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Published: September 4th 2006
No.1 B&B in Town
Okay, an example of how it all works, they get sick of a building and just let it rot ...Jagshemash! It's hard to explain how important doing these journals are. They're very theraputic for me to clear my mind of important information that shouldn't be there anymore, as I need to take in my new surrounds. As I type this one up, well begin to, with my 30 mins free access at the Tornio library, it already feels like Im doing my job and informing everyone at home who cares to read, or had the time. So, after 6 months now, im still doing this thing for you and for myself and it's always been of great importance to find the time to get it all down. It takes longer for updates because I tend to type too much and not every place I go has USB access so I cannot upload photo's when I need to. Im almost 2 full journals behind but if I can get this one done within the next 3 or so days, then Ill be able to think about doing the next one. It's not like something 'just for fun' but an important facet in my entire journey and I hope those who read it actually appreciate that it takes alot of effort to
Welcome to Klaipeda!
The back of the boat, a sunny afternoon, Neringa to one side and the harbour to the other. Enjoy your coffee and have a nice day! do a giant journal each time but if you don't appreciate it, there's not much I can do 😉 well.. anyway, as this title suggests, the journal will be about my week spent in Lithuania. Lithuania? where the hell is that? Oh, it's a country is it? where´s it near? Liteun? hmm im still not sure, Lietuva? ... Whether you call it by it's english name, it's German name or by it's native name, no-one seems to know where it is, or even heard of the place. I thought I may finally be in a non american backpacker country. I have to admit that all those years ago that the dude from slsk told me he was from Lithuania, I had no idea where it was either, I hope by the time you read this, that you will know, too. So let's forget all about this long boring introduction and read more about beautiful Eastern Europe and what it has to offer us Westerners. (enjoy my euro-english skills in this journal laid on EXTRA thick for added enjoyment)
"You will drink coffee and look at the sea, have a nice day!", these were my orders, beamed to me via
Dopey Affairs
The drug trade in full swing in Lithuania, at least they don't hide it. the public address system inside the cabin of my Lisco baltic ferry. I checked my clock and it was 7am, perfect time to wake up ... not. I rolled over and went back to sleep, before "You will drink coffee and look at the sea, have a nice day!", a sense of deja-vu perhaps, I checked my clock again, 7:10am, this dude was consistant. His painful english skills chunneled out through his Lithuanian vocal chords were a chilling reminder that I was moving towards a totally different part of Europe, infact, id be there rather soon. 4 hours isn't really soon actually and I could get at least 3 hours more sleep. Mr. Coffee Lord kept raving on, although less consistantly until about 8:30am. I decided to get up around 9 or something, I really cannot remember the exact time but it was too early. After getting dressed I walked up to the top of the ferry's viewing platform and was greeted by a brown fog floating above the sea, it looked kinda gross. All around the ship were smaller vessels, some moving towards Klaipeda and others were sitting there and filled with fishermans, all trying to remain stable as
Isolation and Protrusion
A beautiful scene with the exception of ruins on the beach. The russians tend to ruin everything. the ferry's wake created waves that were considerably large and capable of inducing seasickness into any unworthy seadog. On the top deck I noticed some people had 'camped out' the night in sleeping bags. I couldnt imagine how cold and windy it would have been throughout the night but it would have sucked, that's one thing for sure. I walked over to my new englander friend, the American box person, whose name i've forgotten. We began to talk and admire the murky water and fog until I made the decision to get a coffee. The propaganda worked, I guess and I was ready to hand over some Swedish krones for an overpriced coffee. I walked down to the cafe, noticing that there was no land to be seen just yet but as I sat there drinking my coffee and left-over cinnamon roll (that I forgot to mention I bought in Karlshamn and they tasted good!) from the day before I noticed a small group of rocks jutting outside and realised it must be almost time to see Lithuania for the first time, so I slurped my last bit of coffee and raced upstairs to the viewing platform again to get
Satan's Hound Cometh
No it's not Satan's mutt, it's Lloyd's, isn't he cute? a better glimpse of what was going on. The rocks were indeed a breakwater, signalling our arrival to the port of Klaipeda. After studying the map of the town, I realised that we had a great deal of water to cover before we reached the dock in which the baltic ferries left their passengers to fend for themselves in the outskirts of the city. I stood up there talking to the american dude about his plans for the next week or so and just general chit chat about what we were seeing either side of the boat. One thing for certain was how imposing the port of Klaipeda is, it's really a giant port with what seemed like 100's of cranes on standby waiting for ships to come, perhaps half these cranes are never used. The one side of the port was entirely industrial while the other side was all natural. A shining beacon of nature, a pleasent park with loads of trees and one of those stupid tourist trains that I rode in Nice, which was cruising alongside the waterway. Heaps of people were out walking on the beautiful sunny morning, the place seemed alive. I need to make
Boy's Night In
