they saw as their enemies.

We climbed on our bus and rode through town and then the countryside to the resort town of Palanga.  This 11 km (7 mi) stretch of coast also has lovely pine woods behind it.  Our destination was the Amber Museum which is located in a palace in the midst of the Palanga Botanical Garden.  You can tell from these photos what a gorgeous day it was to be strolling in a garden.  I included the photo of the pine trees since in the past Klaipeda was known for its wood for ship building.  During the 17th century about 75% of the area was covered with trees, 200 years later it was down to 10%.  That was a lot of ships and other types of building going on.  Much of the forest has been regrown but there aren't as many fir trees.

When we arrived at this statue of a young woman and a crowned snake in the gardens Lina shared with us the Legend of the Trees. or Eglé the Snake Queen.  Short version is that there was a young woman who promised to marry a grass snake (these are symbols of wealth and protection in the Baltics) but her family tried to get her out of it by tricking the snake into taking a goose, a sheep, and then a cow for a bride, but a cuckoo helps the snakes sent to get Eglé to see the truth.  When Eglé finally goes to the sea where the snake lives she meets a handsome prince named Zilvinas who takes her to his underground palace.  They marry and have three sons, Oak, Ash and Birch, and a daughter, Aspen.  All goes well until Eglé asks to go home for just a few days to take her children to meet her family.  Zilvinas doesn't want them to go but finally relents if they promise not to speak his name to anyone until it is time to come home.  They all agree but Eglé's brothers beat her sons trying to get their father's name out of them.  The sons all refuse but when it is Aspen's turn she is fearful and gives her uncles her father's name.  They call his name at the seashore and when he comes they kill him.  When Eglé finds out her beloved is dead she turns her strong sons into strong trees, and her fearful daughter into a quaking aspen.  She herself becomes a fir tree and thus the Lithuanian forests were created.

The botanical garden covers almost 250 acres of ground with all kinds of walkways, ponds, bridges, and benches to enjoy.  It would have been wonderful for a wander.

The Tiškevičiai (please don't ask me how to say it, I could never understand when Lina said it) Palace is a restored 19th century palace on the first floor and the Amber Museum on the second.

The grounds at the entrance were stunning.  Karl especially liked the self-propelled lawn mower that was at work there in the background.  See the black dot on the grass?

Also in front of the palace is a statue known as the Black Christ.  One of the counts who lived here wanted a son so promised God that if He would give him a son he would put up a statue of Christ.  He ended up with not one, but five sons, and five daughters.  At some point the original statue was melted down so this is the second version, all except for a small piece of a foot, which someone found near where the statue had been melted.

I would love these in my front yard next to the house!

The Amber Museum has 30,000 exhibits that tell the story of “Baltic gold”.  If you’re not already aware, amber is fossilized resin, not stone, from trees that grew millions of years ago.  It is sap that was released as trees were wounded in some way.    Sometimes there are fossilized inclusions, such as insects, bits of bark, flowers, or leaves,  that are found in the amber.  It can still wash up on beaches in the area after storms and is actually mined in nearby Kaliningrad.  

While it is called “Baltic gold”  for the typical yellow and honey ambers,  hues also include green, plus cherry or red amber as well.  These organic gems may be translucent or opaque depending on how they are heat and pressure treated.  .

Amber was anciently believed to be magical with powerful properties of protection and the area around Lithuania has been part of the amber trade, sending gems throughout the Mediterranean, for millennia

These bits of amber had insect inclusions in them.  These pieces are more rare and therefore more expensive.

There were all kinds of unique items made out of amber in the museum,

including this little bulldozer.

Boxes, crucifixes, and all sorts of jewelry were on display, as well as buttons and unique art pieces made of amber.

After perusing the museum we went downstairs and through a few rooms of the palace of Count Feliks Tyszkiewicz and his wife, Antonina Korzbok-Lacka, who governed in Palanga from 1891 to 1940.

Views of some of the rooms and their lovely

19th century decor.

There were some chairs we were even allowed to sit on, which never happens.

While the roses in the formal garden behind the palace were past their prime, 

there were plenty next to the building that looked and smelled amazing.

As we walked back out through the botanical garden we passed by this spot, which totally looks like a hobbit house to me.  I really have no idea what it is actually used for.

We were headed into Palanga for some lunch and a little free time.

Palanga has been a resort town since the 19th century and it's easy to understand why.  This wooden entry and the walkway are exactly what you would have seen here over a hundred years ago.

In front of the concert hall are these statues of  the first hotel owner and his wife in Palanga.  I decided to do silly photos with them.

This is what Karl wants me to create in our yard next summer.  In your dreams dude!

No, the photo isn't upside down, the house is.  It's just a funky little landmark.

Another nice manhole cover.

After all the walking we'd been doing we were all ready for some lunch.  Luckily we picked a good restaurant with some excellent local food.

Besides some refreshing lemonade we had the above.  Karl tried the bratwurst and what he said were the best fries he's ever had, they were more like small slices than a stick.  Chris and Sally had the meatball, potatoes and beets, well Chris ate all the beets, while Holly and I had the potato pancake with meat on the upper right.  I had thought it would look more like a regular pancake but no, it was more like super crispy thick hash browns with a thin ground pork patty in the middle covered with a delicious gravy.  Thank goodness the waiter suggested we just order half portions on the potato pancake, even that was a lot of food but man was it good.

After lunch we had about 30 minutes before we were supposed to be back for the return bus trip so we decided to take the pedestrian street down to the beach so that I could get some sand.  There are all kinds of shops and eateries along the roadway.  Thanks goodness it was smooth, unlike the crazy cobblestones in Klaipeda or we never would have made it to the sands, it was a lot farther than I thought it would be.

All we had time to do was get Heidi's vial of fine white sand and take a couple of photos.  Holly and I would have loved to put our feet in the water but we had to hustle back to the bus.

It also would have been nice to walk out to the end of this jetty and get a full view of the beach.  Too bad we had to satisfy those hunger pains,

but at least we got to see the beautiful beach so we could understand why so many LIthuanians and others living along the Baltic love to come here to holiday.

We got back to the bus with a couple of minutes to spare so we could make our way back to the port and on to Serenade.  I thought this time I'd share a couple of my purchases, the little tree with amber leaves on the left will get turned into a Christmas ornament and the multicolored amber necklace on the right was a treat for myself.  It's going to be a wonderful reminder of the amazing time we've had in the Baltic States.  I really love this part of the world!