Monday, September 16th

 Map Update Time

There have been 3 overnight locations: Riga and Kuldiga in Latvia, and now Klaipeda in Lithuania 

We crossed a border - No big deal - Welcome signs and flags

Highway signage seemed to indicate Watch for Reindeer

But there hasn't been a reindeer in Latvia since the Baltic Sea was a cake of ice

(12,000 years ago)

On the way from Kuldiga to Kalipeda, stopped in the city of Liepaja, but  didn't go there

We were across the canal in a completely separate entity called Karosta

A planned city with art, culture, music - Nice places to live - Civility with niceties

Karosta was built as a Russian military base in 1890s, when the Baltic States were part of Russia

while the last Tsar Alexander was in control before WW1

A good place to be posted with a beautiful Eastern Orthodox church
St. Nicholas Maritime Cathedral

... But ... 

During WW2, after the Soviet Union gained control of the Baltic States, 

Karosta became an important submarine base under Jospeh Stalin and Communism

The hospital (below) became a prison

It stayed a prison until Lativa regained independence (1991)

During Communist Soviet Union times, when the Word of God wasn't needed,
St Nicholas' Cathedral became a sailor's drinking club

 Communist monolithic-style block housing units built, completely encircling the church
They remain today
Along with the skeletons of the beautiful brick housing units from the Tsar's time
An interesting collection of differing Soviet eras

There were 31,000 Russians living in Karosta when Latvia re-gained independence

It took them 3 years to abandon Karosta (1994)

The hospital is where tours are given
Where coffee in a 1950s china cup and saucer is served, complete with doily,
while watching a 15-minute film
Everything authentic  - Except tour & movie in English
(3.5 Euro for tour /2 Euro for coffee)

You can spend the night in a cell for $17 Euro and sleep on a board 

Cells & walls painted black - It's rather grim

But the commandant's office, where I answered the phone, had a  great HiFi record and radio player

Note the handles on the side - it's portable

Leaving the prison, headed for the coast where a mile-long pier stretches outward with wreckage of bunkers, the old fort, and small ships 

The Baltic Sea looked angry, gale force wind, we avoided walking outward

Continued south to Klaipeda, our destination, found the apartment, and walked around old town

Needed to find the i - Tourist Information 

A universal symbol in Europe (East and West)

Source of city maps and friendly advice

And in these countries, a wealth of printed information on upcoming locations
My cup runneth over

And we found Svyturys

They've been making beer in Klaipeda since 1784