Typical scene, it was the same ... hmmm ... every night. something clear here, that is that I had no idea what to expect in this country. Absolutely nothing at all. Communism and post-soviet were just two terms which I had heard and had a faint idea about in the past but I had no education on either subject, so I had no idea how a country effected by both would be to a tourist or more importantly, how it would be to me. The nature island or how it seemed I will cober that a but later when I actually venture over there but its a pretty special place. The ferry continued to move at an agonisingly slow pace. It had slowed down for port regulations I guess and well the port regulations suck because I was eager to disembark the ship, I had people waiting for me you see. After enough chit chat and sightseeing from the ship, we could finally see the dock in which we would stop, so I scuttled downstairs to gather my shit and hopefully get right off. After collecting my bags and handing my key over, it was time for the great and exciting game of standing around waiting for instructions on how to
Twilight of the Idols
The Nazi Bunker, now with drunken teenagers standing on top of it. No respect for the times of old. Think just 60 years ago something important was going on here. disembark. We waited for all the car owners to get off first and then we finally got right of way to get on the bus on the car deck and slowly get to our destination. I had met up with Sven again and we were talking on the bus, he told me he was on the same ship as me heading home next week so that was cool, I guess.. id have someone to talk to at least. Upstairs before the bus I got a 'hurry up' sms from Liudas my lithuanian host, so I was extra eager to get off. All in all... from arriving at the breakwater and then getting past the shitty disembarkmet procedure and bus to the terminal, it was 90 mins. Sven asked me quietly if he could maybe get a ride to the city center from the ferry terminal because he only just realised how far it was. I felt really bad because I didnt feel comfortable asking my friend and his dad to drive a stranger in their car aswell as me, someone they didnt
really know, either. I eventually made up a nice excuse and we met some people on the way
Confused Youth
Lots of Stuff painted here in the bunker, it was worse inside... not sure why the Nine Inch Nails logo is printed over the Swaztika? out that were taxiing it to the center so I pushed him towards that option. I still feel like a dog, even to this day, maybe tomorrow this feeling will go away but I really dont know how ill ever live with myself. I approached the customs office with fear, armed guards with ak47's weren't present nor were there any gunships of harrier jets on standby to take care of any unwanted tourists. The window was shaded dark black, the customs official was shielding his identity from me. After twice aslong as anyone else, I got my super delux edition stamp and was sent on my way to freedom. I waved Sven off and we agreed to meet up again on the journey back to Sweden. At this point id run into my hosts, Liudas, who will be forth known as Lloyd and of course his father. An awkward introduction of sorts that in no way set the standard for the rest of the week but then we jumped into the car and headed towards the destination. The conversation is always awkward as first, you never know just how good some people's english is going to be away from a
You've been rather Busy, do sit down!
Typical soviet era park bench. Such ergonomics! keyboard but Lloyd's was pretty good. I was staring out the window and witnessing eastern europe for the first time. Everything out here seemed to be rusted, well the fences and lightposts out here but then again this was the sticks. If you arrived to Adelaide at our outer harbour then you would be disgusted to at how poor it is, the inner harbour is almost as crappy aswell, so I shouldnt be complaining too much about other cities! Eventually we left the industrialized zone and started driving through some form of suburbia. My first view and lesson on soviet architecture. The buildings were quite bad in appearance, I mean they looked like utter shit. Grey boxes with red roofs and occasional variations on grey in the mix. I had never seen such housing in my life. It was quite a shock and I didnt know how to express how I felt or what I was seeing to Lloyd or his dad because I didnt want to offend them. Im glad Lloyd agrees with me on how crappy the buildings were and well how bad they ARE because im sure theyre still there even though I had left. I was
Tainted Shadow of the Past
The russians really think the Lithuanian public care, such an effort in making themselves look superior. still amazed at how DIFFERENT it looked here. These horrid buildings housed people, lives went on inside. Demented bee hives from a post apocalyptic wasteland but this was 2006 and the bombs havent started exploding yet. I watched people move about, people looked normal, vert normal actually but they lived in such a shanty town it was hard to believe they looked so good. It was all bad news as we continued along the main road, the housing remained crap and even moved toward other levels of crap not witnessed by my middle class white boy eyes from the west. Im sure the housing in other parts of the world like Ethiopia or Cambodia are much worse but I have no interest in going there so I guess I'll never know and have to base all my opinions on what I saw here in Klaipeda. It was almost time to find our place to stay. Lloyd's dad is a bit of a 'big man' in Klaipeda, he's a crucial part of the local newspaper and has connections all over the place (lucky for me eh!) His connections had scored us a 2 bed hotel room right near downtown Klaipeda. I
Genius Vs. Retard
One building, on the left is german architecture and on the right, how the russians wanted to add their flare to this school building. was scared at how much it would cost Lloyd's dad but he didnt seem to care and insisted we stay there and have a good time without making too much noise! and throughout the course of the week we had a good time and made some noise. Quite alot of noises actually. The hotel room itself was nice, we had a clean bathroom with working shower and also a TV that worked, which Lloyd informed me was very rare for Lithuania, we also had a small fridge to house beer when the time called for beer to fill the void. There was a bedroom with 2 beds and a lounge room with a fold out sofa, with the bathroom leading off from the lounge. Simple, comfortable and clean. After I dumped my bags it was time to hop back in the car and head to Lloyd's actual apartment for lunch and to meet his mum before heading out to do some sightseeing and to meet the Admiral... a figure whom you will remember long after you finish reading this journal.
