TRIP II: COUNTRIES WE VISITED
SCOTLAND - EDINBURGH, PERTH, & LEITH
Though Scotland has both a rich Viking heritage as evidenced by the many archeological finds in the country and a link with the Hanseatic League as well, we did not visit this part of Great Britain for the purpose of exploring either of these topics. The main reason for our starting our trip in Scotland was to board our wonderful ship, The Clipper Odyssey, at the port of Leith ( a city with Hanseatic links) just north of Edinburg.
Our visit to Scotland included a bus tour of the city and a stop at Edinburgh Castle (which we had actually explored last year before another Zegrahm trip which started in Scotland.
We also visited Scone Palace outside Perth to see where the Stone of Scone (or Stone of Destiny) once rested.
The last King crowned there was Charles I. The stone now is housed in Westminster Abbey under the Coronation Throne. The grounds were lovely and the Palace interesting to visit, but none of that fit in with the overarching theme of this Zegrahm trip.
On our visit to the Edinburgh Castle, we did decide that we needed to look up Bonnie Prince Charlie's pedigree and history to assess his claim to the English throne and learn why he was denied it. So now that I have gotten home, I have researched the matter and here provide the answers. The easiest and clearest answer as to why the “Young Pretender” did not accede to the throne is the fact that he was Roman Catholic and refused to renounce his faith, just as his father, the son of James II had refused to give up his faith. His father was finally accused of treason when he pressed his “right of succession” and was banished with the forfeit of all his lands, titles, and possessions. He never became James III of England. So Bonnie Prince Charlie never gained the throne even though he fought for it through several rebellions and battles. Instead, upon James II's death, the throne went to Mary, his daughter, and her husband, William who was the grandson of James I. Isn't that clear as glass now? Well, we think so anyway. Just to confuse you further, William and Mary had no issue so when they died Mary's sister became Queen Anne. She too died with no progeny, so the English crown went to George Hanover of Germany who was acceptable because he was a Protestant and the great grandson of James I! Wouldn't you have hated to be an English child having to memorize all these successions and disputes? And now I refuse to go any further in this matter by trying to figure out how they moved from the House of Hanover to the current House of Windsor. If you are curious, just Google it yourself.
GERMANY - SYLT ISLAND
Our feet reached German soil on the pretty resort island of Sylt, pronounced as though it is spelled “Zoolt”. The German word means silt and that is the base of this North Sea Island. Sylt is a barrier island just off the coast of the Jutland Peninsula and it is the farthest north point in Germany. Because of its position, Danes and Germans visit the holiday island in large numbers. The island has been connected to the mainland since 1927 by the Hindenburgdamm Causeway for trains which carry cars and passengers across. Yes, it is named for thatHindenburg one of the developers of blimps.
Sylt is a strangely shaped island, looking rather like a long bird standing at right angles to the mainland. It is 23 miles from the south “tail” of the bird to its north “head.” At its widest, the bird's body measures 7.8 miles and at its narrowest it is only 1052 feet. The “legs” the bird stands on consist of that causeway mentioned in the paragraph above. The highest elevation on this very low-lying island is only 172 ft., but vast majority of its total of 38 square miles of territory is considerably lower than that.
There is no need to memorize the current shape of Sylt because it is shape-shifting continuously due to migrating dunes and beach erosion. Many methods have been tried over the years to stabilize the dunes and prevent the erosion but the only defense that has worked so far is the enormously expensive practice of beach renourishment by pumping sands from the seafloor onto the shore. Though the winds on the island are fairly constant too, the dunes are more stable now that there is more development of the land. The dykes which were erected to protect the beaches from so much erosion have worked to some extent, but they have their own demands—sheep must constantly graze atop them to keep the ground compacted and thus immobilize the dunes that want to “migrate.”
The island enjoys a milder climate than either mainland Germany or Denmark above it because of the effects of the Gulf Stream. Due to this moderating force, over 2500 species of animals and birds and 250 different plants have been identified on the island.
While we were visiting, one of the loveliest of the plants was in full bloom all over the island the Sylt Rose, a wild rose which was apparently brought in from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia. This deep pink flower obviously enjoys Sylt as much as do the millions of German tourists who visit each year.
In addition to the attractions of the mild climate, the 25 mile long sandy beach on the North Sea side brings walkers, hikers, birdwatchers, and sunbathers in summer. We greatly enjoyed our walk on the paths along the beach which is a wildlife preserve and we easily understood the draw the island exerts. The wind was blowing but it was not a cold wind and the birds were easy to see. Normally, there are about 36,000 permanent residents here, but that can swell easily in summer when almost 1,000,000 visitors swarm ashore.
There are several towns sprinkled around the island's interior, the most touristy of which is Westerland. The quaint blue and white buildings around the town center served as the village on Cape Cod which featured in the movie, “Ghost,” and we could easily see that it was a good stand-in. The reason it was used instead of New England's own charming beach towns may have been forgotten by now. But we were reminded by our local guide who told us that the director of that movie was Roman Polanski who cannot return to the USA without being subject to immediate arrest because of the pending charges against him due to his alleged “relationship” with an underage girl.
Because we were never told of any Viking or Hanseatic League links to Sylt, we assumed that our stop here was simply to enjoy this lovely holiday island and take a break from the ship. And we appreciated that since we had been on board from 5 PM on June 9 until our Zodiac landing at the town of List on Sylt at 8:30 AM on June 11. Before lunch, and after our beach hike, we were given a bus tour of the island and saw other small cities and shopping areas as well as the farms and fields of the interior. We were also shown an area which the Germans had prepared for a landing strip during World War II but it was never used. Now it is a pleasant marsh area which is very attractive to migrating birds.
All that is not to imply that there was nothing “old” and “historic” to see on Sylt! No indeed; we were given the option of riding bicycles from the lunch spot near the south end of the island back to Westerland or visiting the Denghoog site. We elected to explore this 5000 year old mound chamber rather than biking through what we
had just walked through. Anyway, the mound covers a stone-lined chamber that is 15 ft. from east to west and 10 ft. north to south. The height varies from 5 to 6 ft. The 12 stones that create the room are estimated to weigh 40 tons each.
The old entrance was a very low passage through which it is necessary to crawl and it's about 15 ft. long. There is now another way inside through an opening cut through the top stones with a ladder available to descend inside. Don't you wonder how Neolithic peoples could move these enormous megaliths to build their chamber? Of course, there are other ancient sites with huge “moving” mysteries that are still not totally solved today Stonehenge, the Egyptian pyramids, Angkor Wat to name just a few.
The tomb was excavated in 1868 and several things of interest were found; most amazing was the skeleton of a male human being, almost complete. There was also one tooth of a cow, several amber beads, stone hatchets, perforated clubs, blades and pieces of broken glass. The archeologist who first entered this 5000 year old mound was so excited that he put all his finds into bags to take back to Germany for analysis. However, when he reopened the sacks in Germany, he sadly found that the skeletal remains had disintegrated into powder and many of the pieces were shattered. Not very wise packaging, was it? No wonder that modern archeologists insist on in situ analysis first.
Archeologists and historians do believe that they know how the chambers were constructed: by erecting the standing stones and then covering them up to their tops
both outside and inside the room created with sand. Then the roofing stones were piled up on top of the sands to form the ceiling. Following that procedure, the sands inside the chamber were removed by dragging piles of it on top of animal skins out through the crawl-in passage. No one knows for sure today what the chamber was used for those millennia ago but there are many other such mounds all over Sylt. If they could be excavated, they might reveal the secrets of Denghoog too. Fascinating place to visit, for sure, despite the mystery.
When we emerged from the chamber, several of the unexplored mounds were pointed out to us in the fields around us. Colleen told us that there is a gap in human history on Sylt Island in that up until now no relics or sites dating from the 3, 4, or 5th centuries have been discovered. Where are the “diggers,” but more important, where is the money to finance such projects?
Our last stop on Sylt was to a sand dune and beach area where the local geologist told us we could see the depositions and erosions wrought on the island by the last four ice ages. He further added that this is one of the few places in the northern reaches of Europe where this phenomenon can be clearly seen. All Scandinavian geological history is to be seen in this very spot on Sylt. We looked and tried to understand what we were seeing, but in the end, we had to take the expert's word for what he was explaining.
Nostalgic Note: As the Clipper Odyssey was leaving the harbor at List, we saw our old friend, the Hanseatic. This was the ship that had taken us on our fantastic trip to Antarctica so comfortably and luxuriously as well. Of course, it has also provided our most frightening experience in travel when it lost the power of one of its two engines and seemed to “heel over” in the middle of the night in very rough waters, making us ready to sing “Nearer My God to Thee.” Of course, it turned out that nothing very serious had happened at all, but it certainly scared us—a lot! The ship looked the same and the folks on board our current ship who were familiar with the Hanseatic said it is still a fine vessel with an excellent travel schedule, including the Antarctic during summer season down there.
GERMANY - THE KIEL CANAL
The next day, we entered this 61 mile long canal which would take us from the North Sea into the Baltic Sea. The canal crosses the Jutland Peninsula at the extreme northern part of German territory. For us, it ran west to east moving steadily in a south to north direction. Of course, the direction would be completely the opposite if the ship started into the canal from the Baltic Sea. The needs for the canal were both commercial and military (in the eyes Kaiser Wilhelm I). The canal cuts 250 miles off the trip completely around the Jutland Peninsula and keeps the ships away from very dangerous waters in that area.
So in 1887, construction began on the canal. It took 9000 workers 8 years to complete the project which was officially opened on June 20, 1895, by Kaiser Wilhelm II. It has been enlarged twice since that time and it is now 526 ft. across and 37 ft. deep. There are a set of locks at either end which eliminate the tidal flow variations. Usually, there are only inches in difference in water levels so entering and exiting the locks takes very little time. There are 7 bridges spanning the canal with an average 140 ft. of clearance beneath them for the ships.
During World War I, the canal was open only to German ships, but at the conclusion of the war, The Treaty of Versailles internationalized it so that ships of all nations could utilize it. In 1936, Hitler dispensed with most of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles including the international character of the Kiel Canal, so it was open only to German shipping. After World War II, the Canal was nationalized once again and so it remains today. AND, it is one of the busiest man-made waterways in the world.
It took the Clipper Odyssey about 8 hours to make the transit since ships can travel no faster than 8 knots per hour and no traveling is allowed at night. The countryside along the canal is lovely and green and there are little towns along the way that catch the eye of ships' passengers. The Germans were out in numbers because the day was clear and mild and they were having picnics, walking the banks, sunbathing, biking along the waterside, and happily waving to us as we passed.
One different and interesting thing we viewed from the ship was a very odd ferry system. The Rendsberg bridge is one of only 2 in the world with this particular arrangement. The ferry for vehicles and pedestrians to cross the canal is suspended from the bridge itself and never touches the water! After the passengers and vehicles drive up on the ferry, the “vessel” slides above the canal hanging from the bridge. Neat arrangement and it seems to work very well. The ferry does have to operate between ships that are passing under the bridge since it is suspended only 3 feet above the water surface. So there is coordination between ship and ferry operations.
Since we did not stop anywhere in the canal, of course, we had time for three lectures today: one from our birder, one from our archeologist, and the other from the geographer. Two are continuing to orient us to the Viking presence and legacy in the Baltic area, while Greg the ornithologist is showing his pictures and telling us about the many bird species that use this area during different phases of their lives from breeding to migration. Colleen told us that the Vikings used to portage their ships on rollers across the 10 mile Kiel watershed. Now we knew that the Vikings were not only brave and inventive but also very strong.
DENMARK - BORNHOLM & CHRISTIANSO ISLANDS
These picturesque Danish islands float alone in the Baltic sea about 124 miles off the Danish mainland. Bornholm, containing 227 square miles with about 42,000 permanent residents, is the largest of the little archipelago's 4 islands. Christianso and Frederikso are connected to one another by a pedestrian bridge across a narrow body of water and claim 96 permanent residents. Their combined total of 96 acres are administered by the Danish Ministry of Defense. The fourth island, Graesholm, is uninhabited except by a bird rookery and reserve. These three smaller islands are 11 miles northeast of Bornholm.
So why did we visit this lovely holiday island? There is definitely Viking evidence here in the form of runic stones and there is also the 12th century archbishop's fortress of Hammershus perching on the highest rocky promontory of the island at 531 feet of elevation. The fort also figured in the struggles during the Northern Crusades and the Hanseatic period. It is now an imposing ruin sitting in testament to Bornholm's strategic importance through many centuries of human history on the island. Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Russia have all laid claim to this spot in the Baltic and there are evidences of many different structures atop those high rocky places at the north end of the island. Hammershus is merely the last of the major structures there.
