Trip to the Curonian Spit and Nida

On the 18th of September we went on a trip to Nida. Even though the weather was terrible – it was cold, the wind was very strong and it was raining a lot - we still had a great time and it didn’t affect our good mood.

The day started by welcoming the students from Germany to our school. We showed them traditional Lithuanian culture – music, instruments, dancing and we even gave them some delicious Lithuanian cheese.

Because of the rain the welcoming took place inside the school

Our flags were raised by one Lithuanian and one German student

Delicious Lithuanian cheese

Traditional dances

After the ceremony, we got onto a bus and went to Klaipeda, a big city with a port. From there we used a ferry to get to Nida. When we arrived at that tiny town surrounded by sea, we went to the Neringa History Museum. The time we spent in there was divided in two parts. First we were told about the history of Nida. The second part was a little more creative – we painted weathervanes. Everyone did a great job.

Painting weathervanes

The fishers´ museum

Later in the day we had some free time. The rain was very strong so we didn’t get a chance to see much of the city. Most of the students went to a restaurant, it was a great opportunity to get to know each other.

That´s how the dunes look like with sun

And that´s how they look like with rain - what a pity!

Mrs Knepper and Mrs von Stern enjoyed the landscape anyway

 
The last place that we went to was Nida’s Amber Museum. We learnt how amber is found, how to check if amber is real and we discovered the different types of amber. Later we tried to process amber ourselves. Every person got a little piece of rough amber. Then we polished and washed it. At last we put a string through the hole that was already drilled in the middle of the little stone. And that’s how we got ourselves a beautiful necklace.

After that we went back home. Even though everyone was tired and cold, we were still very happy that we had an opportunity to visit this small city with a huge history.

Trip to Anykščiai

Our trip to Anykščiai started on Saturday 16/10/2017 at 7a.m. near the school „Vaivorykštė“. First of all we went to the cosmo museum. The room was full of little lights that were reflected in the mirrors and there were also special cosmo sounds. When we were in this room we felt like in cosmos.

After that we had free time during which some of us visited the church tower. The view was fantastic.

The 3rd place that we visited was the horse museum. There we heard about the history of the Lithuanian bread, baked our own loaf of bread and tasted traditional Lithuanian food: curd cheese with honey, potatoes with butter and also bread with sausage or pig fat. After that some of us visited the museum and played old games.

The next place that we visited was the treetop walking path. This walking path is 300 metres long and gradually rises up to 21 metres above the ground and the watch tower at the end of the path is 34 metres high. There were several viewing platforms from which we had a wonderful view.

After that amazing experience on the treetop walking path we went to the maze park that includes 3 different types of mazes: grand, the round and the race maze. We had a great time there and left Anykščiai with amazing impressions. Our trip ended at 11p.m.

Stormy arrival in Lithuania and visit to Telšiai

 

The Lithuanian students:

We were expecting our guests from Germany on Thursday evening, but because of a storm they came on Friday morning 15/09/2017. The journey on ferry was very long, boring, tiring and some students got a little sea sick, but they were lucky to get beds on board, so that they were able to sleep.

The German students, a bit sea sick but happy about going to Lithuania

Finally we saw some sun between the dark clouds

On Friday morning the German students finally came to Gargždai and met us. We had two hours to get to know each other and to have some rest.

After that, we went to Telšiai. At first, we visited ,,Žemaitijos kaimo muziejus‘‘, where we made friendship bracelets and looked around the historical Lithuanian houses. While going back to the bus, we saw some sheep and took pictures of them.

Making friendship bracelets

When we were done with the museum, we had a guided tour in Telšiai. The guide told us that if you make a full 360-degree turn around your finger, you will be very smart, rich and successful. Also if you make a wish and rub the bear‘s nose with your finger at the same time, it will come true. 

We also played a game in the city center, which was very hard, but funny. We heard a lot of stories about Telšiai history. After that we had free time, we spent it in the small, cosy cafe shop. On our way to the bus we saw people dancing Lithuanian traditional dances and we joined them. When we arrived home we saw an amazing rainbow.

 

 

The Germans students:

We arrived by ship at 7 o`clock in the morning. Then we were picked up by bus and brought to the Lithuanian school “Vaivorykštė“. There we met our exchange partners and went home with them. After that, at 10 o`clock, we left for a traditional museum in Telšiai. After the rain stopped we were divided into two groups. The first group made friendship bracelets and visited the old farmhouses. The other group went to see the „Cold War“ museum and went to see the old farmhouses afterwards.

 

Then we went to the city center of Telšiai. There we had some free time before we had a guided tour in town. The guide showed us some artworks and explained the history of the place. Most of the sculptures were bears because they were important for the Samogitians when regained power after years of occupation. Some works of art are lucky charms when you touch them in a special way. We went to a church with beautiful windows, too. After the guided tour we had free time to buy souvenirs or to eat something before we met the group again to see the traditional festival in the market square."