The drive to Lloyd's apartment showcased the best and worst that Klaipeda had to offer. Some of the apartments
Fun and Games for kids of all Ages
Here we have your a-typical soviet era playground. It wasnt a surprise that a group of kids were sitting away from this area. Dogs were also verboden from this park. along this stretch looked like they were starting to collapse, which is great because maybe they'll get replaced with something that looks halfway humane. Another thing was the phenomenon of half painted houses, you see people share 2 and 3 storey houses and only paint their floor, so you have a front of the house only 1 3rd covered in flashly new paint while the rest of the house looks like shit. Something worse than soviet block apartments had also sprung up along this road. Shopping malls! yes! the same ones you and I are used to back at home, big glass buildings with flashing lights and neon illuminated bill boards. They looked like such an american touch to a soviet brutalized city. Signs of a country rebuilding after the communist era, of course but they still looked awkard and horrendous. Im complaining alot but I really hate shopping malls and now I also hate russian architecture, so I guess Klaipeda can't win me over entirely 😉 After the glitter of the 'Apocalypse' Mall we eventually entered downtown Klaipeda and it was actually quite nice. A sunny day paved way for shady, tree lined streets and people sipping drinks and
An Old Ship and a Chimney
Nothing important but something that caught my eye every time I made it over the bridge. Looking makes you forget youre surrounded by shitty buildings and that youre probably being stared at by someone. enjoying a splendid afternoon. Normal shops were open for business and people were buzzing in and out just like normal. We drove through the old town cobbled area and over a bridge which had an old boat moored down below, a nice touch but an expensive restaurant waited for you aboard! Some nice parks either side and Klaipeda's distinctive townsquare were also part of this brief introduction. Lloyd's family apartment is situated very close to the town center, actually a very nice location but on a cobbled street! I think cobbled streets would suck if you lived on one, well near one I should say, it would be uncomfortable to live on one. The apartment itself was quite run down but the pick of the crop when you considered the other monstrosities around. We walked upstairs and were greeted by the feeble noises of Lloyd's dog. A very old and tired Pug. I must say he's the most smelliest dog ive ever smelt and the most bizzare and evil creature ive seen that walks this Earth but he kicked ass, all smells aside we had some great times! Lloyd's mum was there to greet us, she seems quite nice even
Peek-a-boo, I can See You
The russian eye is upon you, you cannot cross this tranquil River or we shall CRUSH you. after some stories I have heard from young Lloyd over the years. Teenagers and their whining! 😉 We all settled down to a nice meal of chicken and assorted vegetables including some awesome potatoes. All the potatoes they use in Europe seem to Kick the shit out of stuff we get back at home. We discussed many things over the meal, the usual dinner chat with a group and I started learning about Lithuania and how the whole place funtioned and it was all very interesting. We also had a beer and after I tried a sweet finnish drink made with cranberries... not really to my taste though haha I'll stick to Jagermesiter thanks. The star of that afternoon wasnt the conversation it was the TV! the russian channels in particular. You see Lithuania still has alot of russian residents and also people who can read and write in russian, so the TV broadcats 2 or 3 stations in russian with all sorts of soviet crap and propaganda films but I was particulary interested in the cartoon channel with great old school subliminal propaganda cartoons from the cold war era. For those of you into the popular television show from the USA called 'The Simpsons', you may recall the episode where the Itchy and Scratchy movie is replaced by eastern europe's favourite cat and mouse duo... well if you remember that part of the episode you may get a basic idea of how cool russian cartoons are haha and im serious.. they kicked ass. I didnt want to leave the lounge room as I was enjoying the cartoons so much. We retreated to Lloyd's room where I got the run down on the social structure of Lithuania, learning about the dangers of Urban life. I would have to remain as silent as possible about my 'wealth', especially to his friends but also dont flash my apparent richness infront of others. This struck me as being VERY odd because a newsflash for those not paying attention... I am
not rich, not in the slightest. So I took this onboard, I had to trust Lloyd and his judgments, it was his country afterall. Another thing he mentioned was the safety part of things. I was interested to learn how dangerous the streets were, for one, Lloyd carried a gun everywhere he went, he looked quite like a cop actually. Him and Admiral could star in the Lithuanian version of NYPD or something. He said it was always best to be 'prepared' but living in Australia you dont really need a gun to defend yourself from people. A totally new experience for me there. Throughout the week nothing happened, not even a whiff of trouble actually but hey, it was Lloyd's country and he knows what goes on there and maybe, just maybe, one day he'll need the gun. We discussed all types of stuff that afternoon and eventually it came to the topic of what was on the agenda for the evening and before we knew it, it was time to meet ... The Admiral.
