What a perfectly delightful day we had today! We woke up at 7.30am, as the Balmoral was slowly sailing into the port of Klaipeda, Lithuania. We had arrived in our 94th country. 🙂
We went up to the Palms Café and enjoyed some breakfast before going outside onto the rear decks. The weather was already very bright and sunny, although wet patches on the deck and on some of the furniture showed that there had been a shower of rain overnight.
After returning to 6009, we retrieved our tour tickets and packed up our cagoules, passports, currency (Lithuania uses the Euro) and other essentials, and I ensured I had my shipboard pass, hand sanitiser, tissues and lip balm in my bumbag, which I clipped securely around my waist. Then we made our way to the Neptune Lounge before 8.45am to await the call for our tour to disembark, which came soon afterwards.
We set off through the sunlit streets until the coach turned onto the main highway and headed into the countryside. Lithuania covers an area of 65,000 square kilometres of which 85% is rural. Farmland comprises 60% of the area, and today we were going to visit a beekeeping farm. 🙂
As the coach made its way through the lush green countryside, we were fascinated by the many large bird’s nests we could see – on top of trees, chimney pots, telegraph poles and lamp posts. Our guide told us they were storks’ nests, and the stork is Lithuania’s national bird. We saw some storks actually in the nests, as well as some of them in nearby fields. Lithuanian people tell their children the same as the Brits tell their young kids, in answer to the question “Where did I come from?” they say “Oh, the stork brought you”. 🙂
Around 9.30am the coach turned off the main road and rattled its way along a farm track, where it parked up and we all alighted from the vehicle and walked onto the grass, which was still wet. There were several small apple trees and, in amongst them, we could see what looked like colourful boxes stacked one on top of the other; these must be the hives.
A couple of women emerged from one of the farm buildings and spoke to our guide, who translated it back into English for us. These were some of the beekeepers. The bee farm was a family-run concern which consisted of at least three generations of beekeepers, and one of the ladies told us that even the children took a hand in the craft.
Today, we were going to see the bees at work as well as taste some of the delicious honey. But first of all, we had to be provided with the proper protective gear, and everyone was given the traditional netted hat to put on. 🙂
Once we were all kitted out, we walked over the damp grass towards the hives. One of the women took the lid off a hive and puffed in some smoke, before she lifted out one of the wooden slatted racks. It contained the orangey-yellow beeswax in the familiar hexagonal cells, and we could see lots of bees moving around and going in and out of the holes. Interestingly enough, the cells don’t start off being hexagonal! The holes are created by the warmth of the bees’ activity, and because there are so many of these rounded cells and the wax is soft, they are gradually slightly compressed to make use of all the space, and become hexagonal.
As the beekeeper walked around with the wooden slat to allow us to have a closer look, I used the excellent camera on my phone to get some great photos. In one of the close-ups, you can even see some bee larvae inside the cells, little white grubs that will become brand new honey bees! 🙂
The beekeeper then gently brushed her hand over the pile of bees, some of which then started crawling all over her hand. Absolutely wonderful.
We were shown several more examples of the bees at work, and I was completely enchanted with the little creatures. One of the hives was glass-sided so we could see right inside, and a green dot on the glass in front of one bee indicated that she was the queen.
I could have watched the bees at work all day, but soon we had to go inside a room in farmhouse where we were shown a short video, explaining how the bees gather the nectar from the flowers to bring it back to the hive in their stomach sacs. The nectar is then regurgitated from the bee’s stomach before being consumed by a worker bee, who in turn regurgitates it again. In this manner, excess water is removed from the nectar, leaving the thick, sticky sweet substance we know as honey, which is stored in the honey combs.
The honey combs are then placed into a centrifuge, which is is operated by turning a handle. Some of us were invited up to have a go and, afterward, one lady turned a tap at the bottom of the large stainless steel tank, and pure honey came out. Wow!
We were then taken into a large room to taste this amazing, fresh honey. There was some home-made granary bread and some home-made cheese; we were soon to discover that honey spread onto a piece of firm, salty cheese is absolutely delicious. We enjoyed the bread, cheese and honey washed down with fresh coffee and finished with a glass of home brewed mead. It was scrumptious, and my hands and face were understandably sticky afterwards. 🙂
We were then shown how to make a beeswax candle, simply by rolling a sheet of beeswax around a central wick. Our completed candles were then placed into paper bags for us to take home as a souvenir. In addition, there was a small shop on site selling honey, mead, beeswax cosmetics and candles.
All too soon it was time to leave the bee farm, but before we did so I showed some of the staff the photos of my Irregular Choice “Lady Bee” shoes – they were absolutely tickled pink, and one of the teenage girls took a photo of the photo on my phone! 🙂
After saying thank you and goodbye to the beekeeping family, the coach set off, back towards the main town centre of Klaipeda. We saw several more storks and stork nests on the way back. Eventually the coach dropped us off in the town, and our guide said that after the walking tour we could either go back to the Balmoral on the coach, or she would show us where to go if we wanted to walk back. We decided on the latter.
What a great place Klaipeda is! So many interesting things to see, great buildings and quirky sculptures and art installations. As we walked over a large bridge spanning the river Dane, we couldn’t miss the large sailing ship Meridianas moored there, which our guide told us was built in 1948 in Finland. The vessel now serves as a unique floating restaurant.