Furthermore, the 4 round churches (out of a total of 7 in all Denmark) are also fascinating question marks in the island's history. Historians and archeologists have never agreed on the original purpose these buildings served. Were they fortresses, refuges, storage buildings? There are arguments for and against all these proposed purposes, but at present they are decidedly houses of worship. Since we visited Bornholm on Pentecost Sunday, none of them was open for visiting. We wandered around the neat and flower-speckled gardens outside the Osterlars Church and could only wonder how it looked inside. Since this style of architecture dates from the 11th and 12th centuries, it is fairly clear that the Viking memorial rune stone standing near the entrance to this church was moved there at some other time. It was carved by the family of a deceased woman and spoke of her virtues and how she would be missed.
Two other Viking rune stones were among our stops along the tour of this green and lush island. They were memorials as well. After she translated the stones' runes for us, Colleen told us a story about one of her final exams in a course on Viking history. She was taken to a Viking site she had never visited where a ring of stones stood and was asked to translate the runes on them. She walked around and proceeded through the translations with the professor's approval. Feeling fairly confident, she approached the last of the “test” stones and began to parse its message.
She quickly realized that she could make neither heads nor tails of the runes and was totally at sea. After several abortive attempts at reading the runes, she confessed to the professor that she was completely lost and could not make any sense of the carvings. Fearful that she may have just failed the exam, she was elated to hear the professor say that her “confession” was exactly what he wanted to hear since that stone contained only “graffiti” carved there by some more modern wag. The carvings were total nonsense!
Following our “church” visit, we were driven further south along Bornholm's beautiful and sunny coast to the small town of Gudjem where we had a tasty lunch at the harbor overlooking the Baltic and all the bright little vessels moored there. Then we walked up and down the little hilly streets admiring the red bricks and red tiles that formed most of the houses there. Flowers in tiny gardens and window-boxes created lovely spots of color everywhere. Under the merry sunshine, little Gudjem fairly sparkled.
We had two funny “language lessons” of our own during our time in Gudjem. Our local guide told us that because fishing is one of the major industries of Bornholm and has been over the years, “herring” is a very important word. Therefore, when a man wants to compliment the appearance of a Bornholm girl, he will remark “She is a fine herring!” Both other men and the lovely girl understand his meaning.
Our other linguistic instruction was more interactive. Kay and I walked around until we found a way down a steep path to the harbor where we were to rejoin the group.
At the bottom of the path, we spied a handsome white cat luxuriating in the sun on a step.. We tried talking to him but he obviously was not fluent in English because we got no response. Kay took his picture and when a Danish couple walked up to us as we were futilely “sweet-talking” the oblivious cat, we asked them the word for “cat” in Danish with a questioning tone as we stroked the animal. The gentleman smiled and responded “cat”. Thinking he had misunderstood our request, we asked again and got the same answer. At our 3rd query, he smiled broadly and spelled “KAT.” He added the word “huide” which we interpreted correctly as “white.” So our feline find was, in Danish, described as a “huide kat.” This particular exchange should have been more familiar to us since Kay's name sounds like Spanish “que” which can mean “what.” So when we have talked with Spanish speakers and exchanged names, there are often many follow up “que” questions when Kay states her name in English. But it gave us and the Danish couple a chance at a friendly chuckle together.
As we admired the countryside from our bus, all the fat cows, the lovely fields of rape with their now fading yellow blossoms, and wildflowers, our local guide shared a bit of Bornholm's more recent history. When Germany overran Denmark in World War II, it sent German soldiers to Bornholm to secure that excellently strategic island to insure that German war vessels were not menaced by Allied submarines getting into the Baltic Sea. Apparently, the occupation endured by the Bornholm population was not nearly as onerous as those suffered by the Estonians, Poles, Latvians and Lithuanians, perhaps because the Danish on the island were more cooperative with the Nazi occupiers. The radar station on the island was instrumental for some time in thwarting British RAF raids on Germany. The Freya radar system allowed the Nazis to detect incoming flights from Britain and shoot the planes down before they could reach their destinations. Some of the resisters on the island finally were able to alert the British about the location of the radar station so it could be destroyed. That story has been written as a novel by Ken Follett in a book titled “HornetFlight.”
While our local guide did not tell us anything about the occupation or the behavior of the local populace, he was more interested in passing on a story about the German refusal to surrender to the Soviet troops when they bombarded the island. The Nazi commander had been told not to surrender to the Soviets but to wait until the British sent representatives to the island so the surrender could be made to them. However, because the authorities in Copenhagen did not want to disturb the victory
celebrations for the end of the war, they did not allow the British to come until two days afterwards. By that time, the Soviets had completed their bombardment of the island and had occupied it. They shipped the German soldiers to mainland Germany and maintained their possession of Bornholm until 11 months had passed. So these island folk people had experience of both Nazi and Soviet occupation.
Because of the delay by the Danish government and the stubborn obedience to their orders by the Germans, the little town of Nexo lost most of its 959 private houses. Ronne, the de facto capital of Bornholm, was also bombarded and lost 400 of its 3400 private homes and many of the public buildings. The Swedes later sent 300 of their “modular” wooden houses to Bornholm to help the local populace. Those houses are very popular dwelling places now and have greatly increased in value. Where they were erected are now designated as “Swedish neighborhoods.”
Today, Bornholm is a pleasant resort location for Danes and Swedes in particular, though Poles and Germans have begun visiting its beautiful beaches as well. Tourism is now its main economic engine though there is still some fishing and farming. Bornholm receives its electricity via a submarine AC cable, the longest such connection in Europe, from Sweden. So its postwar situation is an amalgam of all the influences it has endured in the past: Danish, Norse (thru the Swedes), German as well as the connections with the Baltic Sea and its political past.
Later in the afternoon, we sailed the 11 miles over to Christianso/Frederikso and visited that tiny duo. Christianso has an old round fortress at its highest point and much of the housing is suspiciously similar to military housing.
The most curious thing we learned about Christianso is that Napoleon Bonaparte actually fired upon its little fortress in his war with the British! Probably the only time the tiny island was attacked. Why try to fight the British here in Baltic? Apparently, the British had placed a naval contingent here to prevent this salient point in the Baltic from becoming a Napoleonic outpost! The skirmish did not change the outcome of the Napoleonic Wars one whit!
The favorite colors on the two dots of land are mustard yellow for the stucco walls and red tiles for the roofing. We tramped through backyard alleys and checked out the singing birds and the gardens which appeared to be full of growing potato plants (but I am not swearing to that identification). There was an old church next to the fort, but it was closed for Pentecost as well. The Baltic Sea was a bright blue scarf on which rested the two islands twinkling like gold dust. It was a beautiful view from any spot we stopped. But the isolation was also total and made us conjure up pictures of this serene islet in a huge storm on the Baltic. We definitely decided we would not want to join the 96 people who have special permission from the Department of Defense to live on this lonely mote in the eye of the Baltic Sea.
On our Zodiac ride back to the Clipper, we circumnavigated the bird reserve of Graesholm to check out the fulmars and other seabirds squawking among themselves heedless of our presence or that of the little islands to their east. It was almost as if they were happily ignoring our departure from Danish waters.
POLAND - GDANSK
I would guess that no one could think about visiting this Polish city without considering first its more recent history and the Solidarity movement that contributed to bringing down the Soviet Union and its total domination of so much of the Baltic area. It was not easy to focus on the Viking and Hansa eras when we started our visit with a tour of the temporary headquarters of the Solidarity Museum which stands right in front of the shipyard gates where we all remembered seeing pictures of Lech Walesa and his fellow workers.
The museum, even as it exists now in an incomplete state, seemed to cover all the struggles of the Polish people under the Soviets as well as Solidarity itself. There were film clips of some of the strikes the shipyard workers undertook, of the harsh responses of the Soviets, of the suffering of the people who had endured such privations ever since the end of World War II when the Iron Curtain came crashing down. There was documentation of the planning by Walesa and his circle, such as the now famous “21 Demands” that the workers had the temerity to present to the government. The importance of the Polish Pope, John Paul II, and his three returns to Poland were also amply presented.
The courage of the Polish people is revealed in the historic calendars which show the many different periods when there were uprisings and demonstrations and public protests against the repression after Poland was put under Soviet domination. As early as 1947, the people protested the patently false election results for the Polish Parliament (the Sejm). Their reward for this action was complete repression and the elimination of the wartime opposition groups and the independent opposition. Total darkness fell across the country and the people simply tried to survive.
In 1956, the people rose up again and rioted in the streets against Stalinism and its brutality. Almost 80 people were killed and hundreds more injured. But the community party's new leader, Wladyslaw Gomulka tried to appease the discontent by announcing a departure from Stalinism with some liberalization called the “October Thaw.” Remember that Stalin had died in March l953.
In 1968, there were student demonstrations in favor of greater freedom but these were met with a severe crackdown which resulted in the deaths and deportations to Siberia of many students and intellectuals. The victims of this particular purge were often people of Jewish descent so the already decimated population of Polish Jews was further diminished.
The laboring classes, along with the dockworkers and shipbuilders, rose again in 1970 but met with only further brutality by the militia and the army. Many more were killed and injured and still more sent away. These brave survivors of the workers' opposition rose up again in 1976 but were again crushed by government with more deaths and more repression.
Most Poles (and many others besides them) believe that change became possible with the election of the Polish Pope, John Paul II in 1978. He had been staunchly anticommunist and outspoken in his opposition to the communist government of Poland throughout his years as priest and archbishop before his ascension to the papacy. Poland had been strongly Roman Catholic through the centuries and seeing one of their own become Pope was a ratification of their faith and their courage. His first papal visit outside Italy was to Poland from June 2 to June 10, in 1979. He was visited by crowds of millions of people and after his visit, many democratic opposition groups were formed.
In 1980, Pope John Paul returned to Poland and visited Gdansk where he prayed in front of the shipyard gates where Lech Walesa and his compatriots had formed the Solidarity Movement through an agreement with the government. The people were not allowed near the area of the shipyards but the Pope said his prayers loudly enough that the crowds surging as close as they could reach were able to hear his words. This was “the prayer heard round the world!” The Solidarity Movement
Memorial stands in the area in front of the three shipyards today (3 tall crosses in the center of a walled circle) and the spot where the Pope knelt is marked with a brass plaque in the concrete.
Of course, the struggle was not over because the government had allowed Solidarity to exist or because the Pope had visited. There were more years of struggle and repression and vicious retaliations by the government.
In 1981, the government declared martial law and arrested or interned thousands of the Solidarity members. Armored tanks, militia, and military patrols filled the streets of many of Poland's cities. In 1984, the government kidnapped and brutally murdered the priest who was the chaplain of the Solidarity Movement (Jerzy Popieluszko). Then, in 1987, the Pope paid yet another visit to Poland and the demoralized and scattered Solidarity Movement experienced a rebirth of enthusiasm and courage.
Finally, in 1989, Solidarity was legalized as a political party and its candidates won the elections in both houses of the Polish government. On December 10, 1989, the Parliament restored the historical name of the country: The Republic of Poland. And
the country was free! In December 1990, Lech Walesa was elected the President of the Republic of Poland.
After reviewing such a dramatic recent history for this country and the important role that Gdansk played in the struggle for Polish freedom, we had some difficulty refocusing our attention on the more distant histories of the Vikings and the Hansa in Poland. But our great lecturers were helpful and we did manage to learn something about those exciting periods in the life of this country too.
When we left the shipyard area of Gdansk and began to tour the interior city, we were open to reminders about the Viking trade routes that included this great city as well as its importance to the Hanseatic League of traders that followed the Vikings, using the very same routes and settlements that the Vikings had already established and used before them.
Our bus and walking tours of the town center were quite enjoyable as we were able to see the old buildings that have survived from Hanseatic times which look very like the architecture in Amsterdam. Many of the facades were damaged or destroyed in World War II and some of the fires of earlier times. But reconstruction is ongoing and we were informed that American contributions have helped with the projects. Some of the bombed out sites have become archeological digs. So evidences of Viking and Hanseatic times are being sought. For instance, recently a Viking settlement near Gdansk revealed nearly 800 coins dating from between 780 and 840 A.D., almost all of them Arabic, clearly proving the extent of Viking trade routes.
The “Green Gate” and St. Mary's Church were survivors from Hanseatic days. This city gate is not green but red since it is constructed of bricks, but it is monumental and has been one of the entrances to the central city for centuries. Remarkably it has never been severely damaged. St. Mary's Church, which has been both Roman Catholic and Protestant during its long history, is the largest brick Gothic church in the
world. It is particularly interesting because the usual flying buttresses in Gothic construction are inside the building instead of outside. These structures become the walls of the side chapels of which there are many.
The magnificent organ is from another church and the stained glass windows are modern since the old ones did not survive wars and insurrections. The church is Roman Catholic today and it was used by Pope John Paul II during one of his nine pilgrimages to Poland for a mass. The communists did not want him to amass a huge crowd so they restricted his audience to the “physically handicapped.”
Another little tidbit of older history was the presence of a “begging stool” built into one wall of the church. It was used during Hanseatic times by “certified” beggars who belonged to a mendicant's guild and were permitted to ask for bread from the baker's guild once a week. The beggars received their certification through the church and were required to wear a badge on their clothing when they entered the church to seek the bread on “begging days.” Curious, eh?
