Wanderung 31

Because Klaipeda appeared to be within walking distance of the cruise ship terminal, we decided to simply get off and walk about on our own rather than taking a Costa tour. That allowed us to take our time and have breakfast after the rush of folks who were booked on the ship's tours. So we had a "two-stage" breakfast where we first had an omelet on bread at the midship egg station and then went aft to have some fruit and sweet rolls with our coffee. Very relaxing!

After meeting up with Linda and Jerry, we four debarked just after the mad crush of folks exiting for the ship's tours, and that turned out to be very quick and painless. The one thing we did NOT have was a map of Klaipeda, and I strongly hoped for some kind of Tourist Information representative on the pier who we could ask for a map. We saw people clustered at a small wooden hut just inside the "secure" perimeter, and sure enough they were Tourist Information representatives who spoke very good English, had town maps in English, and even informed us that free Wifi was available at the main TI center in town.

The map showed us that the Old Town section was just a couple blocks from the end of the cruise ship terminal at which the Costa Pacifica was berthed (16 on map). So we walked a block inland along a canal past the ruins of an old fort (14 on map) and turned right to get to the Theatre Square, which we thought might have something pretty to see (1 on map).

Theatre Square had a graceful central fountain dedicated to an old Lithuanian poet who wrote about a lost love, and a pretty old theater house behind that. But out in the plaza we found a huge ring of vendors selling everything from real/fake Amber to hand-knitted or woven textiles. Wow! About 50% of the kiosks were selling Amber, but really the other handicrafts were more interesting, ranging from a potter actually throwing clay pots on a small wheel to a wood carver who was patiently carving beautiful small and large figures from pieces of wood.

I particularly enjoy watching artisans work and buying things directly from them, so this was like seventh heaven for me. In the end, Monika found a hand-woven purse that literally shouted "Buy Me!", and we picked that up for 15 Euro. The weaver had her loom right there and demonstrated it for us, and even let Monika have a go at it. Linda bought a hand-knit hat and pink baby booties for her granddaughter.

Reluctantly leaving the fine collection of handicrafts in Theater Square, we ambled up Turgaus Gatve to the main Tourist Information center (white "i" in green square on map), and all signed on to their free Wifi connection (password: tourist1) to check our email. I also used the Wifi to send copies of the completed journal entries to our email account; that way we have them safely stored on a Gmail or Apple server in addition to being stored on our iPads. I found a free map of sculpture exhibits in Klaipeda , which is a walking tour all by itself althoug somewhat more far afield than the Old Town walk we were pursuing. Still, the map was useful.

While Linda and Jerry were writing emails, I also decided to run back to Theatre Square to get a hand-woven shoulder bag like Monika's that would just fit my mini iPad, and quickly did so at a cost of 13 Euro (mine is on the left and Monika's on the right in the picture below). Returning to the TI center, we bought a couple tourist knickknacks when we picked Linda and Jerry up, and then we all continued on our walking tour. But we stopped again almost immediately within the next block when we found a cafe with sidewalk tables selling beer and tea, and decided it was time for a break! Clearly we were not going to set any speed records for this walkabout, but we surely were having fun with it!

Continuing on after "The Pause That Refreshes", we wound our way around the Old Town section of Klaipeda. The Old Town is filled with half-timber houses from the old days, and odd pieces of sculpture from the new days. The old houses were interesting and pretty pieces of history , thoroughly worthy of our attention .

But the sculptures were really an unexpected fun part of our walking tour. Obviously, the Lithuanian sculptors must have a whimsical sense of humor! One sculpture is a dragon climbing down a wall (5 on map), but another reminded me of a large Guinea pig. We enjoyed thinking up offbeat ways of posing with them when we ran across different pieces of sculpture in our rambles.

Zig-zagging through the Old Town, we found an "Iki" store that sold liquor and snacks, so Linda and Jerry bought snacks while Monika and I bought liquor. We decided to split the beer, wine, and spirits amongst us on the theory that we might be each allowed to bring one alcoholic beverage back on board the ship, which turned out later to be a completely erroneous assumption!

Our walking tour curled around at the northeast edge of town at the site of an old fortress (7 on map) and then came back down the Dane canal, where we saw an old sailing ship called the "Meridianas" berthed. Although still floating, the old training ship was permanently moored and had been converted to a restaurant (8 on map) . Passing a bronze statue of a chimney sweep sitting atop a house (9 on map), we decided we would stay in town for lunch and turned back into the Old Town, where we ultimately found a narrow alleyway that was filled with charming outdoor cafes from one end to the other.

The atmosphere was great and we found a pizzeria where we could order a large minced meat and mushroom pizza for all of us, plus beers for Jerry and Monika, Coke for me, and water for Linda. We each had two slices of pretty decent thin-crust pizza, and that gave us enough energy to start wending our way back to the ship.

We decided to swing back by Theatre Square and peruse the craft offerings one more time. Linda found a refrigerator magnet in the shape of a ship with Amber sails and we continued on to the pier where our ship was docked. All went well until we went through the X-ray machines, when the Security folks discovered the wine bottle in Jerry's backpack. How embarrassing! Also very unfair in that we were the truly guilty parties and Jerry was nabbed with our contraband. Our cans of beer, secreted in our bags, escaped detection, so we waited while Jerry good-naturedly filled out the "get your bottle of confiscated booze back at the end of the cruise" form, and then we all went upstairs to unload.

At 5 pm we regathered at the arts and crafts corner on deck 10 to paint ceramic coffee cups. That task, hard enough in a quiet, calm environment, was made even more difficult by the pounding music being boomed out in the pool below us, punctuated at random intervals by loud, amplified shouts from the master of ceremonies over the intercom, usually occurring just as I was trying to paint a straight line! Still I painted my cup to resemble a Costa smokestack with a blue "C" on a yellow background. Monika went for the "nature in the fall look" which did not require straight lines.

Afterwards we relaxed until dinner watching the sun go down. After dinner, we caught the end of the evening show, which was billed as a circus performance . It turned out to be a Cirque de Soleil type of performance with a juggler and two female acrobats. The juggler juggled chainsaws and the acrobats did both pole dancing and a routine on the "silks". It was well done and very impressive, but we were just too tired to stay up after that and went to bed instead.