Kempingas

July 23 and 24

Even though I had been to Druskininikai and Gruto Parkas before, and even though I was a bit leery about “camping,” I opted to go on the weekend trip because there were a couple of other stops on the itinerary that would give us a chance to experience a bit more nature than I would find in Kaunas over the next few weeks.

We were on the bus at 9 a.m. and at Punio Šilo in short order. Our guide, perhaps a park ranger, led us through the woods for two hours. Only he and I had the right shoes for the hike. I’m not quite sure how the concepts of camping, hike in the woods and rain added up to sandals or cloth sneakers for the others, but I’m not judging. We passed a number of interesting wood carvings on our way deeper into the woods as well as a number of people picking mushrooms. This particular forest contains a large number of red-listed species as well as some of the oldest trees in Lithuania. Part is a strict reserve where no hiking is allowed.

I had on long pants and long-sleeved shirt so I didn’t use any bug spray. I regretted that a bit later when Kristina found a deer tick on her leg. We all checked ourselves, and I found one on my leg as well. Later that night, right before bed, I found a second on my neck. I sure hope they don’t have Lyme disease in Lithuania.

Our next stop was Gruto Parkas, a sculpture park that contains the salvaged statues of Soviet notables that were removed from public places after independence. Also on exhibit are artwork, memorabilia and propaganda posters from the era of occupation. This is mixed in with a small zoo, a children’s playground and a couple of restaurants. The entire experience is slightly bizarre. Controversial when it first opened, the park serves as a reminder of what once was in the hopes that it will never happen again.

At Drusininkai kempingas, we settled into our trailer homes before dinner. I was grateful that we weren’t sleeping in the teepees. Some other campers were in sites that accommodated their tents and RVs, and I had a chance to lust over a VW Eurovan with a pop-up sleeping loft, which is on my list of all-time favorite cars.

I asked and found out that the native Lithuanians with us didn’t know about s’mores, which are an American camping staple, so we went to the Maxima to try to find the ingredients. Because there were no graham crackers, puffy white marshmallows or Hershey bars to be found, we made some major substitutions, buying Nykstukas biscuits, some smaller, multi-colored marshmallow-like candies and a couple of thicker dark chocolate bars. It was too wet for an outdoor fire, so I toasted the “marshmallows” over a gas burner in one of our trailer homes. What we bought evidently had a much higher sugar content than the marshmallows at home, so it was difficult to keep them from flaming out before getting soft and melty. The other problem was that the chocolate was of a better quality and much denser, so it didn’t melt from the heat of the marshmallows when sandwiched together between the biscuits. Despite not being quite the same, the Lietuvos s’mores proved popular, perhaps because they were accompanied by beer, and Lukas ate at least five by himself.

That night I slept well, snuggled in bed with a comforter because it was so cold out.

The next day we spent more time outdoors, walking through the woods near Druskinikai, at the pilis in Liškiava and at a small beach by a lake where some went swimming (not being a sun worshipper, I sat in the shade to finish reading my book, Let the Great World Spin). On the drive back to Kaunas, we passed through Miklusenai, so I did get to see, however fleetingly, one of the places where Grandmom lived.