LATVIA - RIGA
What a beautiful city this one is! Despite wars and depredations, the atmosphere is prosperous, the Art Nouveau buildings are gorgeous, the old churches stately and magnificent, the gardens lush and lively with so much color. The six fascinating Zeppelin hangars now used as market halls for fresh produce, meats, fish, bakery goods, fruits, and household goods are amazing.
The two main squares are historic and yet modern with so many people flocking to the outdoor restaurants and the many shops outlining the boundaries: the Dome Square and the Town Hall Square!
Remnants of the Hanseatic past included the building called the “House of the Blackheads,” a guild house for unmarried merchants in the Town Hall Square. At the time of its construction in the 14th century, it was the richest and most powerful guild
House of the Blackheads on the Right
Dome Square
center in Riga. It was severely damaged and pillaged in World War II but in l999 it was carefully rebuilt to be an exact copy of the original with a magnificent Dutch Renaissance facade. We were not able to visit the interior but it is reputed to have amazing ceiling paintings inside which were also painstakingly restored. The Three Brothers is another remaining piece of Hanseatic influence. It is actually three contiguous structures, each one dating from a subsequent century starting with the 15th .
Besides, how could a city with so many cats, both living and in statues and decorations, be anything but appealing? And if cats don't appeal, how about all the roosters that decorate the city on the tops of Protestant churches, and everywhere as symbols of Riga itself. The rooster is a symbol for Latvia's new day with innovation and hope for the future—a fine bird to express the country's rise from the shackles of Soviet domination and Nazi occupation.
As part of the region of the world known as Baltija to the Swedes, Latvia and its predominant tribes, such as the the Kurs, had contacts with the Swedish Vikings through trade and efforts at control exerted by the Swedes. Trade seemed to have been a successful encounter, but the Swedes never were able to actually control the Latvian peoples. Though primary evidence is scant of this relationship, it appears that the Vikings finally just decided to concentrate their interests in Russia and its river systems which could take them down to the Black Sea where they could trade with the Arab Caliphates. It is equally difficult to determine whether the Vikings tried to found settlements in the Latvian lands. The best evidence of Viking/Latvian interchanges are the presence of rune stones in Latvia commemorating Vikings who perished there but even more such rune stone memorials in Sweden itself, memorializing Vikings who died in Latvia and the rest of the Baltic region. The Baltic states are not particularly rich in natural resources, especially metals, so the Viking interest in the area centered primarily on amber, timber, and slaves.
The Hanseatic League's presence in Latvia is another story altogether. Riga was a very important Hansa city throughout the life of the League's hegemony over trade in Northern Europe. Founded in 1201 at the mouth of the Daugava River, Riga was the most important trading center in the Eastern Baltic. Timber, wax and flax (for sails) were its most important exports to the shipbuilding centers on the Baltic. It served as the gateway for Russian trade goods to enter the Hanseatic sphere and it also
controlled the goods which were passing into the Russian “kontrols” (trading centers) of Novgorod and Kiev. Because of this power over the entire Russian mercantile system, Riga grew more and more rich and powerful. Despite the economic, social, and political privations that Latvia has undergone in the periods since the fall of the Hanseatic League and during the twentieth century, Riga appears to be a prosperous place that is rebounding from its most recent occupation and lack of freedom. However, we noticed that even when walking streets that are lined by the fanciful and lovely art nouveau buildings, the Latvian people still do not smile not at each other or at strangers. Old habits born of fear and repression do not evaporate because the conditions of life suddenly change—even for the better.
Several things we saw and experienced in Riga require further discussion. The beauty of the Art Nouveau architecture probably needs to be seen rather than described in words, but I must try to convey some of the wonder of the style created in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by witty and skilled architects and designers. After all, one third of Riga's city center is built in this style. The buildings carry on the tradition of high front facades but they are decorated so differently from the houses we saw in Gdansk and even Amsterdam (on previous trips). The favorite colors are blue and white and from the facades peer beautiful and serene female faces, tangled and complex flower and plant embellishments, handsome and muscular male figures.
The windows are usually unmatched and oddly shaped in the facade. Glazed bricks and glass and metal tiles are also used in the designs. The whole impression an Eisenstein house projects is lightness, whimsy, and unpretentious beauty. The old and picturesque cobblestone streets still connecting the Art Nouveau houses and buildings add to the scenic appearance of the neighborhoods.
Mikhail Eisenstein, an architect and civil engineer, is the most famous of the Art Nouveau builders in Riga. Many of his homes, apartment buildings and offices are still present despite the many opportunities for destruction. He was educated in Russia and spent most of his career in what is now Latvia. On a side note, his son is the famous Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein whose many films include “Battle on the Ice” and “Potemkin.”
On the Dome Square, we encountered the huge cathedral built in 1211 as Bishop Albert's church. It has been rebuilt, renovated, updated and changed over the years so that it now contains elements of late Romanesque, early Gothic, and Baroque styles.
It has an world famous organ which we were privileged to hear in a special concert just for us. The lady organist played two Bach pieces for us as well as two other compositions with which we were unfamiliar. However, in all four selections, the beauty and power of that marvelous instrument entered our bodies through the wonderful vibrations of sound and our hearts through the lovely music. That was definitely a high point of our visit to Riga.
An amusing story we were told harked back to the old Hanseatic days in Riga. A non-Germanic merchant wanted to join one of the guilds but the strict rules did not usually permit anyone but Germans to join any of the Hansa guilds. He was so incensed that he placed a large weather vane atop his business building with a cat standing in the unmistakable posture of “pissing” in the direction of the Guild Hall. It remained there for a few months, clearly demonstrating the merchant's anger and disdain. Finally, the members of the guild amended the rules to allow him to join IF he would change the direction of the cat's hindquarters. He did and he joined.
Riga was so full of wonderful things to see and explore, from the city's remaining defense wall and its one imposing city gate, The Swedish Gate, and the associated towers to the many churches, the rebuilt opera house and gardens, and the Freedom Monument. But I cannot leave this bustling and reviving city without a mention of the Central Market. As stated earlier, the market is composed of 5 enormous hangars originally designed to house and protect Zeppelins. When that business proved unlikely to thrive, the hangars were turned over to the city and they now house the huge market for all the city. The buildings themselves are sufficiently imposing to be cause jaw-drops, but then going inside makes one's eyes widen to their greatest possible extent. Everything from foodstuffs to hardware, appliances, anything else imaginable is on sale there. Because the hangars are so high, the whole complex appears to float above the ware displays. Just fantastic!
Riga was my favorite Baltic city, except for the traffic patterns that gave no quarter to pedestrians. As we walked absorbing the beauty around us, we had to be very mindful of how to cross the many- laned roadways without getting ourselves killed. Riga gives right of way to vehicles rather than people.
A Short Side Note:
Because the three Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, are so little known, I think it is meet and proper to give a few details about them. So, with Latvia, I'll start this section. Latvia is a small country in both size and population: it is only slightly larger than West Virginia and its people number only 2,200,000 and, like the other two, that number is decreasing. The average age is 40 and life expectancy averages 73 (Men 68 and women 78). It is an educated country with 100% literacy and until the worldwide recession starting in 2008, it had been growing its economy and standard of living rapidly. However, these three tiny countries suffered hugely during this lingering economic downturn. People of Latvian ethnicity make up 59% of the nation, Russians 28%, with 4% Belarusians, 3% Ukrainians, Poles 2% and Lithuanians 1%. 64% of the people profess no reli- gion (a consequence of lengthy Soviet domination no doubt) and 20% are Lutherans and other Christians make up the other 15%.
All three of the little Baltic states suffered horribly after 1940 when they were occupied by the Nazis and then immediately after the Nazi defeat, the Soviet Union absorbed them until they de- clared their independence in 1991. The last Soviet
soldiers finally left the country in 1994! They now have a parliamentary democracy, giving these people more freedom than they have had since World War II.
Latvia's natural resources are few but include peat, limestone, dolomite, hydropower, and timber. The country is rich in arable land, however; only 28% of their total acreage is fertile and farmed. As the world economy recovers, Latvia's own situation should improve as well since they have an educated populace and have begun to succeed with informational and communication technolo- gies. Their farm products are still in demand around the Baltic area: they are members of the EU and NATO.
ESTONIA - TALLINN
The capital of Estonia was also a city important to the Hanseatic League as well as having been on the Viking “maps” too. Another similarity with Poland and Latvia is their common experience of having been behind the iron curtain since World War II up until the 1990s. Today Tallinn has a population of 414,000, about 31% of the entire population of the country.
When approaching the port of Tallinn, we immediately noticed three distinct towers floating above the rest of the skyline: two churches and the town hall. These towers have been used for hundreds of years to aid in navigation since the incoming ships could line up with them and know they were proceeding correctly.
Tallinn is divided into two “levels” with the upper part of the city having been the home of nobles and churchmen. The lower part of the city was occupied by the merchants and workers. The rich merchants of the Hanseatic League grew resentful of the aristocrats above them who would not allow them to move to the upper level. So they built a stout wall dividing the upper and lower parts of town. The nobles then had to seek permission from the merchants to descend to the business part of town to shop, get into the port area, conduct their business. A part of the wall is present today and it demonstrates the cleverness of the merchant class, because of course they levied a toll on those who wished to pass from one level to the next. Today the old Gothic buildings on the upper level are occupied by the government and administrative offices. Presumably, the civil servants today do not have to pay a toll to descend into the city center!
The architecture in the lower section of Tallinn is dominated by the Hanseatic style buildings, with the stepped roofs, the very slender house fronts, and the colorful stucco decorations. The many nations that have ruled Estonia over the centuries have left their marks on the city as well: the Danes, the Swedes, the German and Russian occupiers. But the city survived largely intact, so there were many sites for us to visit.
Our first stop on the “city tour” was Kadriorg (word for Catherine in Estonian) Palace built by Peter the Great as his summer palace. It is in his favorite architectural style, the Italian Villa. The palace construction was begun in 1718 but has been renovated several times over the years. Peter actually built the palace for his wife, Catherine I (not Catherine the Great), and the interior still contains many versions of her initials in the stucco furbelows in all the rooms. The stucco decorations are so ornate and thick, they appear to have been created using thick buttercream icing!
Today the palace is a museum with art and historical works displayed to tell the story of Peter the Great and his wife (who had been his mistress when he rescued her from prostitution) in Estonia. On Peter's death, Catherine seemed to care nothing for this palace and apparently never visited it again.
Besides the lovely palace which looks on the outside rather like a much smaller version of Catherine the Great's huge palace outside St. Petersburg in Tsarkoye Selo. There is a lovely and large garden connected with the palace but it is currently being updated and renovated. However, due to the “green laws” in Estonia, the current trees cannot be cut down to make way for the work of restoring the garden to its former look in Peter's time. The project must await the natural deaths of those trees! How's that for a really strong environmental stance? Of course, that may also be a way to postpone such an expensive and huge task while available money is still in question.
There are many churches still extant in Tallinn too, despite the many wars and conquests. The Dome Church (now Lutheran) in Upper Town is one of the oldest Gothic churches in Northern Europe. Its first incarnation was in wood but catastrophic fires burned Upper Town several times since many of the buildings, in addition to the church, were wooden construction. Toompea Castle (now the seat of the Parliament) is a fine old pink stuccoed building in Upper Town and the more recent Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church is on the hilltop as well. It is very ornate and in a style familiar to anyone who has seen pictures of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square in Moscow.
Town Hall Square in the lower part of Tallinn was interesting architecturally as well. The buildings are mostly medieval and were built in Hanseatic times when Tallinn was rich and influential. Besides the imposing Town Hall with its high tower, there is also a building housing the oldest continuously operating apothecary in Europe. A guild house, the House of the Blackheads, is also present in the Town Hall Square area. The Great Guildhall which now houses the Estonian History Museum also testifies to the Hanseatic past of the city. Town Hall Square is also the center of city
life today. There are many shops, restaurants, cafes, outdoor venues, and stalls constantly filled with busy people, both Estonians and tourists. Medieval towers and fortifications still are prominent sights in Tallinn. Stone towers create the Viru Gate into the city. These towers are slightly skewed and were built in the 14th century as an entryway into the Old Town.
Fat Margaret's Tower is another of the city's fortifications, built in the 16th century. The droll nickname was given to the tower because it was the largest part of the defenses. Its walls are 13 feet thick and it was originally meant to defend the harbor as well as to impress visitors arriving from the sea. Fat Margaret also served as a prison in the 17th century, but today it has a more peaceful function as the Estonian Maritime Museum.
All in all, Tallinn is an attractive city with considerable medieval flavor with an outer ring of contemporary construction and growth. Cranes compete with the ancient spires of churches on the skyline of a city which is growing into the 21st century after so many years of subjugation with an accompanying siege against its national identity. The Soviets tried to stamp out the Estonian language and killed almost a third of the country's citizenry. To view the triumph of the Estonian people, rent yourself a copy of the documentary film “The Singing Revolution” and be amazed and moved by their persistence through such horrible repression. (You can rent it through Netflix easily.)
