Kaunus to Klaipeda

Today we dodged the rain again!! It rained even poured a lot of the day but fined up for our ride in the afternoon.
First we got on the bus and visited another castle which was actually a manor and is now converted to a hotel and convention centre. Very opulently decorated. Would love to stay there!! It is also an artists studio and gallery.
Driving west through the countryside was very pretty and changed to more fertile country and farm animals seen. They have wind turbines for energy here as it gets windy.
We visited a park where "pagan" rituals are still performed and got a nice view of a river.
Lunch was very special - near Silute , it was at a home of people who make lunches with their own homegrown ingredients. It was very traditional, complete with buffalo grass vodka in a shot glass (wow, what a punch!) and lemon balm tea.
After lunch we cycled the 1km to the nearby bird observatory were they catch birds (and dragonflies ) to band them. They catch around 5000 birds of all species a day and band them all. We then got back on our bikes and cycled 25km further west through a main country road and then up a forestry road. This track was very pretty through the tall pines, was gravel and a few hard core corrugations to rattle the bones. We came across a lake where people camp and windsurf . We got to Vente where we bussed into Klaipeda in the rain!! We were so lucky!! 💧💧
Late tea at a nearby restaurant, I had pork spare ribs in brandy sauce. Very nice, sweet as well as smoky.
Klaipeda was founded in the 1200's and was part of Prussia until 1920 when Lithuania was formed.Read more