Baltics and the white sands. How we went to depressive Lithuanian town.

 

For brunch we had planned to go to Monai in Klaipeda again and I figured it would be a good idea to grab a coffee from our local eatery. Turned out that on this lovely Sunday morning all the coffee machines were kaputt and the tourist was welcome to have an instant coffee. The tourist didn't consider it as reasonable idea and walked back to the room. With Scott we went out to some nearby cafe, but everything within walking distance was closed and the only bar opened had a waiting line running into the parking lot. We had also forgotten the masks and ended up just dragging our luggage to the car and made our way to the harbor.

After 5 minutes sailing we were on the mainland again and 15 minutes later parked in front of Monai and walked in. Our waitress still remembered us from a few days ago and we got our favourite table next to the kitchen again. Scott chose their daily offer, which was lentil soup and pasta carbonara, I had eggs Benedict. And mimosas. Although Scott praised the soup and also the pasta was worth every good word spoken, in compare to the eggs, I'm not going to waste more time on his meal. Those eggs... There was amazingly fluffy toasted slice of brioche, covered with spinach, salted salmon and poached egg. And on top of that - the most airy sauce hollandaise I've ever had. It covered the eggs like a huge pile of whipped cream. And it all tasted so good that I'd be ready to drive to Klaipeda just for those eggs. As of today, I have three favourite brunch places - Dime Store in Detroit, Agustin in Vienna and Monai in Klaipeda. We also got cakes and coffee and our lovely waitress even remembered that I had my coffee without sugar.

From Klaipeda we went to Šiauliai, where we had booked a villa with a garden. We did some grocery shopping in the Lidl near our villa, got some snacks for the evening, a few items to bring back to Tallinn and went for sightseeing. We parked on a street that could easily challenge Jõgeva for the most depressing town title in Baltics and started to walk towards the boulevard. The boulevard was supposed to be the most pompous street in Šiauliai, lined with little shops, cardamom smelling bakeries and cute bistros. All that mixed with modern (street) art. We found some street art - there was an iguana hanging on the tree, from the middle of the street Juri Gagarin was about to take off, some old radio parts were glued on a building and a few more items from a junk yard. On a boulevard, more than one kilometer long, at least five restaurants were open and more than half of the building seemed to be not abandoned. Meaning more windows had glass and not plywood on.

We returned to our villa and garden and had dinner. For the brunch we had chosen a pancake bar on rooftop of a shopping center.

Baltics and the white sands. Today we saw Russia.

 

 

During my morning run the weather was still slightly cloudy and the views over our Amber Bay absolutely enchanting. I almost forgot to finish the run, but we had brunch in Il Vino planned. They opened the restaurant at 10am and being the first customers at 10:02am we could choose our favourite seating on the rooftop terrace. Turned out that there's where our good luck ended. After we got seated, four more tables were filled, two of which families with kids and two single persons. All four tables were served before us and one of the solo guests finished her meal, paid and left all the while we still only had the views to enjoy. 45 minutes after sitting down we got the eggs (Scott approved) and oatmeal, for which I considered asking a knife, because, it was fairly difficult to break a piece from it with just the spoon.

We packed our picnic chairs and some food from fridge into the backpack and started the hike towards Russia. About half an hour later we found a perfect and totally empty dune in the forest, set up our picnic and enjoyed the delicious food and amazing views. Following the fence between Russia and Lithuania, we ended up in some splendid private beaches. Since we had only planned a little hike in the forest and on dunes, I clearly didn't bring my bikini... I wrapped the beach towel around me, tied it up on the back and swam like a decent muslim woman.

For the dinner, I decided to introduce the creme de la creme of Lithuanian cuisine to my husband and ordered zeppelinis. They still tasted just like ... well, zeppelinis. Like ground meat, covered with a lot of tasteless potato starch. I had nothing to complain about my burger and fries.

Since the sun rises on our side of the peninsula and sets on the other, we decided that on our last evening here, we're gonna check out the sunset too and walked 25 minutes to the west coast. What wasn't there, was the setting sun. However, we were greeted by a lot of clouds and a light pink stripe, where the sun most likely was at that moment.