A Short Side Note
The recent history of Estonia parallels those of the other two Baltic states. A brief period of free- dom from 1919 until 1940 when the Nazis over-ran the country and then 54 years of Soviet domi- nation after the end of World War II. The nation has been free since 1991 even though the last Russian soldiers did not leave until 1994. Today the Estonians identify themselves as a parliamen- tary republic. The country was growing economically quite well until the worldwide recession which began in 2008 and now it suffers a 17% unemployment rate. But as with Latvia, as the world economy improves, Estonia's should as well. Agriculture is a strong sector as are the engineering, electronic, wood & wood products, and informational and telecommunication technologies sectors too. It too is a member of the EU and NATO and has been on the Euro since January 2011.
In size, Estonia is slightly smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined and its population is only 1,283,000. Of these, ethnic Estonians are 69%, and Russians 26%, with tiny minorities of Ukrainians and Belarusians making up the remainder. 72% of Estonians claim no religious affilia- tion, while 14% are Lutherans and 13% are Orthodox Christians. The Estonians have 100% liter- acy and their life expectancies are comparable to the rest of Europe: 73 for men and 79 for women. Probably their recent history explains at least partially why their average age is, like Latvia's, also
40. From 1940 to 1991, so many people in the country were killed, died of disease, or were sent away to unknown fates. Estonia shares the problem of a falling population, as does Russia, of course. That never helps a country recover economically.
A Purely Personal Confession: I have already admitted to inexcusable ignorance of this part of the world, but now I must tell why my neglect of it is so awful to me. The director of my Master's Thesis was an Estonian refugee. Dr. Ants Oras was a scholar, an unpretentious intellectual, a patient and excellent teacher, a man of wide and deep learning, and an example of truly humane Character. My debt to him is incalculable. However, like others of his students, I never thought of why he was in Gainesville, Florida, rather than at home in Estonia. I was in my 20s at the time, and I suppose that Dr. Oras was probably in his early 60s. When one is young and intent on ones own purposes, it is easy to simply use the people at hand and never think of
them as individuals with their own histo- ries and purposes, especially when they are much older and in a position of considerable influence on ones own future. Only once did Dr. Oras ever mention in my hearing his escape from Estonia as the Soviets took the country into Their control. He had somehow stowed away on a Swedish ship and reached Sweden. How he came from Sweden to the USA, I will never know because I never thought to ask. Now I wish that I had known him better and been able to hear his story. How I wish I had cared enough to ask!
FINLAND - TURKU
This city on the Baltic Sea, rather than the Gulf of Finland like Helsinki, is also the oldest one in the country. Finland was a duchy and a province of Sweden from the 12th to 19th centuries and Turku carries that imprint much more than does Helsinki.
Swedish is widely spoken here and there are two universities in the city, one where classes are taught in Finnish and the other which instructs in Swedish! Its historical character is also revealed in the many houses of wooden construction which date back to long ago Swedish times. These houses are now much in demand by young people because they are seen as trendy. Turku is proud especially this year because it is sharing the honor (with Tallinn) of being the “European Capital of Culture.” That will bring in many tourists, artists, dancers, actors, directors, and musicians. Turku will gain significant attention through this event.
To reach the port city of Turku, ships must thread their way through archipelagos of islands and skerries which dot the Baltic Sea in front of the Finnish coastline. Because the undersea land (like a continental shelf) is rising measurably, navigation is a challenge since the islets appear unexpectedly. There are already 50,000 counted islands lining the coast. The land along the seafront is low, wet and flat and Finland doesn't rise much in elevation even in the hinterlands. Despite those conditions, Turku has been an important port for centuries.
Because of the continuous Baltic conflicts, Turku has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over so the survival of any historical structures is surprising. Two catastrophic fires burned the city almost to the ground in the 1600s and again in the 1800s.
There is an interesting outdoor ethnographic museum here which we visited and enjoyed very much. It has examples of the types of buildings that people have lived in over the years in Turku, especially centered on various occupations that were pursued: boot making, weaving and textiles, lacemaking, bookbinding, blacksmithing, bakeries, and sailors. Young people dressed in period and occupationappropriate costumes acted as guides to the various exhibits. It was reminiscent of the much larger such park in Stockholm, Skansen. And it definitely provides a feeling for what Turku was like in earlier years.
We visited the Evangelical Lutheran church which is the cathedral for all Finland. It looked very Norse to us and even had a ship model hanging from the ceiling. There was a very impressive organ, but alas it did not sound for us.
A medieval castle was next on our must see sites agenda, but it was not very educational since the rooms were empty and there was no informative signage. We probably gave it short shrift anyway since we seemed to be in rather a hurry during our group visit.
We also looked for Hansa influence on the architecture and saw little or nothing of that era, but that might be because of the great fires that would have totally destroyed the wooden structures down to their foundations. No wonder the remaining wooden houses are at a premium nowadays.
One of the surviving Medieval structures is the Turku Castle founded in the late 13th century. The Turku Historical Museum was established within its walls in 1881.
Our happiest impression of Turku was how green it is! Trees and parks are everywhere around and are obviously cared for and seen as important to the quality of life in Turku. The seafaring tradition is also well remembered here with many marine-oriented statues and signs. There is a large Marine Museum right at the port too but we did not have enough time to explore it.
A twentieth century Lutheran church of bright red brick provided our last meaningful look at Turku. It sits on a hillside which was formerly quite bare but through the “green thumbs” of the Finnish people, it now appears to sit lightly on a green “pillow” floating above the street level. Very handsome and it seemed typical of Finnish environmentalism.
A Short Side Note
Finland became an autonomous grand duchy after the Northern War when Sweden had to cede territories to Russia. It remained so from 1809 until 1917 when it became a free country. Though small in population, the Finns successfully resisted the Russian attempts at invasions during World War II. Nor were they occupied by the Nazis. Unlike their three neighbors on the Baltic, the Finns have had many years to change their government, their economy, their relationships with the rest of the world. They have transformed their economy from a forest/timber based one to a modern industrialized one producing for them the highest per capita incomes in Europe. They have in- vested strongly in a high standard of education, vigorously promoted equality in promotion, and established a national social security system.
Finland is larger than its sisters, being slightly bigger than Montana. They have a larger population with 5,259,000 people, but they do face the difficulties posed by an aging populace. Their median age is 40.5 and they do have a very tiny but positive overall population growth rate. Their life expectancies are the highest in the area as well: 76 for men and 83 for women. Their population is also homogeneous with 93% Finnish ethnicity and 6% Swedish. 83% of the people identify as Lutherans and 91% are Finnish speakers. There is also 100% literary as would be expected in a country with such a big emphasis on education.
In short, Finland is a prosperous, peaceful, and educated republic which leads the Baltic states in almost every way except the misery factor. Avoiding the repressions of the Nazis and the Soviets has definitely given them a happier history and they have capitalized on that happy fact.
SWEDEN - STOCKHOLM
We arrived after a night's voyage over the Baltic Sea which was obligingly calm. We were grateful for that passage since we had been told that the storms on the Baltic could be really tumultuous. Now we had crossed her twice while she seemingly slept. It was probably calm passages like ours that kept the intrepid Vikings busily plying these waters to conduct their raids and trades. And even the rather precarious Hanseatic ships probably crossed more often than not over Baltic waters that did not disturb or frighten them unduly. These merchants and captains kept right on with their mercantile businesses as well.
We certainly knew that Sweden would be a place where the Vikings and the Hanseatic League played big roles. After all, the Vikings came out of Sweden, Norway and Denmark and are the quintessential Norsemen! And we had already been told in lectures that Visby on Gotland Island was one of the four most important cities in the Hanseatic League. However, our city tour of a very rainy Stockholm did not focus on these remnants of history. Instead we were taken first to the magnificent Town Hall where the Nobel Dinner and Dance are held after the awarding of the Prizes at another venue.
Well, we should have hung our heads in shame while there. We had visited Stockholm and seen this wonderful structure about 25 years ago and had forgotten how beautifully decorated and designed it is!
It was like a brand new visit for us actually. The building is modeled after an Italian piazza and succeeds since it definitely reminded us of Italian squares we had seen before like St. Marks in Venice. The arcades surrounding the main floor of the “piazza” are formed with double columns on one side and single ones on the other. There are open sections between the walls and roof to invite the sky itself inside. Of course, these openings are glassed in so that rain and snow cannot enter the building. The sweeping staircase connecting the first and second floors flows downwards and outwards like a waterfall, ever widening as it descends.
The ten foot difference between the front wall and the rear wall is revealed by the 5 windows on the front wall and only 4 on the rear. The exquisitely wrought red bricks were handmade, all 90,000,000 of them! Rather strangely, the main floor room which rises to the level of the 2nd story balconies is called the “Blue Room” though there is no blue anywhere in it. We learned that the architect originally had planned that the building would be roofed with glass so that the sky would be the ceiling thus the “ Blue Room” designation would have been appropriate. Structural engineers convinced him that glass could never bear the weight of the snowfalls which regularly blanket Stockholm so the glass idea had to be abandoned.
The “Golden Room” next to the entrance piazza is aptly named and was a breathtaking remonstrance to Kay and I who had so completely forgotten its splendor and opulence. The walls are completely covered with tiny mosaic bits and each of these is a single piece of “cake” made of a layer of glass, covered with a layer
of gold leaf and then topped with another layer of glass! Of course the designs are created of colored bits of “cake” to create the figures and landscapes. Even under our cloudy and overcast skies, the whole creation glitters and shimmers.
The events pictured in the mosaics covered many topics, such as Queen Christina of Sweden being received by the then Pope, portraits of eminent Swedes such as Linnaeus, Nobel and Strindberg, events in history such as the Discovery of America. So the Town Hall was our revelation with guilt for our careless youth when we saw this beautiful place and forgot it.
Our second revelation during this second visit to Stockholm was totally without guilt, because we had seen the Vasa 25 years ago when it was still just a dark hulk being
constantly bathed in a preservative (PEG) since it had only been raised a year and a half before we saw it. We were impressed even back then and had not forgotten it looming out of the mists of liquids. Now, the preservation is complete, the ship has its own museum shaped like a ship itself, and it is fully restored as it was when it sank in the Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage on August 10, 1628.
And what a magnificent visitor from the past it is! It is massive at 172 feet in height at the stern, its 38 ft. width, and 226 ft. length. It was the biggest warship ever built at the time of its launching. After having seen only a large black box-shaped apparition all those years ago, we were completely dumbstruck and dazzled. The lights in the museum are kept very dim to avoid any damage to the ship but even the elegant
detail and the truly remarkable reconstruction of the Vasa are clear anyway. Not only is the ship huge, it is also beautiful and so evocative of the past splendor of Sweden when she was one of the most powerful nations in the world.
The ship is fully rigged, except for the sails which are too fragile to be hung though they seen in a furled state on the ship's top deck.. The ship is rung round with two levels of cannon ports with the cannon protruding belligerently outward. That double row is probably the cause of the sinking of the Vasa since the ship was too heavy for its ballast and too tall for its keel. After we had walked around the multilevel museum reading the excellent signage (in English and Swedish), we had to admit to ourselves that it looked quite a bit like the “Black Pearl” in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series. Surely the set designers had visited the Vasa in her wonderful new home.
The enormity of the salvage, recovery and reconstruction of the Vasa is hard to comprehend. When the ship was found on the bottom of Stockholm harbor in 1956, the salvage engineers began planning how to lift her without further damage. She was lying on her keel with a list but seemed intact. The final answer proposed by the experts actually worked on April 24, 1961. Six tunnels were dug beneath the keel and steel cables run through them. Six ships on the surface attached those straps to themselves while they were filled with as much water as they could hold without sinking. As the water was pumped out of the rescue ships, they rose in the water column, lifting the Vasa from the sea floor after her 333 year submersion. Amazingly enough, when she rose high enough for the sea water to pour out, she actually floated in the water of the harbor. After that, the Vasa and all the items salvaged along with her were bathed for 17 years in a watery solution with preservative chemicals. The water flowed over the Vasa for 25 minutes every 20 minutes. 25 minutes of spray and 20 minutes without it. What an enormous and expensive undertaking this process was! But today the Vasa is the biggest attraction in Stockholm for both citizens and tourists.
Indeed, as we were leaving from our fairly early morning visit, we walked out of the semi-darkness to see hundreds of people lined up waiting to purchase their tickets to enter the wonderful museum for a look at such a wonderful twice-over accomplishment. The building of the Vasa in the 1600s and then her complete salvage and restoration in 1960s and 70s. What a marvel!
The clouds never withdrew during our visit to Stockholm and sometimes they sent down quite heavy rains on us. At other times, they merely dragged their skirts over the tops of the buildings and released mist and heavy single drops on our heads. We walked through Old Town anyway until we were quite soaked and then made our way back to the Clipper O. Two great experiences today: the beautiful Town Hall and the incredible Vasa in her copper-roofed home!
