Two-wheeled Misadventure

I had two cultural goals for the summer.  I wanted to ride some of the city buses to the end of the line to get to know the city.  I decided that this was an unachievable goal, since the city city buses have no ventilation and it is VERY uncomfortable to ride a bus just to see where it would go.  The other was to ride a bicycle to Palanga, a resort city about 25 kilometers away, stay overnight and return the next day.

So, this week, I made my way to a local bicycle rental shop.  Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of me with bike that I rented for a couple of days.  I got a helmet, a lock , a map and I was off.  This is a photo of the  scene across the street from the rental office.

And I was off.  My method for getting through this type adventure is to just keep going.  As a result, I did not take any photos of the process.  But I did enjoy the ride.  All of the path was paved.  One of my adventures was missing a turn and taking a path down to the sea.  This turned into soft sand which I could not negotiate.  I fell off the bike.  But it was soft sand.  The rest of the trip was through woods and meadows with butterflies, wildflowers and views of the sea.  A very nice ride.  At about kilometer 20 or 21 I determined that I needed to stop for water and some of the lunch I had packed.  When I reached the next benches that were placed periodically on the path, I saw a van with a flat-bed.  I thought an entrepreneur was selling water and sandwiches to the cyclists.  But no, this was the sag wagon for a German cycling tour.  As I sat down to enjoy my apple and tomato, one of them of them greeted me with 'Laba diena' or good day in Lithuanian.  A Lithuanian would have known I wasn't a native.  They gave more water to make it the rest of the way.

And I made it.  I arrived at the tourist town of Palanga.  The main street was lined with attraction, souvenir shops, restaurants, and street musicians.









My friend Gerda, who met me, and I went for a small lunch of traditional Lithuanian potato dumplings at a restaurant where she had worked.  It was set next to a small stream, off the beaten path, very peaceful.






We then walked down to the pier or bridge as the Lithuanians call it.  The walk way at the base of the dune leading to the pier was mad of wooden blocks.  The only other place I've seen this type of paving is at Blenham Palace in Brtiain.





Out on the pier, I saw the sea.  It is indeed the Baltic Sea and not an ocean.  Being August, many were out to enjoy the relative warmth.  We watch a couple of children dig a hole in the sand, several others bounce on the trampoline, and one young boy enjoying the freedom of swimming in the nude before his mother could get him into clothes.

Back to the Information Center, I found out that the Information Center in Klaipeda did not really know Palanga.  I could not get inexpensive accommodations on the spur of the moment.  Not to worry.  Gerda said I could stay at her home, an additional hour bike ride away.  Off  we went.  But I had already ridden for three hours that day, had recently had problems with my ears, and I fell from the bike again, this time on a grassy incline. I was not injured but it was quite unnerving.  Gerda suggested that we could walk back to the bus station and see if I could get back to Klaipeda with my bike.  This was a very good idea.  For less than $2.00 I and my bike rode back in half an hour.

So I made half of my goal.  Tomorrow I will tell you of the redemption of this misadventure.