Golden Autumn in Lithuanian Seaside With Erasmus+ Students And Mentors
On the early Saturday morning of October 5, 70 people went to the most beautiful Lithuanian seaside of the Curonian Spit National Park. What is really interesting that already in 1809, Wilhelm von Humboldt, a German scientist and Prussian minister of education, wrote: "The Curonian Spit is so distinctive that you must to see it as Italy or Spain, in order for the soul to have images of stunning beauty". Therefore, it is not surprising that at the end of 2000 the Curonian Spit was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural landscape object.
Thus, foreign students and mentors full of curiosity started a two-day trip. The goal was to visit not only the Curonian Spit National Park, but also the most famous port city in Lithuania, Klaipėda.
The first day was indeed a success. The day was beautiful, sunny and the rain overunned us, so we could enjoy every minute of the windy Curonian Spit.
The first stop was on the Hill of Witches in Juodkrante, surrounded by a variety of legends, myths and magical environment. The park has about 80 wooden sculptures telling a different story. Along with the accompanying stories, it was possible to get to the bright part of the park where famous fairy-tale characters like the giant Neringa stand, but also to the dark part of the park, where Lucifer, witches and devils, walk through the gates of hell.
The next stop was Dead Dunes. These are the longest dunes in Lithuania, covering an area of 1680 hectares. It is hard to believe that four villages called Nagliai were covered up in the sand here between 1675-1854. So climbing to the dunes for us showed a spectacular view that took away our breath – on the both sides we could see the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea.
Next stop – Nida. It is the largest and most popular city on the Curonian Spit with more than 200,000 holidaymakers each year. The spectacular view of the Curonian Lagoon, the authentic fishermens‘ houses took once more our breath away! Later we came to Dune of Parnidis to admire the view of Nida. It's a place, where you can observe sun clock where the sun goes down at any time of the year. It is worth remembering that Dune of Parnidis was mentioned in Patricia Schultz's book "1000 Places You Must See Before You Die". So this goal has already been fulfilledJ.
To end the of the day, we headed to the Baltic Sea. Here we watched in a silence and wind how sun sank from the clouds to the water. Later on we arrived in Klaipeda, where we had a chance to relax.
On the second day we had a tour around city of Klaipėda. We saw the largest port in Lithuania and the most famous ship and also a symbol of Klaipeda – Meridian. We listened to stories about the famous chimney sweep sitting on the roof on the top of the Fishermen's Bar. It is said if you rub a "chimney sweep‘s button" it will fulfill the most secret wishes...
After two memorable days we returned to our new home – Kaunas. This trip would not have been as memorable if we haven‘t had wonderful tour guide Rasa, who told so much wonderful stories. We also would like to thank to Agnė Jašauskaitė, International Programme Coordinator of International Relations and Study Centre and Laura Novo, Mentor of Incoming Erasmus+ Students for taking care of us in every step of the way.
Text: Aistė Koretkaitė, Mentor of Incoming Erasmus+ Students
Photos: Agnė Jašauskaitė, International Programme Coordinator