SWEDEN - VISBY, GOTLAND ISLAND
Next we entered the heart of the Viking Age and the soul of the Hanseatic League! This largest of the Baltic Sea islands situated in the middle of the sea was a true center of trade and settlement in the Viking Age. Nowhere else in Northern Europe have so many Viking silver hoards been discovered. More than 700 separate caches of silver and gold prove the island's widespread trade connections. Coins from places as far away as the Black Sea, Arabia, England, Germany and Denmark, not to mention items from the North Atlantic region (Iceland & Greenland) have been excavated on this small island.
Grave goods and material culture changed dramatically after Gotland was Christianized between 1000 and 1100 A.D. Now graves are found in churchyards and cross-shaped churches appear on the island. Cross pendants are found in graves and baptismal fonts show the influence of the Russian-Orthodox church. After the Norse world was converted to Christianity, the next big transformation in the trading
centers and the settlements came with the Protestant Reformation and the rise of the Hanseatic League. Visby was as central to that League as it had been to the Vikings. As a matter of fact, Visby finally became the most powerful Hansa city and the headquarters of the dominant merchant league. This transition from Lubeck (Germany) to Visby took place in the late 1300s and was complete by the 1400s. Guild members situated in Visby were responsible for establishing Riga as an important Hansa city.
The modern tourist nickname for this picturesque historic site is “the city of roses and ruins” and it does live up to that cliché. The narrow and winding cobblestone streets with the typical Hansa style houses on either side are decorated by Mother Nature with the most riotous roses bushes and blooms. The guide informed us the roses are regarded as weeds because they grow so aggressively. They need only the smallest bit of earth to sink their roots and then they cover the windows and doors of any home whose residents are not vigilant in fighting back! To our eyes, however, the roses were really delightful. Rose pink was the dominant color but there were yellow, white and light pinks as well.
The city wall ruins were easy to spot as we walked along the streets and followed the wonderful defensive battlements around the old city. There were many (90) destroyed churches standing in their melancholy but still majestic states and it was almost better that they were ruins, so medieval they looked. The wall also dates from medieval times and it runs a little over 2 miles, the longest remaining such wall in Northern Europe. It has towers at several points, the last of which was begun in the 15th century. The “ringmuren” (city wall) was started in the 12th century. Actually, Visby itself is considered to be the best preserved medieval city in Northern Europe and it has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
About 22,300 people live in Visby year around but as is usual with resort type towns, that number grows considerably during the summer months. We were told that hundreds of thousands of Scandinavians visit Gotland every year. Besides sandy beaches, many cafes and restaurants, craft shops, and boutiques, there are summer festivals that draw people as well as the lovely Almadalen Gardens. There are hiking trails and exploring the quaint town on foot provides entertainment for visitors.
For those interested in the history of island, there is a good museum which details the Viking and Hanseatic periods on the island. There is a good explication of the Battle of Visby (1361) which was a devastating part of the history of Gotland since the culture of the place was changed radically following the crushing defeat of the farmers who were fighting the Danes.
Almost 3000 farmers were killed over the 5 days of fighting and after such enormous losses, the farmers surrendered to the Danish King. Because King Valdemar IV was not all that interested in Gotland, the island was left pretty much ungoverned after the surrender and it then became a hotbed of piracy and lawlessness. Until the Swedish regained control in 1408, the island languished in this condition.
Our visit to this lovely Baltic paradise was totally enjoyable and it was the first place we landed where I could walk close enough to the Baltic Sea to actually touch it. And guess what? It was not nearly as cold as I had expected it to be and the rumors about its being less salty than the Atlantic turned out to be entirely true! We walked
among the ruined churches and the roses and visited the wonderful Museum with its amazing Viking silver hoard displays. The silver bars, the hacksilver, the jewelry, the brooches, the bracelets made real the many pictures we had seen on board. The reproduction of a Hanseatic warehouse and factory also brought the reality of those busy times home to us as well. That museum seemed to be the perfect “wrap-up” to the lectures we had heard and the slides we had viewed.
DENMARK - COPENHAGEN
Alas, “wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, salty old Queen of the sea,” was the final destination on this thoroughly delightful Baltic Odyssey. We hated to see the trip come to an end because we had so much fun and had learned so much. Even more than that, we felt we had made a new friend and didn't look forward to saying goodbye. However, for us our visit to this area was not over yet. We had booked with a Lithuanian travel agency (recommended by Zegrahm—called Meja Travel) to fly to Vilnius and begin a 4-day visit to the 3rd Baltic country with a driver and guide/translator for just us.
We had already visited Copenhagen on two previous trips in the area so we did not feel pressured to do a lot of sightseeing at the places usual on first time visits. However, we had never arrived at the city from the sea. So the entry into Copenhagen was a fascinating experience. We saw that “disappearing” bridge which connects Sweden with Denmark and appears to just drop beneath the water and never resurface like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at home. It's called the Four-Mile Bridge or the Oresund Bridge Tunnel.
Here's a little comparison of the two: at 17.6 miles against 4 miles, CBBT is definitely the larger. Our homegrown version is 46 years old while the OBT is just a pre-teen at 12 years. The CBBT has 12 miles of low level trestles, two 1-mile tunnels, 2 bridges, 2 miles of causeway, and 4 manmade islands.
The OBT has only one tunnel but accommodates both rail and car travel on its lanes. So that is the most impressively different feature of the OBT. It really does look strange to see a road out into the strait just disappear and never re-emerge.
The other sight immediately apparent in the harbor of Copenhagen was the number of windmills! We were told that these, and others around the country, supply between
20 and 30% of Denmark's electricity needs. It also gets some of its power supply from Sweden.
When we docked at our mooring spot in the harbor, we immediately noticed a yacht with elegant but rather old fashioned lines and details. Later we were told that this is the royal yacht for Queen Margarethe II and her family.
It was directly across from our more modest Clipper O. Later on that day, we had a big treat connected with the yacht. As we were returning from our walks around the city, we noticed a small crowd forming on our ship's side of the river where two little white “crown- shaped” houses stood flanking steps down to the lowest level of the dock. It didn't take too much percipience to realize that these were the “royal steps” and the gathering locals seemed to think some royal personage would soon be arriving at the stairs.
Interestingly enough, there were a couple of policemen standing around but did nothing to disperse the crowds or even move them away from the steps. Soon a vehicle arrived and several uniformed military guards emerged. They also stood near the little “crowns” but made no effort to move anyone away. After just a few minutes more, a black sedan with a gleaming finish arrived and there was much bowing and scraping by the military men and the police.
When the door was opened by one of the smartly suited guards, out jumped the “royal dachshund” very eager for a little walk or perhaps something else. Soon afterwards, an elegant and tall white-haired lady stepped out of the car. She had such dignified carriage, even though she was very simply dressed in a mid-calf length skirt, a plain white blouse and a light sweater with her hair in a bun at the back of her head. But this was indeed THE QUEEN!
The royal dog almost pulled her down the 12-15 steps to reach the royal tender which would carry her and the regal pooch to the Royal Yacht. The military fellows made sure she did not trip or get pulled off balance by the royal pet. She looked to be in her late 60s or even early 70s.
The crowd remained in their places with respectful attitudes and Queen Margarethe II got easily onto the tender and was whisked away to the far side of the yacht so we were not able to see her embark on the yacht itself. It left the harbor very soon afterwards and had not returned by morning when we left the Clipper O to head for the airport for our Vilnius flight. We could only imagine all the security that would be necessary to get Queen Elizabeth II or President Obama onto a public dock and down onto a yacht, royal or not. Isn't that a sad fact of life nowadays?
We rounded out our visit with the obligatory visit to the Little Mermaid and a tour of the Christiansborg Palace.
She was so much smaller than we ever imagined.
The palace, on the other hand, is immense. It would take days to see it all.
And the interior was splendid as are many of the opulent European palaces.
We asked Colleen to join us for supper in Copenhagen and it turned out that she likes Indian food too. In our wanderings, we had seen The Indian Palace restaurant near Tivoli Gardens and we all decided that would be an easy spot to reach so we had dinner there. It was a very nice, but quite reasonable, restaurant and the food was very tasty. The staff was helpful and we had the place pretty much to ourselves
until about an hour into our meal. The Riesling we shared was the best I ever had tasted because it was sweet rather than dry. Anyway, we shared a lot of personal stuff and got to know her better. Hope we can maintain contact with her in future. She has a great sense of humor and appreciates sarcasm, always a good start.
TRIP III: LITHUANIA
We traveled here immediately after completing the expedition ship trip around the Baltic Sea on the Clipper ship Odyssey with Zegrahm Expeditions. The glossary of pictures with Lois’ attached journal of trip is published under the Europe tab for Cruise Ships.
There fore, this is the journal of the 3rd section of the 2011 Baltic States experience. We should preface it with some information about Lithuania so it can be more easily compared with Estonia and Latvia.
It is about the same size as the others, slightly larger than West Virginia. Its population is 3,535,000 compared with Estonia's 1,200,000 and Latvia's 2,200,000.
In its long ago past history, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe because it was combined with Poland and reached all the way from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
Lithuania has a median age of 40 and a similar life expectancy as the other two nations. It is now a parliamentary democracy. All three countries look fairly similar flat terrains and weather. Their natural resources are few and similar. They have all been largely dependent on agriculture as their economic base. And all three suffered immensely under Nazi and Soviet occupations. All three have emerged from Russian control since the early 1990s. The Estonians sang their way to national identity preservation, the Latvians played political games to nationalist ends, and the Lithuanians prayed their way to endurance as one people.
After leaving the Clipper O for the last time on this trip, we were taken to the Copenhagen Airport for our short one hour and 10 minute flight to Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. We were met at the Arrivals Hall by our wonderful guide, Lilija (she asked to be called Lily) and our driver, Ramaldas (we called him Roma through most of the trip because it took us forever to figure out what his name really was).
Since we had not checked any luggage, we got into the van and started off to the Ramada Hotel in downtown Vilnius.
VILNIUS
It soon because obvious that though Lily was easily fluent in English and therefore a well-qualified guide, Roma did not know his way around Vilnius. It became even clearer that he did not know much about driving either. He got lost several times and made some rather amazing and alarming maneuvers to get back on the correct roads like backing up an off ramp, like executing U-turns in the middle of dense traffic, like just stopping in the middle of the road to figure out what to do next. We realized quickly that our rides with Roma at the wheel would be accompanied by regular honking from other drivers who were as surprised and dismayed as we were at his driving habits. Lily told us he was from a small town in the Lowlands of Lithuania and that this was his first job as a driver with Meja Travel. Believe me, we could tell! But he was very gentlemanly and so eager to please. Lily was about 50, we think, and Roma probably about the same but he could use no more English than we could speak Lithuanian.
The Ramada Inn turned out to be very nice indeed and it could not have been in a better location for an exploration of Vilnius since it sat just off the Old City's main square. After having arrived at the hotel about 3:40 pm, we threw our stuff down on the beds and met Lily in the lobby at the agreed upon 4:00 pm hour to begin our tour.
She is a very enthusiastic lady who wanted to show us everything of any interest whatever in her country. She is so very proud of Lithuania and its great resilience after having suffered so much in the 20th century. Because she firmly believes that
Lithuanians' great religious faith in Roman Catholicism brought the country through its horrible nightmare existence, she wanted us to see every church that testifies to this enduring faith. Many of the churches are now just empty shells because the Soviets were intent on discouraging religious faith and often trashed the great cathedrals, churches, basilicas, and monastery chapels.
Often we would find ourselves in these cavernous spaces with echoing sounds bouncing meaninglessly against empty organ lofts, destroyed paintings and statues, smashed pulpits, desecrated walls and floors. Some of the churches had been deliberately vandalized; others were used for warehouses, stables, barracks, entertainment facilities, and museums.
The efforts at renovation and restoration are laudable because the damage is so great that it would appear that no amount of money available to Lithuania is ever going to be sufficient to the enormous project.
But “I run before my horse to market” and need to backtrack a little. The churches in the immediate vicinity of the main square where we started had been either spared the devastations or had been minimally scarred and therefore amenable to fairly easy and inexpensive restorations. And there were many to visit in the general vicinity, while Lily lovingly extolled each and every one of them even the Russian Orthodox church. This square and its attendant buildings are in the Old City and there has been considerable sprucing up of this area to encourage both a better quality of life for the citizens and for the tourists who come to the country.
Because Lithuanians had been able to beat back the German knights who came in the Middle Ages to conquer all the Baltic area and include it in the Hanseatic League under whatever kings (Danish, Swedish, Polish, or German) they served, our lecturers had informed us that we would not observe much Hanseatic influence in Vilnius and it was true! Surprise, surprise! The country also does not have much evidence of Viking trading centers or settlements so perhaps that's why Zegrahm left the country off the itinerary of this trip. Often, they do include the country but this trip was very much centered on the Viking/Hanseatic legacies.
