July 2 – July 6

Helsinki-Tallinn by ferry, Tallinn-Riga by bus, one night in a hostel, Riga-Klaipeda by bus and Klaipeda-Nida by bus. I finally arrive in Nida and step into Godzilla, my home for the next 6 weeks. Andy and Merja had already arrived here a few days before, they had had a 60-hour open water sailing (also through a rough storm!) from Örö to Klaipeda, and then from Klaipeda to Nida.

Nida is a Lithuanian small town uniquely located on the Curonian Spit between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. Its characteristic sand dunes and pine trees bent by the wind create a picturesque view. The border of Kaliningrad is 5km away, and from top of the dunes it’s possible to see the border fences going over the hills, border buoys on the water and a border guard boat on its spot on the Kaliningrad side. The Curonian Spit has the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but I don’t know what that means in practice. There is plenty of tourism, and it’s interesting to see how popular this place is even if it’s so far from everything and definitely not convenient or easy to reach.

Me, Andy and Merja jump into the van of Anton Shramkov. He drives us to the nearby village Preila, where his beautiful, unique upcycled home is located, and he tells us about the building process. He is an architect and an educator, who bought the house when it was just a skeleton-like structure. With the planning of this house he gave up using 3D programs and planned everything on top of photos instead. This cosy home was created with almost completely reusable materials (some parts are found from the sea, some are from upcycling centres, some are gifted by neighbours, some parts are bought as new). Their sweetheart, Umka the dog, melts everyone’s hearts and Anton kindly gifts an old life buoy for Godzilla. After the house tour we all go for lunch together and walk on the beautiful beach.

On the beach in Preila, Godzilla’s artist duo Kati Rapia and Ilona Valkonen organise their ecological and community (re)searching photographic art piece and a workshop performance ”State of the World” with the local kids. The materials for the workshop are treasures and trash found from the sea.

Godzilla’s artist Gary Markle joins us on the boat. Gary is a Canadian artist, educator, and doctoral researcher at Aalto University. He has been investigating the surroundings by foot – his expeditions have taken him to the beaches and forests of Nida and Preila, through various weather conditions. 

We visit Nida Art Colony. NAC is a subdivision of Vilnius Academy of Arts and it runs an international artist residency programme and curates and commissions art and research projects, events, exhibitions, and study courses. Super interesting, inspiring and aesthetically pleasing place! We also visit architect Mantas Peteraitis’s & artist Lina Lapalyte’s beautiful house in the nearby village.

We leave Nida and Preila behind and head to Klaipeda. On our way the beautiful sand dunes continue for miles. It’s a perfect day to sail with the soft winds. Sad to leave the nice people in Nida behind. The shipyard of Klaipeda is huge – it takes forever to go through it to the city harbour. As we get closer to the city we hear music and noises of festivities. It’s the Statehood day in Lithuania. The city is full of people and everybody is celebrating with Lithuanian flags.

🦭: Saara