As we walked along the river side, we stopped for a while to look at the different boats (I love looking at boats, and wishing I could afford one of my own!) as well as Klaipeda’s own “little mermaid”. The Undiné Klaipeda statue was unveiled on 15th January 2015 as a gift to the city of Klaipeda from the Lithuanian Maritime Academy. The 140kg bronze sculpture was created by Klaudijus Püdymas.
Soon we came to the square in the Old Town, where there were a number of stalls selling the inevitable Baltic Amber. We had a brief look but didn’t buy anything. As we passed a restaurant near the river we looked up and saw another interesting sculpture, this time it was a chimney sweep. Our guide explained that it was good luck for a chimney sweep to be present at your wedding, which is also a tradition in Britain.
A little further on, as we walked through a quiet street, we came across yet another unusual little bronze sculpture. This was a cute little mouse, and our guide told us that it was a lucky mouse, and if you bent down and whispered a wish in the little mouse’s ear, the wish was supposed to come true. One by one, each of us touched the mouse on the head and whispered something; when my turn came I put my mouth close to the mouse’s little bronze ear and wished for world peace. 🙂
It was around one o’clock when our half-day tour came to an end, and we decided to stay in the town and make our own way back to Balmoral when we were ready, as we could see the ship’s distinctive red funnel in the near distance. We thanked our guide, then went off to find a shop selling postcards and stamps; I bought five and now we needed somewhere to sit and write them out.
Many of the waterside restaurants were doing a roaring trade as it was lunchtime; as such, you could only go in and buy a drink if you were also eating. What we needed was a bar, so we went off down some side streets where it was a little less crowded, and we found a pleasant little place where several patrons were just sitting with glasses of beer, wine or Aperol Spritz. We recognised a couple of people from the ship, who recommended the cold beer. We didn’t need much persuasion. 🙂
We sat there and enjoyed a large, freezing cold local beer as I wrote out the cards, and Trevor got into conversation with the other couple, who were from Barnard Castle, about 27 miles away from Durham. After finishing our drinks and using the loo, we made our way back into town, posted the cards, and decided to head back to the Balmoral, as it was now around 3.00pm.
We’d thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Klaipeda, and it’s somewhere we would think of going for a long weekend break.
Back on board we went up onto the pool deck and walked around; we had a great vantage point over this lively port city with its many boats, interesting buildings and, of course, the inevitable ferris wheel. We enjoyed another beer sitting in the sunshine and took a look at the Daily Times to see what was happening around the ship.
We noticed that, at five o’clock, they were holding a session of “Bubbles and Speak” in the Lido Lounge. This had been recommended previously to us by Abi, one of my X/Twitter contacts who is a regular cruiser on Balmoral, and she asked me to remember her to the chief sommelier Miroslav.
When we arrived at the Lido Lounge, despite it being 5.00pm, no-one was around, only another three people, but no sign of any sommelier. We spotted Tom, the entertainments manager, and asked him if the Bubbles and Speak had been cancelled, but he made a phone call and advised us that Miroslav was on his way.
We didn’t quite know what to expect from Bubbles and Speak. We thought it might have been a way for the sommelier to promote the sales of some of the wine packages, but in fact, it was a most enjoyable half hour. Everyone in attendance (there were only five of us!) got a free glass of fizz and Miroslav was there to answer absolutely any questions we had about wines, champagnes and liqueurs. It wasn’t a sales pitch at all, just a pleasant and informative interlude, and Miro certainly knew his stuff. 🙂
Afterwards, we had exactly 45 minutes to get washed, changed and ready for dinner. Eating again!
We spent the usual pleasant meal on table #109 with Jim and Margaret, John and Sheila, where there was certainly no shortage of conversation.
Then it was off to the Neptune Lounge for a spot of ballroom dancing before the show at 8.45pm. Trevor and I got up to do the Square Tango, Rumba One and White City Waltz, before the announcement was made to clear the dance floor so it could rise up and become the stage. 🙂
Tonight’s showtime featured an excellent violinist called Michael Bacala. He really was superb, playing anything from classical to modern to pop accompanied by the excellent Balmoral orchestra. He did a fabulous rendition of Coldplay’s Viva la Vida. We really enjoyed his performance and looked forward to seeing him again later in the cruise.
We then hotfooted it up to the Lido Lounge for the 10.00pm trivia quiz. This is a popular event and you have to get up there early in order to get a seat. When we arrived, all of the tables were taken but we spotted a couple with two spare seats at their table and asked if we could join them and make a quiz team, to which they agreed. As ever, we didn’t win – in fact we scored an appalling 9/15.
Afterwards, we remained in our seats for the second featured entertainment of the evening, called “The Balmoral Jazz Club”. The talented show company treated us to the Swing music and song of a 1930s Jazz Club, and we really enjoyed it. Once again, the Lido Lounge was packed to the gunwales, and there was standing room only at the back. 🙂
We remained in the Lido for another couple of drinks, returning to 6009 around midnight to settle down for the evening. Another new port of call awaited us in the morning, that of Gdańsk, Poland.