Ch 3-1 Ankunft - Arrival

Arrival at Palanga is in the pitch dark of night. Good I don't have to start this part with a ‘dark and stormy night’ opening.  With a small plane there are few passengers so customs is a quick event. But we have to wait in the very unlit terminal for officials to show up. Is our scheduled flight unexpected? 

Finally they come in: customs, passport control and various uniformed personnel who just stand around. The last time I experienced this was on arrival at a Bahamian island; thought it a Caribbean thing. In the U.S. the officials are ready and waiting to scrutinize your papers and your soul. 

The terminal is dark; perhaps the lights don't work. There's very little signage in the large hall and no colorful commercial advertising. Passport and customs procedures alone tell me the days of Communist ways of doing things are long gone as it's pretty easy to get through.  Nothing spoken, no questions, no official scrutinizing your passport waiting for you to break a sweat, like in the good ole days when I tensely stood in front of East Germans officials.   

Now we just have to figure out how to get out of the airport and make the journey to our hotel in Memel (Klaipeda).  I forgot to plan for this little detail.

The airplane crew assembles on the sidewalk. A van pulls up and they get in. I ask if we can join them for the ride to Memel.  "Of course." During the ride we talk with our stewardess who speaks some English and wants to work on her English. I have so many questions.  Outside it's dark and I can’t see any of the countryside. I don’t see any hotels. It's disorienting to arrive in a new place in the dark – but heightens my anticipation for the next day. I peer out the windows trying to catch some glimpse, a clue, wanting to get a sense of place. In the dim glow of the streetlamps I see store fronts, houses, shrubbery.  Looks normal.

The van stops in front of a store and some of the crew go in. Maybe they need to buy food before going home. Amazing that anything is even open after 10 pm; German grocery stores don’t stay open late. Peering out the van’s side window I strain to look in the store. I see shelves full of merchandise; what kind of store is this?  I try to get a feel for this country where I’ll be spending the next week to verify if this trip was a good decision or will be a disaster. Absolutely no traffic on the two-lane road.

The people in the van, crew and driver, know each other well.  Even without speaking the language it's easy to sense a camaraderie among them. Imparts a good feeling so see people freely chatting with one another.

Crew members get dropped off along the way. We arrive at the Hotel Klaipeda in downtown Memel, a big modern structure, at least 15 stories.  Maybe was the hotel of choice for the party faithful back in good old days as the comrades couldn't afford travel. Check in is efficient and again English is spoken!  I get info on exchanging money as Litas are not available outside the country.

The lobby looks like any other big hotel.  Off to one side is a restaurant, a gift shop nearby and of course a postcard rack.  I head over to take a quick assessment of significant sights in town. Looks like any middle European city, the usual old buildings and an occasional monument in the center of a marketplace.

It hits us just how tired we are, exhausted and ready for bed. A porter takes us to our room, how nice, all of us with two suitcases pressed into the tiny elevator.  I read signs for massage, sauna and advertisement pictures of lovely people enjoying a big classy restaurant.  This is a really big hotel, but we are here for one night only.  We’ll have another chance to explore before leaving the country when we stay here before catching an early morning flight to Hamburg on September 11^th. 

The room is tiny!  Décor is a sort of Scandinavian style - call it northern European modern.  Barely room for the two beds, a chair, us and that really big suitcase. I once stayed in a London hotel where it was really hard getting myself and my suitcase into the room at the same time; had to make use of the bed to do it.  We do have a private bath which is always a nice perk.  So as long as we coordinate our movements, and don’t change course abruptly, we’re fine in the tight space.  No need to unpack as we won’t be here long.