Meanwhile, the restaurant that we planned to visit in Vilnius had sent me an email that in the summer they are closed on the weekends... Well, their business idea wasn't very clear for us, but it was obvious that it doesn't make any sense to go to Vilnius, if we can't eat in Bistro18. So, we took the map and after consulting map, Google and my dad, we decided to stay the night in Šiauliai.

Baltics and the white sands. How I (unsuccessfully) tried to order some curd pancakes

 

 

We started the day with a morning run along the bay and went then to a nearby bistro for breakfast. I ordered their five-grain porridge and Scott took french fries and hot dogs. In 10 minutes Scott had his food and they tried to place a tray covered with every possible brunch item in front of me. I claimed that it doesn't look like porridge and jam at all and asked them to consult the chef again. 10 more minutes and my porridge arrived.

We had an island day trip planned for the day - community centers, local metropolis, some better dunes and a few forest hikes here and there. Started the car and made our way to Pervalka and Preila. Had some seaside walks in both, checked out some lovely homes and a few more modern examples of architecture (all very tastefully integrated into the milieu) and drove then to the gray dunes. Parked the car only to find out that the 30 EUR island fee doesn't count a penny here and to see the dunes we would need to pay 5 EUR per person. We kept on driving.

Next thing we had the Rami hill on our map, where we expected some magnificent views over forests and sandy beaches. However, the first view we got, was one of a wedding reception, where there was the happy couple posing to the photographer on the view point. We made a great background for the pics while enjoying the rest of the view and left to Juodkrante from there. Scott wanted to use a bathroom and I started to get hungry. We stepped into a lovely garden cafe in someone's back yard and found a table. Since they only had a menu in Lithuanian, the waitress offered to tell us, what they have. However, since I wanted the curd pancakes, I tried to explain to her that I want the sõrniki, the curt pancakes, made of quark. The waitress' face lit up and she informed me that not only have they pancakes, but they have piled them up into an impressive tower. I should not worry, she's got it. A few moments later, Scott's soda and my iced coffee arrived. And 10 minutes later she placed a colossal pile of pancakes and banana slices, all covered with jam in front of me. Regular think pancakes that hadn't seen the quark even from afar.

We also visited the wooden statues park and amber bay and returned to Nida.

Baltics and the white sands. Breakfast in youth hostel.

 

Our patioless, but parkinglotpicnicoption hotel had breakfast included. Since it was buffet, we figured that it would be a good idea to got there at 8am before every other guest arrives and coughs on the food. Since there is also a youth hostel in the hotel yard that for currently accommodating German schoolkids in the amount that would fill half a Dresden, our plan fell through. 7:50am there was already an impressive line of insomniac youngsters waiting and at 7:55am once they opened the doors, there was no available spot around the buffet table to reach for a slice of cheese. Porridge seemed to be corn semolina and the pancakes fried in the same oil they have been using since Easter. We chose to eat somewhere else.

We walked to the beach on the other side of the peninsula and solved some travel quizzes there until we started to get hungry. We made some sandwiches in the hotel and ate a few tomatoes and went for a hike in forest and dunes in the afternoon. Since we had made our homework and chosen a restaurant in Nida, we also walked to Il Vino to take a look at the menu and book a table for dinner. I mean, it was the furthest located restaurant in our town and we would have hated to walk the 11 minutes there being all hungry and not gotten a table. Located at a distance from the central idyll, the soviet era architecture gem of bricks and discolored wood, it was a three storied building with the restaurant on the third floor and their roof top terrace on the roof of the neighboring house. From the terrace there there were breathtaking views of the sunset and glass wall toilet with posters of Emmanuelle.

By 7pm we arrived in the restaurant and as always we started to order way too much food: shrimps, patatas extra bravas, grilled cheese bruschetta, fried jalopenos, cherry tomatoes filled with feta, asparagus with ham. Muy good. Families in the neighboring tables made sure that we weren't bored during the fairly long waiting time. Parents of a two-year old girl arrived, carrying a big potty. Despite that the girl managed to pee into her pink pants. 3-4 kids at the table in the furthest corner of the terrace were screaming so loud that we tried to catch some breaks to share a few quick words. Two boys were climbing on the bridge railing between both buildings like James Bond in the towers of Siena. Anyway, until the desserts arrived, everything was to our liking. They served us tasteless overbaked chocolate cake which they called chocolate-not-souffle cake and some dry pieces of apples on undercooked crust as tarte tatin. But since the service was very lovely, we didn't make an issue of it.