Anyway, back to our first ramble around Old Town Vilnius. Churches were the main dish on the menu. There are several Roman Catholic ones in this area, one Evangelical Lutheran one, and one Russian Orthodox church. The saddest thing we
saw was the site of the former synagogue of Vilnius. In addition to killing off the Jews of Vilnius, the Nazis also destroyed the great and historical temple. Because of the Nazi and Soviet persecution of Lithuanian Jews, only 1% of the country is now of Jewish ethnicity whereas before the war years, the Jews made up 40% of population of Vilnius and 15% of Lithuania as a whole. Since independence, Lithuania has welcomed many Jewish citizens of other countries who come to try to trace their relatives who had lived here.
As has already been said, Roman Catholicism is the overwhelmingly dominant religion in Lithuania. Except for those churches that were damaged when the Nazis invaded, churches were not subject to deliberate destruction during the Nazi occupation. However, the Lithuanians greatly feared the Soviet takeover of their country because of the atheism espoused by the communists. Therefore, many private citizens had the forethought to remove relics, statues, paintings, chalices, and other church furnishings out of their neighborhood churches and hide them, hoping that one day they could be restored to their rightful places. That hope was not fulfilled until 1991 when Lithuania declared its independence once more. Since the Soviet soldiers did not leave for another three years, the people kept the items concealed. Then, when the armed forces finally withdrew, hundreds of sacred objects materialized mysteriously in the churches as people began to feel safe in retrieving them from their hiding places.
The devotion of the people to their faith is obvious even to the casual visitor and observer. The masses offered at the churches during the day are usually filled with people; even at 5 PM on a weekday the Church of St. Helen almost overflowed. It was not a special day of obligation that drew them in. Lily said the church services are always well-attended no matter what day or what time.
At one of the old city gates (The Dawn Gate), there is a painting of St. Mary (the Virgin Mary is called St. Mary in Lithuania) that is high above the keystone of the archway under a shelter. The picture is considered particularly holy and looks reminiscent of a Russian icon. Gold frames her face and form and there are always flowers at the altar. Inside the gate house, there is a stairwell leading up to the chapel containing this holy picture and mass is offered there at least two times during the day as well.
We climbed the stairs and stood with some of the many people who could not actually get into the small chapel directly in front of the painting. These were people of different ages from teenagers to grandmothers who could scarcely climb the steep stairs. There were both men and women of all ages and walks of life. This mass was clearly quite meaningful to the people crowded here and is also well attended every time it is conducted.
In addition to the houses of worship, we also walked in front of the Presidential Palace where the lady President works
She is the very one who rebuffed Obama and refused to meet with him when he was visiting in Northern Europe in 2010 because she felt that Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia were being ignored by the big powers who were making agreements that impacted the Baltic States with no input from them. She has since communicated directly with Obama and things seem to be more cordial between them. Many Baltic States residents were appalled at her behavior but others cheered her since they too wanted more consideration when regional meetings were called.
Lily led us to the quadrangle of her own alma mater, Vilnius University. It is a venerable institution which dates from the 1600s, one of the oldest in Northern Europe. Lily attended school here in her youth majoring in history. However, she
rather ruefully told us that in those days “history” meant history according to the Russian view and centered on Russian topics.
When we entered the quad surrounded by the old two and three story buildings stuccoed in ochre paint, it was clear that graduation ceremonies had just taken place. The graduates were standing among their proud parents and friends and photos were being taken with cellphones and digital cameras. All the graduates, whether female or male, were carrying bouquets of flowers a Lithuanian tradition.
It was here that we first really took note of the fact that Lithuanians do not smile much in public places. There were more relaxed expressions on young faces than on parental and grandparental ones, but the groups were much less noisy than would have been the case at home in a similar situation. To us it appeared that this was taken as a serious occasion. The thoughtfulness of Lithuanians was exhibited here at the school as well. We climbed the tower to see the view from a good height and found the stairways very crowded. Rain had begun to fall so folks were not so eager to leave the tiny lobby before the stairwell. A middle-aged man spoke with Lily and evidently she told him we were visitors from the USA and she wanted to show us Vilnius from on high. He bowed slightly in our direction and left the lobby. Lily explained that he had told her that he could climb the tower any time he wished since he lives in Vilnius and he too would like for us to see the view. We thought that was very courteous indeed but Lily told us such behavior is not unusual in Lithuania.
As our visit progressed through the 4 days we were in Lithuania, we noticed that expressionless “street” faces were the commonalty among all folks, except for the very young. We talked with Lily about our observation and she confirmed it as accurate. People who lived through Soviet times had learned to keep to themselves and not to call attention to themselves for fear of creating suspicions in the secret police and informers who were always watching. Heads down with eyes not darting or looking around, sure gait with no hurry but no loitering either, and purposeful forward motion was the safest body habitus on the streets. Smiling or acknowledging others one passed was sure to bring one under closer observation and maybe even create a situation where one would be questioned by the police or reported later by someone who had seen the friendly behavior. Lily assured us that her countrymen are trying to break these and other long practiced survival habits, but change is slow. “But we are making progress,” she avowed often.
Our late afternoon walk through the Old City proved that Lily was very energetic and determined that we should see everything wonderful or interesting or beautiful in her city but we were beginning to flag a bit. As we were working our way back to the restaurant she had selected for us, she would dart into yet another church and show us such wonderful things. We saw the Church of St. Casimir, the Patron Saint of Lithuania, a Jesuit church and attached monastery where currently there are 10 monks and priests serving, and the dark interior of a typically decorated Russian Orthodox Church.
We were glad to rest a bit at the restaurant which was located in a cellar and was quite comfortable with good service by a young lady who spoke understandable, if rudimentary, English. Lily had encouraged us to try something typically Lithuanian and she pointed out a couple of possibilities on the menu before she took her leave of us. Kay's choice was a mushroom stew-like dish with boiled potatoes and a fresh salad. Lily had told us that mushrooms are a Lithuanian favorite and that there are many dishes created using the various varieties grown there. We learned at this first meal that potatoes are the staple dish of any Lithuanian meal and if potatoes aren't part of the main dish itself, then potatoes will always be served as a side usually just a simple boiled one. My selection was a “zeppelin” of which there are many varieties. It is a blimp-shaped potato-based shell in which meats (mystery type) and veggies are stuffed and then the whole is covered with a curd-based white sauce. Absolutely delicious, I might add.
Our walk back to the Ramada was delightful in the slowly fading light and cool breezes The Old City is quite walkable with little traffic and none of it lethal. By the time we were relaxing in the room, it was about 10:30 PM but the remaining light made it appear to be about 8 PM in Jacksonville time that's how high up on the globe Lithuania is. We congratulated ourselves on our decision to arrange this visit to Lithuania because we were already enjoying it so much.
We awoke to rain on this second day in Vilnius, but we did not let that deter us. Roma drove us around the city and we made several stops. One of the founders of Lithuania, Gediminis, has a defensive tower, named for him, on a hill above the city and we visited that site for another overview of the city of towers and spires. The tower is reached by a wonderful funicular which makes the climb totally effortless. There is a footpath to the top, but Lily made us feel less guilty for taking the ride up by telling us we didn't really have time to walk up. Needless to say, the view, even in the rain, was definitely worth our “effort.”
The rains continued to fall on us as we visited wonderful St. Bernard's church. Why was this church so wonderful not because it was so beautiful inside! It had been pretty much destroyed by the Soviets and has had only minimal restorations begun. The church dates from 1525 and still contains the late Gothic crystal vaulting which was not ruined. Only the main altar, carved of wood, remains in the church along with some frescoes which are being restored slowly. The Gothic and Baroque exterior is still quite striking. But its facade pales against the almost perfect beauty of The Church of St. Anne which stands next to it. This lovely building is said to have captivated Napoleon so much when he visited Vilnius on his way to conquer Russia that he is said to have declared that he wished he could take it home to Paris in the palm of his hand.
St. Anne's is a ideal Gothic church in a city of many Gothic churches. Its ornate facade of flowing arches and slender windows is the essence of the style further complemented by the finials and spires whose look is created by bricks shaped to
resemble flowers and leaves. Architectural historians have identified 33 different shapes of bricks used in the construction of this beautiful edifice.
[Photo on left: St. Anne’s - foreground – St. Bernard in the background]
No, the building which houses St. Bernard's wrecked church is not what made this the outstanding experience of our visit to Vilnius and to Lithuania. It was the story which Lily told us while we visited the sad remains of the church which gave us such an overwhelmingly emotional insight into what life was like here under the Soviets.
Without the sincerity and wonder glowing in Lily's own face as she spoke, the story probably won't be as stark and dramatic in the retelling. But the story is so illustrative that I cannot fail to try to express it.
After independence when the Franciscan fathers were allowed to return to their former churches, including this one, they began to offer mass in these testaments to Soviet barbarism. During one of the first masses offered here, Lily was in attendance. She reported that the priest officiating was well aware of the deep meaning that this service had for the people. The churchgoers sat in their usual (under Soviet times) huddled positions, not looking up, thinking their own thoughts and still hoping to remain anonymous since churchgoing, though not completely outlawed in Soviet times, was severely discouraged.
Gradually, Lily herself became aware of the words the priest was saying and she could hardly believe her own ears. Then she realized that there were muffled titters and stifled laughter arising from some of the darkly clothed congregants. At first, she was startled and then she was frightened as she gathered that the priest was telling “jokes” and making mockery of past experiences under the Soviets. Then she laughed aloud as the rolling sound of laughter filled the church. It was the first time in her life that she and other people in Lithuania had laughed out loud in public
about anything, much less about the Soviet regime and its repressions. She had tears in her eyes when she told us this revelatory story and we did too. It seemed to speak volumes about the Soviet times.
KAUNAS
The old capital of the country, was our next destination. After a long drive through the countryside on a really good road built by the Soviets to move their men and armaments, we came to the city. Though the outskirts looked prosperous to us, Lily informed us that the appearance was deceptive. Actually, she said, Kaunas is being left behind in the rebirth of the culture and the economy. It was a center of collectivized farming in Soviet times and the people are having as much trouble reconciling with capitalism and independent farming as they did when the Soviets coerced them onto the collectives with managed agriculture. Human beings are so often resistant to change even when it might make things better, aren't we?
But our reason for visiting this city was not to see the vestiges of the Soviet farms though we did see some of the old buildings and the beautiful farmlands. Instead, we were meeting Brother Rolandas, a friend of Lily's from Klaipeda. She had known him since he was a young man before he decided to become a monk. He is one of 5 monks now resident in this Franciscan monastery and a steward of the ruined basilica attached to it.
The monastery also did not escape vandalism and much of it is still not inhabitable. But with only 5 monks, there is plenty of living space for each one and for the public rooms they need to carry on their charitable works. In particular, at present Brother Rolandas ministers to people who are addicts of drugs and alcohol.
There is a meeting room where he joins them for discussion and prayers. The good monk is still going to school (Vilnius University) where he has 18 more months of study before he can take his final vows.
Brother Rolandas is very youthful in appearance, much younger than his actual age of 31. Perhaps his very medieval look is deceptive since he is the stereotypical essence of a jolly Friar Tuck. The rope belt around his copious waist holding his robes in place reveals that he is a stout fellow indeed. His face is cherubic and filled with kindness and humor. We liked him immediately. And it was obvious that he is very fond of Lily and enjoys seeing her. We greeted the good monk who told us his fellow students at the University called him the “fat medieval monk” but he took their teasing as affectionate and he was not offended at all. We greatly enjoyed meeting him and touring the huge complex.
Because of their friendship, we got a very special treat during this visit another highlight of our visit to this often doleful country. The good monk took us into the basilica which was another of the sad sights we saw in Lithuania only a shadow of its former glory. And again, we heard the same story: repairs and restorations are in process but the progress is painfully slow. The fact that Lithuania is devoting so much of its treasure to these renovations is clear evidence of the allegiance the people feel to their churches.
This Church of St. George has undergone many attacks and vandalism. It was originally built by Bernardine friars in the 15th century but was destroyed by fires twice and then restored in Baroque style. Then in the 1700s, the Russians damaged it and that was followed by Napoleon's soldiers in 1812 who did further mischief. Of course, the 2nd “visit” by the Russians in Soviet guise produced even greater devastation. The church was returned to the Franciscans in 1993 and they have been its caretakers ever since. What a monumental job they have in front of them.
While we stood in the nave, trying our best to look optimistic as Brother Rolandas described the ongoing work, we also tried to imagine how beautiful this huge building must have been before the very deliberate vandalism took place. Now the roof leaks and there is water damage besides the bullet holes in the plaster and the raw places where icons were torn from the walls. There are broken pedestals where religious statues were thrown from their places. There is no altar remaining in the church either. Suddenly, we were transported away from the poor ruined church as Brother Rolandes began to sing, a cappella, in a clear tenor voice which filled all the spaces created by the shell of the basilica. As his voice rose into the vaulted ceiling above him singing the words of the divine office, “Resurrexit sicut dixit, Hallelujah,” we were struck by the magnificent acoustics the great wreck of a church still possessed. We saw and we heard the reason behind the determination of the Lithuanians, monks, priests and people to bring these old structures back to their former full life.
