Hangzhou Revisited. The Tea Pickers.

The Qingming (phonetically pronounced "Ching Ming" in English) Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, is the day when Chinese people visit family graves or burial grounds to pray to their ancestors. They sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, and joss paper, among other items, to the ancestors. This year the festival will take place on April 5 which is just a few days from now.

Memories of the Batlics and Helsinki.

At the Hill of Witches, Curonian Spit, Lithuania.

This is the diary of my trip to the Baltics in 2013 and as with a few trips now, my brother was my travel partner.  We're now in a pattern of doing a big trip together every year and I'm thrilled to pieces about that.  There's no other way that I would rather spend a few weeks than to be traveling with him.  Besides, no one else knows how to put up with me better than him! :-)

Last Moments.

His face says it all for me, sad.

We woke up in Room 105 this morning, the same room that we were in when we first arrived three weeks ago. The receptionist had us moved from the not-so-nice ground floor room back to this one yesterday. I was happy when I got the news; it was nice to come full circle - we started and ended our wonderful Baltics trip here!

Hill of Crosses.

At the Hill of Crosses.   Photo taken by a very familiar face. :-)

Today, we got to go to a very special place, the Hill of Crosses in Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania, Lithuania. The Hill of Crosses was not on the itinerary that Ieva had worked out for us.  I had originally thought that perhaps we could do a visit as a sided trip from Vilnius.  Then, I looked on the map and realized that Šiauliai is actually closer to Riga than it was to any of the other places we had been to in Lithuania so I set it aside for a side trip from Riga.

Riga. Familiar and New.

Inside one of the pavilions at Riga Central Market.  Just about the prettiest display I've ever seen in a central market!

Today, we had a short road trip back to Lithuania - you'll have to read the next blog posting to find out what it was. But before and after the road trip, we spent time in Riga - we went back to visit some place familiar and we explored some place new.

Road Trip Back to Riga. Pape & Liepāja.

Afternoon stroll in Liepāja.

Our last long road trip today. Part of me is relieved and part of me is very sad as it means our trip is nearing its end.  It was about a 350 km drive from Klaipeda to Riga and somewhere along the way, we crossed over from Lithuania to Latvia.  You don't need to see the border sign to tell you you're in Latvia; the road conditions will do it for you.  I swear the entire country is under road construction!  Lithuania, smooth road.  Lativa, what road?

Road Trip Back to Riga. Palanga.

On the grounds of the Palanga Amber Museum.

I can't believe that our Baltic trip is almost over. We leave for home in two days. Time really flew by.  We've had so much fun on this trip. I'm sad to be going back to the reality of our lives back in the US.  Bro will go back to work and I will have to figure out how to gracefully transition into retirement.  For now though, we had another long drive ahead of us.  Today, we leave Lithuania and return back to Latvia.  By day's end, we had arrived back where we started our journey - in Riga.

Nida.

Weather vanes, icons of the Curonian Spit.  Here, they're displayed on the lawn outside the Neringa History Museum located in the seaside town of Nida.

Nida. The last Lithuanian town on the Curonian Spit. A few miles further south and you'd be in Russia.  The homes wooden homes in Nida are just so darn cute.  Dark brown slats with bright blue accents was the typical style.

The Gray Dunes.

High atop the Gray Dunes with a view of the Curonian Lagoon.

The Curonian Spit, kinown is Lithuanian as *Kuršių nerija*  is essentially a massive sandy barrier separating the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea.  The northern 50 kilometers of the Spit belongs to Lithuania while the southern 47 kilometers is Russian territory.  The entire Spit is designate as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Whimsy on The Curonian Spit. HIll of Witches.

King of the Hill!

Today was a fun day. Lots of nature and a bit of sightseeing; a welcomed change of pace from time in the big cities!

Klaipėda.

Day's end in Klaipėda.

For us, Klaipėda has been the place where we've just slept and eaten while we spent our time exploring the Curonian Spit.

On The Road to Klaipėda.

At Panemunė Castle with its distinctive gray and white striped tower.

Our road trip today took us from Kaunas to the the port city of Klaipėda, which will be base from which we will be exploring the Curonian Spit.

Kaunas.

Buying bread at the central market in Kaunas.

Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania. We arrived yesterday around 2pm, after about two hours of driving, from Trakai.

Lithuania Road Trip Begins! Trakai Island Castle.

At Trakai Castle.

I woke up feeling kind of sad this morning. Not because it was cloudy and overcast outside but because we were leaving Vilnius. Our time here was much, much too short and I felt we had short changed ourselves. But at the same time, I look forward to seeing what the rest of Lithuania holds for us.

Vilnius. Charm and Churches.

Old Town Vilnius is filled with Old World Charm. Plenty of narrow streets and nooks and crannies to explore!

After exploring Gediminas Hill and Cathedral Square, we made our way to the outskirts of Old Town.  Here, the streets are broader with a lot more traffic and traffic lights.  There are more commercial establishments and people.   Even so, it's got it's charm.

Vilnius. The Castle Complex and Vilnius Cathedral.

A walk through the park, heading for Gediminas Hill.

Oh boy, these Lithuanian meals are going to be the death of me. All I had for lunch was one cepelinai but it was so heavy that I just felt like there was an entire russet potato sitting at the bottom of my stomach. If not for the annoying smell of cigarette smoking wafting over from a few tables over, I probably would have stayed glue to our lunch table for bit longer but just as well that we left.  Our restaurant was located right across the street from a park and according to our map, if we walked part way in, we would see Gediminas Hill.

Vilnius. An Art Wall and Churches.

Entering St. Anne's Church.

It's late morning on our only full day in Vilnius and I'm already enjoying being in Old Town. After spending a couple of hours visiting Vilnius University, we continued our wandering about. I know it would have been better had we had an itinerary to follow but Vilnius Old Town is the kind of place that you just throw out the guidebook and explore. At every turn and in every nook and cranny of its cobblestone streets and charming buildings, there’s something to be discovered.

Vilnius. Off to School.

Viewing Old Town from the top of the campanile of St. John's Church.

We kick started our long day today with a gut busting, taste bud satisfying, yummy breakfast! It was a buffet that offered up a good selection of breakfast items and included two eggs cooked any which way you want. We happily stuffed ourselves.

From Latvia to Lithuania.

By day's end, we would be back in the big city. Say hello to Vilnius!

There is truly nothing better than a good night's sleep and I think I had the best one in I don't know how long, last night!  I don't know what it was about this place but if I could package it and take it home with me, I would!  The first time I opened my eyes, the sun was not yet above the horizon. By the time I was ready to get out of bed, the sun was up. 

Into the Heart of Latvia. Aglona.

This is the view that greeted us at the end of the day.  So worth the drive it took to get there!

Our drive today would take us 340km from Tartu, Estonia to Aglona, Latvia. According to our itinerary, we would pass through the Latvian towns of Alūksne, Rēzekne, and Preili along the way.