Paulius, or just Paul, I guess... the same name as myself met us near his home. Just a short 10 min walk from Lloyd's apartment. The walk was my first time hitting the ghetto of Klaipeda with an armed friend by my side, the streets felt a safer place. I walked with Lloyd passed typical housing in the area and well... it was shocking to me but for Lloyd just another day in the life. I was secretly in awe of what this place was all about, kids were riding their bycicles around and things like that. Rabid dogs were patrolling the streets and barking and people, it was all madness but in a sense it was quite normal. Admiral was casually walking towards us and then we met and shook hands. It was a nice moment because I was a bit nervous about this character. We walked around a bit, I had to try change some euro's over for Lithuanian currency (Litas) and after that was done, the lads decided to show me the best part of Klaipeda and perhaps all of Lithuania Neringa on the Curonian lagoon. A headland type mass that spreads all the way from Poland and passed the russian subsection 'Kaliningrad' , between Poland and Lithuanian before ending right there in Klaipeda. This was the place I saw coming in earlier in the morning, the place buzzing with life. We boarded a dodgy looking ferry from down a small river... the ferry was oddly swivelled sideways to let people on the front, after awkardly turning itself the right way, we skittled accross the harbour. It took 5 mins or so to reach the other side and we were greeted by Klaipeda's version of a tourist frenzy with dozens of people around enjoying the beautiful weather. We walked along the coast line, but not on the train thing or Horse drawn cart unfortunatley. We stumbled accross some old boats set up as a museum and you could walk inside them and things all for free which was great. I also noticed my first spelling error on the English translation of the 'verboden!' list. Dogs and icecream werent permitted onboard it seems. Also in this park area were some old houses from the 18th or 19th century, complete with scary looking manequins sitting there in eternal damnation. The information was all very interesting as you can imagine. Throughout this time I spent most of it deciding on whether I liked my 2 new friends, well Paulius anyway, Lloyd i'd known for sometime. We entered the 'Aquarium', Lithuania's answer to Seaworld and well.. it was just that. An Eastern European showpiece. Inside, Paulius personallity was beggining to grate on me, he was ... rather loud ... rather boystrous and usually these people annoy me but he did have one redeeming feature which saved him, well he had 2 but one was more important but I didnt learn about these til later. The aquarium, which was so damn chap to get in, 10 litas... which is about 3€ ... so very very cheap but quite a bit for Lithuanian standards. The place was weird, it was set in an old bunker or fortress or something with bits of wall lining the place and all sorts of anchors and things on show, barely visible through all the dry grass/weeds. The actual Aquarium was quite cool, the fish looked happy swimming around and around, I guess... the water was murky and almost looked like it was contaminated, maybe thats why a few of the smaller tanks were empty. What more can I say about an Aquarium? hmm... there were seals, they were happy sleeping but ive never seen a sad seal or one that does anything apart from lay there, anyway... We walked around and eventually back outside to see some exhibits which were located in small prison cell type places under the surface built into the walls. Downstairs you were greeted by a strange Manequin with a bizzare look on his face aswell as model ships and photo's of ships. Enthralling entertainment for everyone. Above surface we were greeted by fat ladies and bells ringing. The Aquarium's staff (all obese elderly women, tis' true) were looking mean and scaring away all the people who paid money, it was time to go home, get out! We left and saw some more seals, ones who escaped the inside and were sitting outside but afraid to enter this pool because it was brown. All sorts of death or urine from 1000's of homeless people settled here. No place for seal nor man. We walked along a brutal path discussing what we had seen inside and of course me asking more questions about Lithuanian Kulture. The path led to a 'wow man' destination. Klaipeda's local beach. This place on the other side of the headland was pretty much deserted because, I was told that it cost too much money to cross on the ferry. Sounded like a fair excuse to me. The beach was fantastic and not being spoilt by people made it even better. We watched as the sun decended deep behind the clouds, it was great but all sorts of metal objects were scattered just beneath the surface of the sand. Maybe a dangerous place but the beach doesnt have to be non-dangerous, aslong as the sand is the right colour and the coast is clear (so to speak) and then im happy. We sat there talking for an hour or so and I made the realisation that these younger dudes, a whopping 3 years behind me were alright and this week was going to be cool. They were mentioning another friend of theirs, another with the name Paul would you believe and eventually it was time to go meet 'her' ...
