This was our destination for the next couple of days, the Curonian Spit. It is a 98km sand dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic sea. The southern section is in Kaliningrad, Russia and the northern section is Lithuania. To be honest, I had to look on a map to work out where we were. Kaliningrad is a Russian province sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. We had left the hotel at 6.15am to get the bus to Nida and arrived there round about lunch time. Sadly the weather had changed from the blue skies and warm temperatures to being dull and damp.
We were staying in a fairly large hotel spread over two buildings. We all had rooms in the historic part of the hotel and our room was delightfully quaint and overlooked the Lagoon. After settling into our rooms Vad gave us a tour around the small town before we went and had some lunch.
These are traditional wooden weather vanes made locally.
Fortified by lunch we all walked to the top of the dunes to see a horizontal sundial. I have never seen or heard of these before. Apparently this is the ideal place for this type of sundial as 'an absolute mathematical horizon opens up from the Dune'. It is possible to observe the sun rising from the Lagoon and setting into the sea. The stone steps we are standing on measure the hours and the months.
From the viewpoint at the top we could observe the Parnidas Landscape Reserve. The green land in the background is Russia.
It was off with the shoes for our walk back down through the sand.
Looking down at the Lagoon pier.
The perfect spot for some disco dancing. Once we descended from the dunes we all went off to explore the town.
M and I went to look at the local church. We were surprised how modern it looked on the inside.
I liked the boat shaped baptismal font.
I also liked the stained glass lectern.
It had started to rain heavily as we left the church. M decided to go back to the hotel but I wanted to see the Baltic sea on the other side of the spit. It was only a 15 minute walk to reach the beach. The walk in the wind and rain was well worth the effort.
This was my my first view of the Baltic. The waves were tremendous.
Mile after mile of sandy beach was completely empty. I stayed for a long time just watching the waves and then decided to find the lighthouse which was inland.
The lighthouse is in the middle of the spit in between the lagoon and the sea so it can be seen from both
The water looks quite rough!
ReplyDeleteThat church is beautiful.
I am so glad you braved the elements and got those wonderful pictures of the sea. And yes, that is quite a modern church with many lovely extras. :-)
ReplyDeleteI will have to look this up where you were. I assume the spit was a peninsula but could be wrong.
ReplyDeleteOk, not a peninsula but attached top and bottom. It's a wonder that storms don't erode that spit of land.
DeleteI love an angry sea and never tire of watching. Those weather vanes seem to tell a story. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWave watching can be quite mesmerising. What a nice modern church, unlike the modern churches that are built here, not that there are many now.
ReplyDeleteYou are a brave one to be at the beach with storm and rain!
ReplyDeleteI love the sea and am fortunate that I see it whenever I go to Glasgow. I would never be without camera if I lived close to it!!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting place I've never heard of or noticed on a map. The sundial is also unique and interesting. Rain or shine, I would have had to put my feet in the Baltic.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. An interesting church.
ReplyDeleteI like a wild sea! I’m learning a lot of geography and history following this trip of yours.
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