On the plus side we'd managed to dry all our bedding, the tent and wash the dirty clothes and pack everything away.
One reason for coming to the Kuldiga area was to see it falls. They make the tourist books and after all the recent rain should be impressive. However the camp girl said they are down a very bad road in Kuldiga, and having briefly visited a good road there didn't fancy a bad road in a Volvo sitting low with all the camping gear in the back. Perhaps we'll come back next year in a 4x4.
As we were ahead of schedule trying to outrun the rain we decided to head to Nida on the Curonian Spit on the Lithuanian coast. This 97 km spit separates the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Bay. The top 52 km belongs to Lithuania, the bottom bit, just below Nida where we were staying, belongs to Kaliningrad which is Russian and requires visa's to visit.
First stop was Klaipeida and the crap nav directed us to the most run down, shabby city centre yet. I parked but really didn't feel like stopping, think high rise Lakes estate but with huge potholes, so we followed our own directions and ended up only a few kms away, but another world, in the old town. Vanessa went and got some cash out, and we ate lunch at Memelis, an awesome micro brewery/pub/restaurant where I had sausage and sauerkraut with a small lager, Alex had goulash soup and the girls had 'Zeppelins', potato dumplings stuffed with pork.
Sated we headed out and found the ferry to the spit.
The dense trees, sandy soil and chirping cicada's reminded us of Greece. That, the sunshine and the rise in temperature to a more respectable mid 20's instead of mid teens we'd had. Nida was packed but charming and we had a walk along the harbour on the western lagoon side of the spit, followed by a walk on the beach on the eastern Baltic Sea side.
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