Travelog for: Finfin

Hi!
Me and Zed Dog with our host mum and her family are going to Nida. Great! We woke up very early in the morning and after 3 hours we were in Klaipėda. We went to Neringa with a ferry and we saw many birds flying with us!



We decided to go to The Sea Museum. But first, we took a picture near Curonian Lagoon!



It's me next to the ship "Dubingiai":



After 2 km of walking we finally reached it! Lithuanian Sea Museum, here I come!



Funny penguins



And here you can see on the right side curonian lagoon and on the left side - Baltic sea!



It's something like a bridge that separates the sea and the curonian lagoon:



The Baltic sea! Yaay!



Look, mummy, what a big ship I found!



And this is a picture inside the old wooden house - museum:



Well, it's time to go. Next stop - Juodkrantė!

Love,
Finfin

Hi there!
Our jorney continues and after the Sea Museum, we stopped to see one of the largest grey heron and cormorant colonies in Europe - The Hill of Herons. It's a bit scary to be there!



Finally we arrived at Nida! Our flat is very cosy and nice, but we decided not to sit at home and to go for a walk in the evening. The Curonian Sea (Lagoon) looks so romantic



There are many beautiful weathercocks in Nida:



Near the yacht:



Nida has it's own star gallery with hand prints of famous lithuanian singers, actors and others. Here we are near the very famous person in Lithuania Vytautas Kernagis hand print:



Birdies came to take a picture with me!



Wow, Nida looks so great! It's a small town, but I understand why this place has long been an attraction for tourists and artists.

Hugs,
Finfin

Labas!
Today it was raining, but in the evening the weather was nice again and we went out for a walk.
We saw a beautiful Parnidis dune!



We also stopped to see the Sundial - Calendar. It's sad that in 1999 hurricane "Anatoly" tore down part of the solar clock, but it still looks interesting!



And this is the calendar - I'm in the summer part!



Other dunes. If you take a closer look, you can see a part of Russia - Kaliningrad Oblast is bordered with Lithuania!



On the beach...



And here is Nida lighthouse. It's very big and beautiful, we could see it when we were at the beach! 



Watching the sunset:



I'm really going to miss this place when we leave

Love,
Finfin

Hey!
Our last day in Nida was very cool - we ate a delicious cake named "Juodkrantė" and drank warm milk:



We also stopped at Preila to buy some fish and it was time to go. Our last stop was to say goodbye to the Baltic Sea:



Bye bye, Neringa! It was great to see such an amazing and beautiful place. Maybe one day I'll come back here

xxx,
Finfin

Hi,
today my mum said that it's time for me to continue my journey. It's really sad to leave Zed Dog, my host mum Karolina and Lithuania, but I have to go and see the world!

I gave a big hug to Zed Dog and he wished me a great journey:



I kissed Karolina and said bye bye to Vilnius. It was great to see this little, but really beautiful country!
My next stop - SWITZERLAND. I've heard that it's an amazing country, too. I hope the journey won't take too long...



Bye, everyone!! I'll miss you, Lithuania!
Finfin

Hi mum,

I arrived safely in Switzerland at my host mum Melanie's house! Sadly it was raining today so we stayed the evening inside.



Karolina send some sweets and a lovely card along! She says thanks coraline!! 

Hi mum!

Today we went to see my host mum's uncle, who owns a music shop!

I met some cool musicians outside.


This is a Swiss accordion, a traditional Swiss instrument. This one is from a famous maker, entirely hand made.


Look at all these guitars!


They even have a didgeridoo!


A statue outside the shop, of Helias Helye. He confirmed to have printed the first book in Switzerland in the 15th century, "Mammotrectus" of Johannes Marchesinus, although it is thought that books have been printed around Basel before that.

Hi mum!

Today we've been in Rheinfelden, and I first thought I see double. There's a Rheinfelden in Switzerland. Then you cross the Rhine over the bridge and you are in Rheinfelden in Germany! The two cities were joined until Napoleon Bonaparte fixed the German–Swiss border on the Rhine in 1802 and are still socially and economically tied.

In the middle of one of the bridges connectin the two Rheinfelden is a lovely little park.

Left Switzerland, right Germany.

Hi Mum

Today we've been in Roman town Augusta Raurica. It's actually called Augst now, but it has many landmarks from ancient Roman times, such as the theater.

This is it from below. Still now theater groups and school classes use it for shows. Due to its architecture there are no microphones needed.



And here from above. It's much steeper than it looks. Very exhausting!

Dear mum,

Today we've visited the regional museum of Emmental in Langnau. It's located in a very old Emmental-style chalet house called "Chüechlihus" (Swiss German for "house of cake", doesn't this sound yummy?).



Inside we found a miniature version of the house. Sadly it was a little too small for me..



This is a "Tracht" the traditional dress of this region. I think it looks very lovely. My host mum told me that there are differend Trachten depending on the region you're from. Some of them have really silly headdresses, one looking like a mohawk, another like a pot. Unfortunately most young people in Switzerland aren't interested in this part of the Swiss culture anymore and a lot of groups become too small to exist.



I bet this is where they made the fabric for the Trachten 





I wasn't allowed to play, but it probably wouldn't have sounded very nice anyway 






In the olden days, babies were put in these little beds with a sting so if they would cry at night all their mothers had to do us pull the string to gently rock the cot and they would quiet down. Clever, isn't it?

^

I think it would be really posh to be chauffeured around with this buggy 





Swiss cheese has been shipped all over the world for over a century. Do you think it was still good by the time it reached it's destination?

Hi mum,

Today I accompanied my host mum to work. She works in an office you can pretty much compare to an employment agency, but the people which get hired are all doctors and scientists. They people at the office all came to say hi to me (that is the ones who were there, as almost half is on holidays at the moment), but they were too busy to pose for a picture with me.



"Hello, you're talking to FinFin, how can I help you?" 

Hi mum,

Tonight is a big event in Switzerland. It's the eve of the Swiss National Day! The Swiss National Day is the national holiday of Switzerland, set on August 1. It is an official national holiday since 1994, although the day had been suggested for the celebration of the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy as early as 1889.

All day we could watch the carnies build up everything.



In the back you can see the Basler Münster and the Floos.

The Basel Münster is one of the main landmarks and tourist attractions of the Swiss city of Basel. It was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and Gothic styles. The late Romanesque building was destroyed by the 1356 Basel earthquake and rebuilt by Johannes Gmünd, who was at the same time employed for building the Freiburg Münster.

The Floos is a stage floating on the Rhine which attracts many spectators for more than 7 years now. For a few weeks every night from 8.30pm or 9.00pm onwards you are able to see various bands and singers from Switzerland and abroad.

As we were going to Laufen to see the fireworks arranged for tonight we didn't see the performers of this evening.

Hi mum,

Now we're back in Laufen. Here the whole old town has been decorated and lots of booths where you can eat, drink and dance.



I'm not on the picutre, because then we would have had to use the flash and it would've ruined the pictures.

Hi mum,

Today we went to the étang de la Gruère, a small lake in the Jura range near Saignelégier. The lake and the surrounding bog is a nature preserve. The lake was formed in the 17th century, when a dam was built for a mill.

We sat down relaxing at the shore and feed ducks, which came really close.





The view was just fantastic and I enjoyed to lay in the shade.



Even tho the lake is a nature preserve you can swimm in it, which at this day many people did. In winter, it usually freezes and you are able to skate on it as well

hi Mum,

Tonight was a really big thunderstorm. My host mum loved it, but NicePeter and I prefered to hide under the blanket..