Youre right im still on the first day but let me get it off my chest then ill breeze through the rest! We walked back to the Admiral's house and met 'her' at her Car, our driver for this evening. Why they call Paul 'her' is something that kinda makes little sense, it's one of those 'personal jokes' amongst friends but 'she' and 'her' have kinda become Paul in a way that she can't really shake. Paul was a stocky fellow and we were informed that he enjoyed his drink and his english skillz really blazed after a few brews. So we drove to the supermarket during the dying minutes of daylight. The supermarket was fun, we stocked up on food stuffs and cheap beer. Beer for a can the equivalent of 0,75€, so you can't go wrong. The evening was filled with 4 dudes getting pretty drunk on shitty beer, me teaching them proper english and also learning some Lithuanian which ive now forgotten of course! The evening went on and on but Paulius wasnt annoying me like I expected, instead his redeeming features of good humour and self analysis came through. He could tell himself to shut up and let someone else speak, im sure its difficult and at times he tries very hard to become lord of everything but seems to be able to cut the shit at the right moments and well, he makes it much more bareable to be around. The other Paul was a strange man, very quiet but also pretty funny but in strange ways. His grip on English being of particular good humour haha. At about 4am it was lights out and we all slept. Not before The Admiral discovering my camera and having some 'fun' with it... seriously annoying! 5 hours later at 9am he decided to wake us all up and tell us he was leaving. Thanks mate.
It seems like a long time ago this all happened and exact days and events us so vague in my head so I doubt they'll match here but we'll see where it carries. Most nights were about drinking beer listening to shitty music or watching Lithuanian TV, also alot of chicken was consumed, 100kg or more between us I think. During that week, Lloyd, Paulius and myself visited a place on the other side of Klaipeda, another beach but this one with a whole lot more people and also a nazi bunker remaining from WWII. Lithuania was once a german occupied country and Klaipeda it's most prized city, I think. German architecture is spread amongst the horrible russian shit, including a Bavarian style house (similar to my grandparent's!) in the city center, aswell as the bunker I just mentioned. The germans after losing the war surrendered all their gear to what the russians would eventually would take over, so during the period of the USSR, I guess it would have been a comunist bunker, too... a free bunker that stank of shit and other niceness. Not an inviting tourist attraction but just a place to hang out and cause trouble or to sleep if times were tough. Just beware the other homeless people who may bunk with you. This was my first view 'outside' Klaipeda, we had to travel briefly through a forest in Paulius's car so I guess it counts as scenery haha. Before heading out to the bunker, the Admiral gave me a gift back at his place. A really cool Soviet officer's cap, from the Nuclear containment division or something like that. It looks pretty fierce and I can't wait to walk around the streets of Adelaide parading my gift 😉 It was an honour to recieve the gift. Lloyd spoke like Paulius respected me and thought I would enjoy such an item, we were both a bit nerdy when it came to talking about War stuff but I never war fatigues like the Admiral does! (and never will!)