Baltics and the white sands. Experience lunch and gourmet trip.

 

 

This morning we had planned to eat in the hotel buffet. Full enthusiasm we walked out, where based on the smells each morning we expected piles of pancakes like in the childhood. On the display there were zucchini patties, boiled eggs, salami, cucumber and tomato and a few more things. We decided that the choice wasn't worth 2x8EUR and bee lined to De Gusto. I ordered curd pancakes and Scott omelet with bacon and cheese. Muy good!

For the night we had planned to reach Neringa and Nida and since we wanted to have a walk in Klaipeda, which was on the way to Neringa, we chose to have lunch there as well. I started to google, because the judgment of where to eat, should not be made lightheartedly. Especially in a harbor town. I figured we can choose between some tad bit fancier burger joint and pizza place. It appeared that among Top 5 there is one delux bbq restaurant and one that "can't make up its mind what it is". So, we went for the indecisive one. Parked the car at 3pm, put our masks on and stepped in. At first it seemed that they might have a shortage of available tables, but then it became evident that the best table of household is free and we took our seats. Right next to the glass wall between the dining area and kitchen. Scott was so fascinated with the kitchen that he forgot to check the menu at all. Finally we had made up our minds and the best of fine dine started to appear on our table: tuna and salmon tartar with sesame dressing and crispy shrimps and mango for starters and veal with potato-celery gratin and chantarelles and fried white fish with thick sauce and peas and bacon for mains. For the dessert they had three choices, we selected berry tart and chocolate mousse cake with kalamansi filling and pistachio biscuit. Already observing the kitchen was half the experience, not to mention the exceptional servings of the food and how delicious it was. And one of the best service experiences in the eastern part of Europe.

We walked some in old town like planned and drove then to the harbor. Crossing the strait took five minutes and as always, in about 10km there was the peninsula fee kiosk, where in the peak season we had to pay 30 EUR to drive through with a car (at the same time, a bus with 20 passengers would have paid 20 EUR). Had we postponed our trip by 3 days, it would have only cost us 5 EUR, as it wasn't the peak anymore. 45 minutes later and we parked in front of our hotel. We had booked a room with patio and had stopped in Lidl on the way to get some food and drinks that we can enjoy on our patio later, but after arrival we found out that should we want to have a meal outside, they can organise us a table and some chairs next to the parking lot. We didn't consider it a suitable option and ate in the room.

Baltics and the white sands. How we went to the art gallery in Riga.

 

First thing I did after waking up in the morning was to check, if we actually had a mattress on the bed. It seemed there was, although it felt like sleeping on a thin yoga mat.

Later we sat in our hotel yard and ate everything delicious that parents had packed us for the road - fresh tomatoes, smoked salmon and grilled cheese. Since in Jurmala there are Lavazza coffee machines on every street corner and also between those corners, I went and grabbed myself a hot cappuccino. After the breakfast we walked to the main street to get some cakes from the highly praised Madame Brioš. Scott was happy with his chocolate eclair and berry tart and I was anything but with the lousy Napoleon cake. So right after walking out of the Madam's place I walked straight across the street to De Gusto that looked like Cafe Narva in Tallinn, which means the last upgrade was given 1987. We chose Moscow pastry wannabe (I didn't know then that it only pretends to be the Moscow pastry), slice of lemon pie and another of cherry chocolate. All delicious. We finished most of it before reaching the beach.

In the afternoon we had planned a trip to the capital. From the last visit Scott remembered a mosquito painting, that he still regretted of not buying. Add few nice views from the church tower and dinner in already known seafood restaurant. So we drove to Riga and made our way to the gallery. The mosquito was still there, but after finding out the price we decided to leave it in the gallery for the time being. Next thing on the agenda was the church to enjoy the green summer views over Riga. By the church door it turned out that on Mondays you should look for the views elsewhere.

Dinner was booked in Zivju Lete, still remembering the great food and service from last time. We had salmon-tuna-shrimp tartar, lobster roll, tuna in herbs and grilled octopus. The tuna had already lived its better part of the life and the herbs were only present in the description. Everything else was very tasty.