Brother Rolandas spoke no English so our entire “colloquy” with him was conducted through Lily's translations. Though she told him that his singing in the church had brought tears to my eyes, he was willing to sing another song for us before we left. This time he sang the well-known prayer/hymn which was also very appropriate to the monastery's situation: “Salve Regina.” It too demonstrated the wonderful sounds the church held close for a moment and then sent gloriously back to the empty spaces.
CURONIAN SPIT
When we left Kaunas in the late afternoon, we still had a rather long drive to reach our next destination: the magical Curonian Spit. When we arrived in Klaipeda, we had to take a 5 minute ferry ride across a lagoon to arrive at the Spit. This bit of
Baltic geography is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by Lithuania and Russia (Kaliningrad). It is a 60 mile long, thin and curved sand dune across the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea coast. The width of the dune varies from a minimum of 1312 feet in the Russian section to 2 1/4 miles in Lithuania. It formed around the 3rd millennium BC with a glacial moraine serving as its foundation. At present, wind and sea currents contribute enough sand to keep the Spit above sea level.
If anything interrupted the constant dynamic process of sand transport and deposition, the Spit would erode and eventually disappear. Thus, in geologic parlance, it is an ephemeral coastal element. However, without human interference such as port construction and pier, the most likely development will be the filling up of the shallow lagoon between the Spit and the mainland, creating new land for the Lithuania and Russia which would include the Spit.
Lithuania values the Spit as a place of undisturbed and clean nature and seeks to protect its natural resources. The Russians however built an oil rig only 2 ½ miles. from the Lithuanian sea boundary. An oil spill in the area would be totally disastrous to the Spit. At present, the Spit is home to the highest drifting sand dunes in Europe. The average height of the dunes
is 115 feet but some attain 197 feet. Several different ecological communities exist on the land: beach, dune ridges, wetlands, meadows and forests. It is a very important stopover for migrating birds along the East Atlantic Flyway; between 10 and 20 million birds pause to rest or breed there.
Germans and Lithuanians are not in agreement about the human history of the Spit. As far as is known, a major pagan (perhaps Viking?) trading center existed on the island from about 800 and 1016 A.D. But the site, Kaup, has not been excavated to this date. In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights occupied the area and there are old castles extant to document their presence. The significant human impact on the area began in the 16th century when overgrazing and excessive timber harvesting began to destabilize the dunes and several villages were buried by the moving sand dunes by 1757. Then the Prussian government became concerned and started a program of revegetation and reforestation which continues to this day. Much of the Spit is forested today thanks to these efforts.
In the 19th century, the Spit was occupied by Curonians with a significant German minority population in the south and a smaller Lithuanian minority in the north. Here is where the differences in history begin to play a part. The population of Curonians began to dwindle, perhaps due to assimilation chiefly, until it is close to non-existent today. Even before 1945, the Spit had become totally ethnic German, according to their version. The Lithuanians believe that the Germans were never the majority population. Then after World War II the German population was expelled by force by the Russians who occupied all Lithuania.
Today the pleasures of vacationing on the Spit are shared by Germans and Lithuanians. The little resort town of Nida (Nidden to the Germans) hosts both nationalities peacefully, but the past is not a favorite topic of conversation between them.
Our ride from the ferry depot to Nida was rather long but we certainly got a chance to see the wonderful forests on the dunes and some of the little villages before reaching our resort for the night. From the dunes outside Nida, we could look over into Russian territory Kaliningrad. Visas are required to enter the little Russian enclave so tourists and Lithuanians rarely bother to try to cross the border. There is no outlet for the Lagoon at the Russian end of the spit so the Russians have to keep
their vessels on the Baltic side of the territory. The only outlet is at the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda.
NIDA
Nida was a quaint and colorful little beach resort town actually on the Lagoon side rather than the Baltic. In reality, it could have been anywhere as far as the style of architecture goes. There were plenty of tourists visiting at the same time we were walking through the little village after we had a good supper at the restaurant connected with our hotel. There were many flowers at homes, hotels and restaurants. The weather was cool and inviting. The only drawback were the clouds of little non-biting bugs who swarmed in our faces. But we kept exploring anyway. One of the features of coastal Lithuania that so pleased Lily was the constant winds. She loves them and finds them exhilarating rather than annoying as some folks do. We were surprised they didn't blow the tiny bug pests away, but they were persistent.
Several little fishing vessels were moored at the marina and we knew that we were supposed to board one the next day to explore the Lagoon from the water. We weren't sure which boat would be ours so we didn't look too carefully at them bobbing slightly in their slots. We saw the church in the town and the little facility for concerts and other entertainments. Though the day had definitely cooled off since our visit in Kaunas, we were somewhat dismayed when we returned to our room at 10:30 PM to find that there was no A/C there. But it turned out not to be a problem. The lingering light in the sky was probably more distracting that the temperature in the room.
Lilly had warned us that tomorrow was a very special day in Lithuania—St. John's Day. It is a mixture of religious and pagan merry-making. It marks the middle of summer and it is an important holiday for most Scandinavians and Baltic citizens. Each country has its own customs and the date itself can vary as well. But we were in Lithuania so we were going to learn how these folks celebrate this important occasion.
Originally, Midsummer was a pagan holiday, but now in Roman Catholic countries it is fused with the celebration of the birthday of John the Baptizer because the Bible implies that John was born 6 months before Jesus. Where we were visiting, the day is
celebrated in the night from the 23rd of June through June 24. Traditions include singing songs, dancing until the sun sets (which really means all night), telling tales, searching to find the magic fern blossom at midnight, jumping bonfires, greeting the rising sun and washing one's face in the morning dew, and floating flower wreaths on rivers or lakes. In Lithuania, anyone with a first name derivative of St. Johns's (names like Jonas, Jone, Janina) name will be showered with special greetings and gifts. Because we were tired tourists, we did not attempt to participate in any of the rituals going on in Nida. But we must say that the celebrants were very reserved because there no outbursts or loud noises to disturb our sleep! It could have been any night as far as we could tell, but Lily assured us that the parties did indeed go on in Nida that night.
When we awoke and left our room at 7:30 AM, we did see the remains of some celebrations like spent firecrackers, empty beer bottles, and discarded food containers. But the mess was not nearly as great as it would have been at home under similar circumstances. The other proof we were given that a big party had indeed been held in Nida was the fact that the streets were dead. No one gets up early on St. Johns Day. There was one ambitious fisherman on a little spit of land reaching out into the Lagoon and several birds picking idly at the party remnants. Our restaurant which had posted its hours as being from 7:30 AM to 10 PM was not serving when we tried the door.
Finally, at 8:30 some sleepy and disheveled waiters and waitresses wandered in and stared about as if wondering what they should be doing. We were the only customers in the dining room so they were not unduly hurried by our presence. Finally, one of the young ladies brought us some orange juice and asked about coffee. Since we don't drink coffee, she lackadaisically strolled back to the kitchen area, rubbing her eyes and blinking. We waited a bit longer and wondered if anyone would return to take our order, but instead out drifted an equally puzzled young man bearing a plate with Scandinavian fare for breakfast sitting on it: cold cuts, cucumbers, cheese slices, sliced tomatoes and 2 bread rolls. Well, we thought that was just fine and we happily shared the repast. Then the befuddled young lady reappeared with a second plate filled with the same assortment. We accepted it and finished about half of that one. We were about ready to leave the restaurant when yet another waitress, this one a bit more alert, approached us asking if we wanted omelets or fried eggs with bacon
and toast. We declined that part of the meal since we were already quite full. But we did have to agree that we had seen some of the results of the Midsummer St. Johns Day partying.
We had to admit that the air was fresh and pure as we joined Lily and Romas to explore more of the Spit. First we went to the Great Dune (172 feet high) where you are allowed to climb. It was from that vantage point that we could clearly see Russia from (well, not our kitchen window) the top. The walkway up to the dune top has been paved to prevent erosion. We were reminded here that the Spit is still a moving dune and that Nida itself had been buried three times in the past. The last time was in the 1700s.
There was even an area where we were permitted to actually walk on the sand itself and the walking was fairly easy since there had been rain the night before so the sand still held moisture giving us much better traction that dry sand would have done. At the top of the walk on the Parnidis Dune was a structure called the Solar Clock-Calendar - made by an architect Ricardas Kristapavicius. The overcast skies made it impossible to see any shadows of time keeping.
The way down was much steeper and most of that “path” was on wooden steps. When we reached the bottom of the dune, we found ourselves in a wetland area with frogs, insects, water plants and reeds in and around small pools of fresh water. It was such a surprise! As we walked further back on our way to town again, we passed through meadows with browse and grasses for deer and elk though we did not see any. Lily told us that there are beavers in the wetlands areas and otters in the streams, but we saw none of those creatures either.
Thirty-two mammal species live on the Spit, including bats and wild boars (whose numbers are being controlled because of their destructive tendencies up on the dunes where they root up the grasses and plants stabilizing the constantly moving sand), foxes and hedgehogs, and moles, in addition to those already mentioned. However, there are no wolves or venomous snakes. Birds are the creatures who seem to find the Spit a paradise, as Lily told us. More than 240 species have been counted there.
Rain continued to threaten us during our walk to Nida and we observed very ominous black clouds forming over the Lagoon. The little boats in the marina were no longer just bobbing gently, they were pulling and tugging at their mooring lines in response to much choppier waters! There was distant thunder as well presaging more disturbances to come. So we opted out of our boat ride on the Lagoon and we were not sorry since the weather did not clear until quite a bit later. Lily seemed a bit surprised that we did “chicken out” but after all, she was the one who had told us that lightning could be fierce over the Spit.
We walked in the mist and rain and visited a few shops chiefly one which specialized in the wonderfully quirky weather vanes which the sailors and fishermen of the Spit have created. They offer decorations which show which part of the Spit they sail from and other symbols of their own individual work and lives. Now it is possible to purchase the vanes as wall mountings, free standing statuary, paintings,
and other decorative arts. They are so idiosyncratic and charming that we had to buy a painting of one illustrative of a fisherman out of Nida.
We had an educational visit to Nida's Evangelical Lutheran Church (a testament to German version of their presence on the Spit) which is quite handsome. It is a recent structure (built in 1888) for the mostly German population of the Spit in that era.
The church is constructed of red brick, familiar to us now since brick is a common building material in Lithuania. Inside, however, it is a lovely shade of blue, like the near-shore ocean color on a sunny day, and accented with white. The stained glass window over the altar was also composed of shades of blue and white. Very attractive and simple church. The pastor was a visitor for three weeks to allow the regular minister some time off. He spoke with no accent to our ears and seemed to indicate that he was originally from Fulton, NY, though he now lives in Germany. The church sits atop a dune above Nida itself. Pretty grounds with trees, shrubs, grasses
and flowers help to stabilize the dune further as well as providing attractive surroundings for the church.
We passed the Roman Catholic Church in our drive and learned that it is of much more recent vintage (perhaps evidence of less early Lithuanian presence on the Spit?). We did not stop for a visit here which was a bit of a surprise, but Lily explained that it is not very attractive in her eyes. She much prefers the old Gothic and Baroque churches so illustrative of Lithuania's history.
Next, we toured a local amber shop where we learned several surprising (to us) factoids about amber. We already knew that it is a fossilized resin from plant materials buried under the sea for many millennia, but we were not aware that it comes in so many different colors: from creamy white to black and and including reds, greens, blues and yellows. Since the typical “amber” color is the most plentiful it is the most affordable; the others are valued based on their prevalence. We learned that any amber with “inclusions” is more valuable than any color without. The inclusions can be insects, shells, plant material such as bark, leaves, and stems, tiny lizards anything that had become enmeshed in the resin when the tree was engulfed. The heat and the pressure the resin undergo determines the colors produced during the fossilization process.
The studio displayed all kinds of uses for amber: jewelry, statuary, bowls, cups, bottles, crowns, wall pieces. But the strangest thing the business offered was a drink flavored by amber pieces placed in the bottle and allowed to “marinate.” The liqueur was something Lithuanian and it was very strong (hot) to our palates. Whether or not we actually detected the flavor of amber in the drink is something of a question. There was a slight hint of “pine” on our tongues and Lily assured us that was the amber. Many people in the Baltic area believe that amber has medicinal properties and use it in a “reduced liquidy” form as a salve or tonic. Even wearing amber as jewelry is said to provide preventive or palliative properties for the wearer. We looked for earrings but they had none that interested us in this store so we decided to wait until we reached the Amber Museum in Palanga.