I can't remember too many other local activities that are noteworthy but on one occasion we, meaning, Lloyd, her and myself travelled through the 'old town' of Klaipeda, the typical cobbled walkways which choke the rest of Europe. Some find old guest houses and fancy places, including an old hotel where Hitler was said to have given a speach in WW2, there was a statue in the fountain facing the crowd and Hitler was said to have it removed because it wasnt facing him as he spoke. It's a funny annecdote, not sure how true it is but I enjoyed checking out the sights around old town. We also trundles around the harbour and found the 'castle ruins' which were beyond ruins. Similar to the castle in Belgium I visited (one of a few) where nothing could be seen bar a smattering of rocks and a sign posted showing what the rocks looked like together about a million years ago. Nothing exciting. On another occasion we wandered around the normal town looking at things, I was mainly looking at the local girls, who I must say were the most attractive in Europe! (forget Sweden AND Norway!) I was also dodging stares from the 'locals', one of the things that I hated most about Lithuania was the way people eyeballed me wherever I went. Like I reeked of foreign blood even though my german and eastern european blood flows just as red hot as theirs. Everytime I walked passed somewhere I gazed around and YES that person was looking at me and that one, too... I really hated it. I think some european cultures are all about staring at people. I find old Italian ladies like to stare and JUDGE, too but these Lithuanian ones seemed even worse. We walked up some tower restaurant/bar and got a great view of Neringa and the enture lagoon and I saw just how many ugly structures made up this town, it spread for ages. Depressing as far as the eye could see but with one feature the other major Lithuanian cities wouldnt have ... the beach. I particulary liked this walk-about because I had some new shoes. Yes, I gave in and ditched my rain soaked shoes from the Czech Rebublic and got some nicely priced black shoes, that Lloyd assures me are quality and they havent failed me yet. I dumped my old shoes in the new box and placed them in a garbage can in the park. Paulius said to me a Bum would take them, I just laughed, no-one would want those shitty shoes! After a hearty lunch of special Lithuanian Dumplings, ones that contain meat inside! it was onward to the local drinking ground for a few beers. We were greeted by another friend of Lloyd's.. his name eludes me now but the afternoon was warm and this outdoor empty block next to the docks provided some awesome entertainment. The game of the day was 'apple throwing', the objective to get a sharp stick, impale a wild apple growing on the tree in the area and fling them over the fence, whoever threw the furthest was coolest. Other games included, drinking warm beer and throwing glass bottles at the fence, if you made it over the fence you won but if the bottle smashed on the fence you were even
cooler ... my bottle smashed and to this day it remains one of my greatest victories. This moment in time though was a glimpe into the lives of some local boys. They were a new generation, rising over the old stale people. People who haven't and possibly cannot repair after the Soviet Union collapsed and left Lithuania. The whole country was under re-construction and these young guys were the foundations. Most kids here witht he exeption of her are all studying in tertiary education for jobs that will land them in possibly important roles which will in turn create even better environments for the country in 15 or 20 years time. It sounds grim but the older generations seem to be holding the country back from a bright future. I mention this only because I can, because for a week I was part of this group of young kids, even though just an outsider and foreigner with lots of money to burn. They opened up to me and shared the stories of their life and their country and gave me an insight, another experience which would be without possibilty if I was hostelling it. After the apple throwing was finished, I guess we went and got some chicken and beer and ate and drank til our heart's content.
It was the nights without Paul and the admiral that I enjoyed the most. The constant references to Salad Fingers and Borat were very funny and took awhile to get old and at some sober moments did get quite old. The Admiral's militaristic outfits and body odour were quite charming and even after a bad mood his stupid comments sure could brighten your day. Her ... well ... she was just her, a totally natural lazy mummie's boy but his heart was in the right place and his 'nigga talk' after a few beers and priceless. Quoting rap and American movies, I dont think he knew what it all meant but still it was funny. His taste in music was better than the Admiral's, but there's only so much Slipknot and Disturbed one can take before one gets quite sick of the music I do say! Admiral's taste was one of Drum n' Bass, he liked a couple of decent acts, Pendulum and Venetian Snares but the rest was pretty shitty. We were tormented by this crappy music when Admiral was inda house. As I was saying though, the nights when it was just Lloyd and myself were very special. 2 friends from an internet black metal group finally meeting after some years, both knew alot about each other but now the friendship forming on a different level. It was an excellent time and Ill regard the late nights sitting up and talking with a fond memory. I used to sit on the window sill, one leg hanging outside maybe, we had our hotel room on the first floor but 2 meters or air seperated us from the ground below. We sat in the open area drinking, some smoking but all joking and laughing and even yelling abuse at innocent people walking passed outside in the middle of the night. I remember staring out at the night sky and realising things, having a 'moment', ive had a few of these. Maybe they're just exact positions in time when im 100%!c(MISSING)ontent with EVERYTHING and letting that moment consume me. Im not sure if ive mentioned these before but I remember them in my heart, so I guess that's all that matters eh!
