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Lithuania is a country full of ancient culture and gentle regions. Vilnius, the capitol, offers both of it. The city is surrounded by gentle hills. The old part of town is a combination of buildings in the gothic as well as renaissance and baroque style. Brick buildings dominate many streets. Small lanes and backyards were built in the immediate neighborhood of giant churches.
Kaunas, the town located at the mouth where Neris and Memel meet, has lots of historic buildings in store. The ruin of the castle remembers of the fights with the knights of the German order who were never able to succeed and rule over Lithuania.
When traveling through Lithuania one can enjoy its uncountable lakes and river beds as well as the many kilometers leading through never ending pine forests. The National Park Zemaitija could be one of the travel destinations in the country. Along the beaches of the lake as well as the banks of the river one finds small villages which were able to keep their traditional architecture and lifestyle.
At Palanga one breathes nice and fresh air from the Baltic Sea. One might be charmed by its long sand beach, its salt thermal springs and its healthy and iodine containing air. The town is well liked by visitors of the health resort as well as tourists.
Klaipeda, a lively and beautifully reconstructed town, is Lithuania’s gate to the world. From here one easily gets to the Kurische Nehrung peninsula. The wind and the sea have formed this one of a kind promontory. It is barely 100 kilometers long and in some parts only 400 meters wide. Its white dunes can be as high as 60 meters. The Kurische Nehrung separates the Kurische Haff from the Baltic Sea. The “paradise from sand” is constantly changing. It has always drawn sun lovers as well as pubic figures. Thomas Mann’s vacation home in Nida can still be visited today.
The Lithuanians especially like substantial foods. Specialties are Salti Barsciai (cold soup), Vedarai (sausage from potatoes) and Cepelinai (made from graded potatoes and filled with hamburg). Lithuanians like to fill their goose with apples and plums. At the Baltic Sea one finds smoked eel on most of the menus. Midus is a typical Lithuanian beverage. It is a light but alcoholic drink with honey.
Some geography:
Lithuania stretches over an area of 65,000 square kilometers and has 3.7 million inhabitants. 84 percent of them are Lithuanians. People from Russia, Poland and Belo-Russia make up small minorities. Language of the country is Lithuanian. The larger majority of the inhabitants are Catholic.
National holidays are celebrated on February 16th (1918: declaration of the republic) and July 6th (the crowning of the count Mindaugas and the founding of the country in 1250). |
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