CORMORANT ROOKERY
After leaving Nida, we resumed our car tour and drove to the Cormorant Rookery a strange place indeed, since the birds were roosting, nesting, and raising babies in a forest of pine trees! Official counts of the birds this year hold that there are 3000 nesting pairs in this area. This annual takeover of the forest by the birds is a mixed blessing indeed. Some insects, predatory birds, and plants gain from the rookery because it provides food for the insects, eggs and young birds become prey for the hawks and falcons, and the huge load of guano enriches the soil for the understory plants of the pine forest. And of course, the rookery is a tourist attraction during the breeding season. However, the great nursery here is killing the pine trees through breakage of limbs and other damage according to the forest stewards on the Spit. So . . . what to do? The Spit is a national forest wherein nature is supposed to reign supreme. The cormorants and the pine forests are relative newcomers. However, the roots and pine needles of the trees help to stabilize the dunes, so they have great value to the human residents of the Spit. The birds are coming here as they use the East Atlantic Flyway so their claim to a right to breed and rear young also must be valued since the whole is a UNESCO World Heritage site. A dilemma for the people of the Spit, for sure.
We enjoyed seeing the many birds and their young but even we could see the breakdown of limbs and branches caused by heavy nests and the fairly long breeding season. Wooden steps led to a lookout where we could watch the birds at a height nearly level with their nests. That, of course, made for excellent bird-watching. However, as we were coming down the steps which were wet with rain and guano, my foot slipped and down I went, hard against the riser of the step above the one where I fell. Once I regained my breath, the only damage I suffered was a bruise on my back with residual soreness. I considered myself very lucky that I had not broken a hip, leg, arm or rib! Of course, I did not admit to much discomfort because that would have made Lily want to alter our itinerary to run me to a local clinic or doctor. I did not want to go that route; I didn't want to miss anything already scheduled.
Luckily, Kay had brought along some pain medication and I was able to continue with very little discomfort unless I forgot myself and twisted to the right to look at something. Then I would be reminded sharply of my clumsiness on the stairs. But luckily that didn't last too long and the pain meds got me through it just fine.
HILL OF WITCHES
Our next visit was to the Hill of Witches which required some upping and downing on the trail which was not really too hard to manage (the hill is only 138 ft. high at the top).
And the sights along the Hill were definitely worth the effort. Set in another part of the pine forest on the dunes were at least 50, maybe even 100, wood carvings of mythical figures from Baltic fairy stories and legends. The predominant figure was the goddess Neringa who, according to Baltic myths, was the creator of the Baltic Sea and the lands around it, in particular the Spit. A huge figure, she was playing in the water, scooping up the sand from the bottom and piling it up until she had created the land masses. She was a very large figure and is often compared to Hercules because of her strength and valor. There were several figures of Neringa along the way, depicting her in various activities, most of them concerned with water.
In addition to the creator goddess, there were many droll statues of witches, both good and evil. These are important characters in Lithuanian folk tales. The witches interact with humans, helping and hindering their activities and purposes. The witches look the same, except that the white (good) witches always wear sandals or shoes and the black (bad) ones are shoeless. None of them is depicted as very attractive physically snaggle teeth, hook noses, sagging lips, and dumpy bodies. Other figures from folk history also appeared along the way devils and animals both helpful and harmful to human beings. All the carvings are very skillfully done and the walk is a delight all the way. And it didn't rain on us any more while we walked among the statues.
Then the Baltic Sea itself beckoned us on and we went to an area where we could walk over the dunes and reach a lovely beach. The sand is amber in color and it is very fine. The sky was overcast and again it was misting a bit. The water was calm with just little ripples reaching up for the shore. There were several people on the beach and all of them were watching two men who were flying just above the ground in contraptions that looked like multi-colored crescent-shaped beach floats with seats suspended from them. One of the fellows had mastered the art of flying higher and farther with the plentiful winds, whereas the other one gave us some good chuckles as he bumped along the sand with his bottom dragging. He was trying to follow the more skilled flyer but had not improved very much by the time we left the beach. He was persistent however and we could see why—it looked like a lot of fun! Again, on the beach we had that strange sensation of no marine smell. The low salinity of the
Baltic really does reduce that unmistakable salt-air aroma we associate with being at the beach.
The five-minute ferry ride back to Klaipeda really does take only 5 minutes and there's little to no waiting time because the ferries run so often and regularly. We were given a little car tour of the city and shown where we might want to eat, our hotel, and a venue where a free folk music concert was being given that very evening. Our hotel was called “The Old Post” and it was very Scandinavian in the interior though the outside looked like the old renovated warehouse it was. Very comfortable and new and centrally located as well.
Kay dosed me up with a stronger painkiller because by now I was hurting a bit more since it was a few hours since the fall. We both lay down to catch a nap, but I never fell asleep. However, it was a relief to realize that I was pain-free when I lay perfectly still or sat in an upright position (with no slumping). Walking, bending and turning produced more discomfort than before, so we decided to pass on the concert. But both of us were hungry so we walked to a restaurant not far from the hotel which was at the port. We enjoyed a delicious spaghetti Bolognese which was great comfort food. Then we headed back to hotel where we read and relaxed and I tried to get comfortable enough to sleep well.
KLAIPEDA
Day 19 of our visit to the Baltic found us on a walking tour of Klaipeda (Lily's hometown) in the morning before starting on our way back to Vilnius. As if in recognition of Lily's pleasure at being home for a while, the sky was a brilliant blue and there was not a cloud suggesting any more rain. Lily's winds blew constantly bringing cooling breezes in from the Lagoon. So we happily followed her around Old Town while she proudly showed us the sights.
This poor city was bombed several times during World War II, by the Nazis, the Russians and the British. It was clear that to Lily, when bombs were falling wrecking everything and killing the people, it didn't much matter from whence those bombs were hurled or dropped. The destruction and death were just as terrifying and awful! Consequently, there is not much of great age in this city but what there is, Lily made sure we saw.
The thing about her city that I liked most was the obvious sense of humor and resilience of the people that was revealed in the funny and clever statuary placed around the Old City.
At the port, we saw the figure of the ghostly sailor climbing out of the water to reach the dock area; like so much in Lithuanian folklore and stories, he is not benign presence; he is there to trick people and make trouble.
The swinging bridge is in the background. One of the “old things” that survived all the bombing is a very special bridge to get across a narrow river onto the dock it's called a “rotating swing bridge.” It is supported by a vertical pivot pole at the center of the bridge. It is probably about 20 feet long and it is operated manually by two men who turn a wheel to make the bridge rotate 90 degrees to allow foot traffic to cross onto the dock.
They have “our cat” and “our little mouse” figures slyly and shyly placed. There is a clever “our house” sitting out in plain view. It bears close attention because of all the imaginative decorations, windows, doors, chimneys that the artist has included in his creation.
Lily's own home church is a Roman Catholic one built by the Russians during Soviet times perhaps to placate the people a little. The building is large but very plain; there is no tower or steeple and no organ inside, very little in the way of decorations on the walls. No paintings or frescoes adorn the walls. The interior is a stark white though there “stations of the cross” very simple and modern but we do not know when they were put in the church, whether in Soviet times or afterwards. Anyway, the church is so unlike the Baroque ones she showed us in Vilnius that it appears the Russians went out of their way to make sure the church did not match any the people were familiar with.
The city still has streets named for the trades practiced there , i.e., Baker Street, Blacksmith Alley, Shoemaker's Street and others. There is still a “Synagogue Street” though the Jewish synagogue has been gone since the Nazi occupation during World War II.
On the Theater Square there is a a 19th century building that housed a theater that somehow survived, though it is in need of repairs. Like so much else in Lithuania, those needed restorations are in the offing.
We visited a small museum in a former blacksmith shop. The last blacksmith in the area went around to various cemeteries and removed the wrought iron and other metal crosses which were decorating graves and brought them to his shop for safekeeping.
The reason for this seeming thievery? Both the Nazis and the Soviets were building right over these old graveyards without regard for the families & friends of the people buried there. There was no way to protest this desecration without getting into big trouble with the authorities, but they didn't care that the blacksmith “rescued” these metal objects which often contained the names and dates of the persons buried beneath them. The markers are now displayed in a little garden area outside the smithy for anyone to wander through and note the names and the beautiful metalwork as well.
Off the Theater Square was a small but pretty palace which had also survived the destruction. The ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, Frederick William III with his wife, Louise, lived there for about a year (from 1807-1808) while hiding out away from the Napoleonic conflicts. It is now open as a museum as well. It boasted a classic style of architecture with balance both in the building and grounds surrounding it. As we walked through the Square to reach the little palace, we saw a young man leaning against a fountain playing a familiar Lithuanian folksong on a violin. He did not seem to be soliciting money; he was playing for his own pleasure and that of any listeners who might lend an ear. Lily said that such a public performance would have been forbidden in Soviet times and the young fellow would never had dared to play outdoors.
Our last look at the port of Klaipeda heartened us for both the city and the country. It was busy with ships from all over the Baltic region and Lily said the business at the port is increasingly better. Some plans are already being carried out here for modernizing the facility and allowing more shipping to come and go from Klaipeda. This continuous growth has to be a positive sign for the economic health of the whole country. Klaipeda has had a fairly prosperous past as well especially when it was called Memel by the German hegemony there. It was a huge timber exporting facility to the British in support of the shipbuilding projects of the Royal Navy. Lily hopes and believes that the city can regain its former prosperity. We certainly hope so as well; if any peoples need a break and some good luck, it is the poor Lithuanians.
PALANGA
Another Baltic Sea resort northeast of Klaipeda was our next destination. Besides possessing a wonderful beach, the holiday city has a wide pedestrian walkway of about two miles from shops & restaurants to the sea.
There are many booths where people can try their luck with various games and sports. If one tires of the continuous sun and fun, there is a wonderful city garden to visit which is centered around a fine palace which is now the Amber Museum.
Besides the excellent displays explaining how amber is formed, what colors are created in the process, where else in the world amber is found besides the Baltic Sea, how amber has been used over the centuries, there is a fine if small display of Viking hoards found in Lithuania. As we had been informed on board the Clipper, the Vikings never had a very large or important presence in Lithuania, but this museum did
show that those intrepid Norsemen did stop here as well as in Latvia and Estonia. We saw hack silver, silver bars, coins, and jewelry from the Viking Age here.
While we visited in Palanga we saw that this is a much more fun-oriented resort than Nida which seems to attract older people who are more interested in rest and relaxation. Here in Palanga, young people seemed to be the most numerous and they were intent on enjoying themselves. Beer is a popular drink and fuels the merrymaking and the availability of physical activities keeps everyone in motion. A happy place and good to see in a country with such a sad past.
THE HILL OF CROSSES
Our last stop on the way back to Vilnius was a reminder of the seriously religious aspect of Lithuanian culture the Hill of Crosses. Even after having looked at pictures of the hill before we came to see it for ourselves, we were unprepared for the number of crosses that bristle all over the hill from its foot, over its apex and down all the sides like tears cascading down a crumpled face. The site is really just a hillock, but all the crosses reaching up towards the sky make it look much higher and larger. At last informal count, the brothers who live at the monastery near the hill estimated at least 100,000 crosses sat on the hill in 2006. The site is both a national and religious pilgrimage center and a memorial to Lithuanian national identity.
The nearby city (Siauliai) was founded in 1236 and occupied by Teutonic Knights during the 14th century. It is believed that the crosses began to accumulate at that time as a symbol of defiance against the foreign invaders and occupiers. Since the Medieval period, the hill and its crosses have represented the peaceful resistance of Lithuanian Catholicism against oppression. More and more crosses began to appear on the hill as the country endured many invasions and occupations over the years. In 1914, there were 200 counted and by 1940 there were 400 large crosses surrounded by thousands of smaller ones.
During the Soviet years, pilgrimages to the Hill of Crosses served as a vital expression of Lithuanian nationalism, dedication to their national heritage, and their religious faith. The Soviets repeatedly removed the crosses in an effort to eradicate this pilgrimage site. In 1961, 1973, and again in 1975,they bulldozed the hill, burned and scrapped the crosses, burying them in pits lined with sewage and garbage. They further contaminated the site by spreading raw sewage and other filthy waste over its entirety. Following each of these desecrations, the Lithuanian people from near and far quickly cleared the hill area and replaced these crosses with more. In l985, the Hill of Crosses was finally left in peace by the Soviets.
Since that time, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world visit this sacred site and Pope John Paul II himself became a pilgrim in September of 1993, leaving behind a very large crucifixion statue that has greeted each subsequent pilgrim at the start of the climb up the hill. The size and variety of the crosses is almost as astonishing as their numbers. Some are skillfully carved from wood and others sculpted from metal in ingenious ways. Still more are primitive and simple, but created with loving hands. The crosses range from 10 feet in height to countless tiny ones hanging in clusters from the larger ones. The crosses originate from all over the world and mixed in among them are rosaries, pictures of Jesus and the Apostles, saints, and even photos of Lithuanian patriots. We were visitors on a particularly beautiful but windy day and that allowed us to hear the tinkling music created by the constant movements of the tiny crosses against each other. An oddly moving music indeed in such an important and holy place for Lily and her countrymen.
And an especially meaningful place to end our exploration of harshly repressed Lithuania since it is the amazing testament to the determination of these peoples to preserve their national identity, their ethnic heritage and culture, and their unique place in the world. Inspiring and deeply moving.