There was an afternoon where Lloyd and I were invited to lunch at his parent's apartment. His father not home but his Mum was preparing some food for us. Lloyd decided to take me on a walking tour of the city. I saw all the sights that there were to see. The oldest building, a german built post office, it looked out of place in Klaipeda amongst the russian buildings but no im being too harsh... this section, the more corporate section of Klaipeda was actually very nice. The tree lined streets didnt give away any clue that we were taking a stroll though this war-torn city. This was the time of learning and differentiating between the ancient german architecture and the Russian's lack of style or care in slopping together buildings in the vain of a 3 year old with pieces of lego. We wandered around and saw some russian squares, horible stale looking places with a brown monument or something sticking out in the middle. The old KGB headquarters of Klaipeda was interesting, a customs office was now inside and perhaps the other attrocities of the past, torture chambers and other assorted nasties long forgotten or perhaps not ever known by the current residents. The highlight of the tour by far was the city park and Russian war memorial. The park was... hideous. It was like a thin forest. Crappy looking half dead trees surrounded by 'works of art', these works of art were sculptures representing all sorts of things, one represented 'cats' and another 'a shadow' among other things. The place I think was the most depressing place id ever been to. It was actually built over a german graveyard from WWI and all the german headstones had been torn down by the russians, maybe thats what gave this place such an eerie vibe. The sculptures were seriously horrendous, even an art critique couldn't describe what the hell these lumps of brown material were, Lloyd had a work for them 'shit'. I couldnt agree more. The place was somewhat aluring, perhaps an excellent place to attempt suicide. You could blast some highly devastating music and end it all right there, the surrounds were picture perfect for dying, I found it odd that young people, particulary some young girls were just sitting there on a park bench (not yet decayed!) and talking like normal whilst this land of brown sculptures and German Soldier's souls lived and breathed all around them. People were taking their baby through in a stroller. Not nice to expose a young child to such a horrible place, I wouldn't have thought ... Onwards though and to the Russian War memorial. Prepostorous, a giant landmark, the pictured monument of russian soldiers and an even bigger sword were constructed here aswell as many dead russian soldiers. Im not sure if the Lithuanian people care too much about them. From my understanding, the SS (Nazi's) were far from humane and treated the Lithuanian people with a greater level of dignity and respect in the time of ocupation. There was also an eternal flame there, lit to remember the soldiers who had died, a flame to withstand the test of time. The soldiers forever immortal in the memories of those around but ... this was Lithuania ... and the flame was ... out.
On the way to the apartment, I noticed a man on the corner, his feet were rather ... familiar... I told this to Lloyd and told him to go and check. He briskly walked back to me and laughed and we both realised it was photo oppurtunity time, so we crossed the road and I got the right angle and took a snap shot of the guy and his feet, the old bastard was wearing my old shoes!
On my 3rd to last day there, I travelled with Lloyd and his parents to go and visit his grandparents out in the countryside, a swift 60km drive into the badlands. It was my frist realy real view of Lithuania outside of Klaipeda, my first chance to see the rural side of things. I crave seeing the rural side of all countries I visit. What did I see here? A flat green surface with occasional cows and some forests around. Your typical country european scene! It was just refreshing to see what it was like out here. We passed through some smaller towns, they, too, touched by the russian hand of architecture. Box housing estates gleaming with pride lined the streets of even the small towns out in the wilderness... it was actually quite sad. Eventually we made it to a nice small village and parked the car alongside a small river. We got out and had a beer, some small children and a dog were gleefully enjoying the water and the burst of warm weather that would soon depart and leave Lithunania as an even more miserable place than it looks. This was right on the border of the russian territory and armed guard towers loomed just accross the river, so dont even think about running to russia (who would want to?) or you sure would have some questions to answer. The place was quite serene and a stark contrast to the busy streets of Klaipeda and also no-one to endlessly stare at you! The place was so nice I could have stayed there and enjoyed the nice breeze and lapped the atmosphere for quite some time without getting bored but it was almost time to go meet Lloyd's grandparents. We drove further into the country for 5 mins or so before hitting a dirt road and driving upto a small hut. An elderly man saw us coming and gave us a wave before opening his fence for us. We drove through and got out of the car. I shook Lloyd's grandma's hand and said hello. She seemed quite happy to have a guest from Australia and I was quite happy to be that guest. Eventually Lloyd's grandad came over and I shook hands from him, too but they didnt speak english and the grandfather spoke only a tiny bit of German so I had to use Lloyd as an interpreter most of the time! We enjoyed a lunch of traditional food... borsch? or how is it spelt? well anyway it's MEANT to be red according to the Admiral but the white soup tasted fine, too. It's pretty much like a cold creamy soup with hot potatoes. Rather nice actually, afterwards it was freshly cooked fish, straight from the local stream. I put my hatred of seafood aside and quite enjoyed the fish although the Borsch was enough already and I would feel the after effects from this feast for a day after! not to mention the effects of the home made vodka ... A stroll and a chat with Lloyd as we circled the country cottage after lunch was just what the doctor ordered and I enjoyed the emptiness of rural life just as I had done back in Aumbach but this was a brief visit, not for a whole month and I was glad. Lloyd's grandpa showed me the toilet he built himself (himself was an Architect from a time long ago) and it was quite impressive. I used some nearby shrubs by the river to relieve myself though. Their small cottage backed onto a lovely stream or river, it was perfect apart from loud motorboats that tore up and down now and again. Apart from that and some old geezer scooting passed on his bike, the whole area was void of humans. Perfect. After our quick visit it was time to hit the road, Lloyd's grandma seemt ashamed of the facilities and I felt quite bad that she had to feel that way, there's no way for me to explain the whole place without sounding like high allmighty so I wont say anything at all but there was no reason to be ashamed of
your own country retreat.
