Winter in Canada

Nida. Neringa. Lithuania. The curonian spit

Once upon a time... heh, No, It was in august 2005 when I was spending my summer at my lithuanian family. 2 happy dogs and 5 happy people left Vilnius and went to Nida (Neringa).
The people, but the driver (my father) were sleeping after hard disco night. :) The dogs enjoyed the trip like this...

Dolly
Malta and my sister Donata
When we arrived to the Klaipeda (big lithuanian port) we took the ferry to arrive to Neringa.
The view of Klaipeda and The curonian spit.

We left ferry and found ourseves in a wonderland of snowhite dunes and dark emerald pine forest.

In Nida we found cheap hotel, rented to bycycles for all of us and went to the center of the village.

Nida
Our hotel


On the main street of Nida beside the sea there are a lot of cheap restaurants where you will find nice dishes of meat, potatoes and mashrooms. And good beer! :)

Arturas, me & Donata

With our full stomach we continue enjoying the beauty of the baltic nature, that you could see here.
The weather like always wasn't nice to us. Lithunia is a very rainy country. But the rain gave this sweet sence of melancholy to our mood... I just wanted to seat on the dune and listen A-ha or Coldplay...

My father

The Dune Of Parnidis

The Dune of Parnidis is a favorite place of the holidaymakers’ visits. The dune is half planted and half drifted. On the southwest slope of the Dune of Parnidis a memorial cross for the sculptor R.Daugintis is standing, and on the top of the dune in spring of 1995, while celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Restoration of Independence, the Solar Clock – calendar was constructed. From the Dune of Parnidis you can enjoy the variety of the spit’s landscape. In the direction to the south, a range of XVIII century human-provoked “migrating dunes” greets by blinding one with light and shadows, in the direction of the north there is a 19th century human-planted green carpet of hill-pines of the Great Duneridge.

The view from the dune on Nida

On the beach

The Curonian split. Dunes. Neringa

There are some places in the world that steal your heart and soul away. Anywhere you go as time pass by, you want to come back to the place where for the first time in your life you knew an amazing new feeling as you savour the unforgettable charm of the dunes during the sunset and hear the play in pinewoods.. No words can describe It. Or only one... Harmony... Harmony between man and the nature... For me one of these places is Neringa.



Neringa municipality (Lithuanian: Neringos savivaldybė) is a municipality in westernmost Lithuania, in the Curonian Spit. It´s called Neringa city, altrough there was never a true city there. It consisit of few villages like Nida, Preila, Pervalka and Juodkrantė.

The Curonian Spit is a narrow sand peninsula of 98 km of length, which divides the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. This is a fragile nature, which requests a considerable and constant attention. In the South, Lithuanian part of the Spit borders with Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation. The borderline marks the external borders of the European Union.
According to the origin and composition the Spit is comprised of natural and human-made complex sections of protective dune-ridge. These various forms were created by waves, wind and the human, which were also helped by the sand grains of various sizes, flora and its distribution, angles and height of dune-ridge‘s slopes, and position of the ridge according to the coastline and its inner composition.
Read more here

The thunder rolls And the lightnin' strikes
Another love grows cold On a sleepless night
As the storm blows on Out of control
Deep in her heart The thunder rolls

Garth Brooks

Some pictures are by Gaga Nielsen

Voices I like. American Idol 2008

The thing I like about original American Idol is that they chose really talanted people. I can´t say this about Russia and Spain.

Here are female voices I like a lot this year.

Carly Smithson. There is no comment. Her voice tells for her.



This girl is so sweet like an angel

Brook White - American Idol 2008. She is so cute and talanted.



Of course I think my husband´s voice is the best, but here are some not too bad voices I like.

Michael Johns - "Bohemian Rhapsody" American Idol - not Freddy, but quite professional.



That´s the type of voice I like. He is not incredible and quite typical, but I have to admit of all people of this season It´s the best rock voice.

David Cook - "Everything I Do" American Idol

Tarragona.Placa de Font, Baixada Misericordia, Carrer Major

• Previous post: Tarragona. Praetorium&Roman Circus

From Roman Circus we go by Carrer de Trinquet Nou or Carrer del Cos de Bou stright to the Town Hall on Placa de Font (the Fountain´s square).


There are many bars and restaurants on this cozy little square. Let´s take a drink, for example Champú - catalonian drink - mix of beer and Fanta Lemon - one of the best thing for hot summer day.

Turn right by Correr de Portalet and go up to the Baixada Misericordia (mercy slope).

In front of the slope you can observe La placa dels Sedassos with an unique house painted with Trompe-l'œil technique, reproducing the typical scenes of the catalonian balconies with folk creatures Els Nans vells - The old dwarfs.

In many of the shops and bars in this district there are Roman ruins. Some of the buildings you’re seeing were built over old Roman remains. There is an interesting tourist circuit, that will allow you to visit these ruins.

If you go up the Baixada Misericordia, you´ll arrive to Carrer Major wich leads stright to the Cathedral.

Here you can find one of my favorite italian restaurant La Tagliatella. It´s easy, just follow the smoke of the best pizza. :)

To be continued...

• Next post:

Tarragona. Praetorium&Roman Circus

• Previous post:Tarragona. Roman amphitheater

From the Roman amphitheater let´s go up to the Praetorium & Roman Circus.




Praetorium or Pretori Romá (cat.) is a tall tower built by the Romans. It was connected to other parts of the city by underground passages through the circus.



The building has been restored and in the 14th Century it was turned into a royal palace and used as a royal residence. Later, it functioned as a prison. You can go underground and also climb to the top where you can enjoy great views over Tarragona.





Roman Sculptures on display in the Provincial Forum/Praetorium Tower.





Tarragona's Roman Circus can be reached via a tunnel from the Praetorium. Here Roman chariot racing and other big crowd events would have been held. It had a capacity of 20.000 spectators. Today you can still see some of the walls and vails that composed its structure.


Here we have one "lion" :)


And It´s little relatives... The only inhabitants of the circus.


Museu Nacional Arqueologic de Tarragona/Archaelogical Museum



Most of the collections displayed inside are Roman, and this museum really does form the centre for the history of Roman life, architecture, art, food, circus, theatre and more once prevalent on the Iberian peninsula. Most Roman finds along the Spanish coast and peninsula have ended up here in this definitive Spanish Roman Archaeological Museum.

To be continued...

• (C)All pictures, but museum taken by me
• Next post:Tarragona.Placa de Font, Baixada Misericordia, Carrer Major