KLAIPEDA, LITHUANIA

Background Info:

        Lithuania is located due south across the Baltic Sea from Stockholm between the countries of Poland and Latvia.  This small country has a long and interesting history but too long for this blog.  The city of Klaipeda was founded in 1252 and was part of the Prusian Empire.  I will mention one very sad part of their WWII history.  The German army exterminated 90% (nearly 200,000) Lithuanian Jews during the 1941-1944 time period.  Our guide said she was heart-broken to say that the Nazis were aided by some Lithuanians in the Holocaust. Lithuania was occupied by the Germans in 1939 just before WWII.  During that war the Soviet Union ran the Germans out and made it part of the USSR.  Lithuania finally regained their independence from the Soviets in 1991.  During the Soviet years they took all the land from the farmers and made them into cooperative farms.  Anyone could come take hay or grain from any farmer.  They had no incentive to improve the land or houses.  We saw the Russian "block style" on housing in older areas outside of the city. 

      Klaipeda is located at the mouth of the Dane River where it flows into the Baltic Sea and is the 3^rd largest city in Lithuania with a population of 157,000.  The Port of Klaipeda is the main ice-free port on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.  This multipurpose, deep water port operates 24/7 and supports cargo ships, ship repair, and ship building yards.  Klaipeda’s main attractions are the historic buildings in the city’s center, dating back from the 13^th to 18^th centuries.

        The average summer highs are 68F and winter highs are 32F.  It is a windy city with many stormy days per year.  It was sunny and 82F here today and the locals all complaining of the heat.

                                    This local band was playing as we got off ship this morning.

        Jane and I went on this 6 hour tour today.  It was over an hour drive over a fairly rough paved, 2 lane highway to get there.  Our bus did not have much air conditioning and the driver had problems shifting gears so it was interesting.  Our guide, Virginia, was a school teacher and did a very good job especially with explaining the Soviet era since she was there.  The countryside was rolling and agricultural as much as possible.  The further we drove it became more forested.  Wheat appeared to be the major crop grown here and it will be harvest time in a few more weeks.  Hay was also grown for the livestock.

     

We saw numerous stork nests along the road and usually near a house.  The people thought it good luck if they nested near their houses.  The rural houses seemed to be very nice.

                                     Our guide said this was a religious march of some sort.

                                                   A couple storks in field eating.

                                            Run down building from the Soviet days.

                                             Market in a village we went through.

 The main objective of this tour was to visit this "Cold War Museum" that just opened in 2012.  It is the site of a Soviet nuclear missile site that became operational in the early 1960's during the Cold War years.  It was built in this area of Lithuania because it was heavily wooded so could be hidden.  There are also big lakes nearby to provide the water needed to cool the silos if the missiles were ever to be launched.  The site was built by Soviet troops and workers from Estonia.  None of the local Lithuanians knew the site was even here.  The complex had 5 high fences around it and two of them were high voltage electrified fences.  There were 4 missile silos 85 feet tall with the missile control complex in the center.  This consisted of two levels several feet underground and covered with lots of reinforced concrete.  There were several rooms on each floor and contained a back-up diesel powered electric generator in case of war.  There was fuel to be loaded in the missiles if world tensions became high.  These missiles could not reach the US.  They were targeted to NATO countries in Europe and changed every 3 months depending on the situation.  The technology was pretty primitive back then and accuracy was not that good by today's standards.  They did not have to be very accurate as each missile was armed with a 2.3 megaton nuclear warhead (17 times more than used on Hiroshima).  There was a military base with housing outside the fences but the complex could be sealed off and they had enough air to last for 3 days underground.  The US satellites discovered this site soon after it was operational.  The site was only operational for 16 years.  After the Soviets left the local people discovered the complex and striped it of anything that could be sold for money.  The European Union gave Lithuania the money to make the museum.  I must say it was very well done and well worth the visit.  We had a young man as our guide through the museum who was very knowledgeable and humorous at times. This tour was a high must-do for me since I was directly involved in the Cold War.  In the mid 70's I was an Air Force B-52 aircraft commander in the Strategic Air Command (SAC).  I used to live for a week at a time near the end of the runway at Barksdale AFB (Shreveport, LA).  This was called "alert duty".  My
B-52 was nearby and fully loaded with fuel and nuclear weapons.  If ordered, I had to have my aircraft airborne and on the way to the target within just a few minutes.  We had to get off the ground before any Soviet nuclear missiles hit the US.  The Commander-in-Chief of SAC could order us to launch for survivability but only the President of the US could order us to release the bombs.  My aircraft was loaded with just two nuclear bombs.  They were 5,000 pounds each and filled the huge B-52 bomb bay.  My target
was Moscow.  Both bombs were to be released on Moscow.  Some of you have probably seen my favorite movie of all time, "Dr Strangelove".  Now there is no Cold War and no SAC either.  We (the US) still has land based and submarine based nuclear weapons and aircraft can also carry nucs.  The number of them is greatly reduced however due to the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty with Russia.  I remember those Cold War days very well.  It was one hell-of-a lot of responsibility for a 26 year old young man.

One of the silo concrete covers on tracks for removal in case of firing.

                                       Old phone used within the command complex.

                           They had pictures of the US nuclear weapons delivery systems including my B-52.

                                              This is a Soviet surface-to-air missile

                                             Looking down into the empty silo

 Restaurant we stopped at on way back to the ship so we could experience some typical Lithuanian food.  The waitress dropped a bowl of food in Jane's lap.  They gave her a nice shirt and apron for her trouble.  The food was very good as was the beer.

                                                           I liked the beer!!!!

 Rebecca and Charlotte went on another tour, "Klaipeda Charm: Old Town, Palango Amber Museum & Promenade".  This is the "Assumption of St Mary Church" in Palango.  80% of churches are catholic in Lithuania.

Next few photos are of the promenade. 

  

Botanical Park

The amber (a stone) museum

Tractor made out of amber

                                                     Beach on other side of the park.

 This is Theater Square and this theater is where Hitler delivered a speech in 1939 when Germany occupied Lithuania.  During WWII the Soviets defeated the Germans and held Lithuania until 1991.

Klaipeda City Hall

Example of the "block" style of buildings that the Soviets built.