The final episode and Lloyd and I traveled to the seaside town of Palanga after some adventures on the Lithuanian bus system. Palanga is like a tourist hole. It's the place everyone comes to ignore or forget the mundanity of normal life. The place has a giant pier which just out and to one side, it's packed with people who stand there staring out and watching the sunset. It was quite a scenic place but filled with people which took the attraction away. All the usual suspects were here, market stalls selling trinkets and other assorted garbages, it was a pleasent afternoon, I even had some cherry icecream which was super fantastic but apart from that, it was just another tourist town but I dont take anything away from the Lithuanian public, this is like a paradise for them and they need it to escape the horrors of home, I wish them luck and also advise them that they have just as beautiful a beach back in Klaipeda but maybe it should remain a secret ... shhh. The next day we headed back to his apartment relatively early and started to burn dvd's filled with music to bring home, the thing that brought us together in the first place. There's nothing like Mp3 trading and I have 2 dvd's of new funeral doom and old school doom for anyone back at home interested 😉 The day was sad and the night before I had said my goodbyes to Her and Lloyd's mum and dad and thanked them both for their excellent hospitality and especially his dad for organising the hotel for us in the first place. So very much appreciated. Eevntually the time came and Admiral arrived, my driver to the ferry dock. We headed off and I paid him a few Lita's and a couple of cans of beer, these people were kinda poor even with their jobs (spending money on the wrong things thats why youre poor guys!) ... payment for use of someone's car had been the trend all week and well it was no big deal. I was happy getting a cheap ride to the ferry! I got my boarding pass and sat with the 2 friends and waited. My last 30 mins of Borat and Salad fingers jokes. I would miss that kind of shit and their companionship. After awhile it was time to get up and go, make my way through customs and aboard the bus... then the ferry. Frantic times ahead. I shook their hands and told Lloyd it was a pleasure to meet him (which it was) and hoped to maybe see him in Australia but I think I may return to Lithuania again before he ventures to the great Southern Land. No worries at all, id love to return to this place. After I could no longer see them I was on my own again but this didnt last long, I was rejoined by Sven, my shadow from Norway, a travel companion for the next 15 hours, well maybe only 7 because I will sleep most of the way. I lost Sven as the boat departed and sat there at the front of the ship watching Klaipeda slowly glide past on both sides, a reverse angle shot of what it was like a week ago but there were no feelings of anxiousness only of excitement as I had Scandinavia to look forward to on the other side of the Baltic Sea. I rejoined Sven over a beer in one of the lounges, he told me he fell in love with a 20 year old Girl and that he promised to come back to her but after talking to me about love I think he regretted his words. I warned him that Lithuanian girls only like money, they love rich foreigners. I feel bad about being mean to Sven again but I made it up to him by buying him a beer. Aside from the girl problems we managed to discuss our last week of experiences in VERY bad english, his skills had gotten worse I think but then again my Norwegian hadn't got any better. After the talk it was time to hit the hay, after some time, the sky errupted and a brutal thunderstorm split the sky apart. There's nothing more humbling that being on an Iron tub in the middle of the sea with Lightning blazing all around. The thunder deafening but the atmosphere quite calming. I fell asleep to the sounds of the sea and mother nature above reminding us of who is boss. Tomorrow would be a long ass train day again but for now Sleep was what I needed ...
So there you go, a brief look at Eastern Europe from my eyes. Lithuania is far from the 'worst off' of the Eastern European states but it's not the best either, I think it's Baltic comrades of Latvia and Estonia are raking in more tourist dollars but give little Lithuania a chance and she'll catch up. I questioned Lloyd or anyone's reasons for wanting to live there in the East but after sometime, I realised the magic was in the future, a goal shared by the young people to raise the country from the shambles it was. It would be great to a part of the reconstruction crew (start by razing that god-awful park!) and to build the nation. Id love to see the place in a few years when the old has paved way for the new and the whole place stands on it's own legs as proud as can be. As for now, though, I'll enjoy the spoils of Norway and then my favourite country on Earth I call home, Australia.
Until next time, where you can enjoy Stockholm and a biking trek through Finland! sounds awesome huh?? YEAH!!
Bye bye.
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Mum !
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This is amazining!!!!!
Wow, thanks Paul for this detailed writing. It is certenly an eye opener for me on a personal level. I apriciate it so much. Thanks for sharing all the good and the ugly. Well done, look forward to your homecoming. But in the meantime keep up the good work of writing this amazing journey down. Keep smiling!!!!!