![\"Pink](\"https:\/\/blog.jillpearlman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Pink-Sky.jpg\")
<\/a>I\u2019ve wandered into a beach dream of Lithuania.\u00a0 Here in Nida, on a lovely spit of land not unlike Cape Cod, the small country fantasizes of forgetting its very complicated history. \u00a0 Dreams are on display.\u00a0 From its Prussian past, its Russian past, or its EU present?\u00a0 A mix of each.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s northern, a land of down coats and thick forests that mark their landscape. \u00a0 You\u2019re never far from getting lost in a pine forest.\u00a0 The forest is public space, like Central Park is to New York; people enter and walk slowly, leisurely with a certain forgetting and a certain awareness, towards the Baltic sea. \u00a0The forest feels like a giant terrarium of light and bark and swooping birds.\u00a0 Trunks look like boat masts. \u00a0The light is unfiltered; psychedelic green, as if moss has been beamed into its still and floating orbit.<\/p>\n
Strolling from bayside to the beach, one begins to get under the skin of the Germans with their physical culture, their hiking boots, their romance with nature (this part of the country belonged to Germany until WWI). \u00a0 And walk in the shoes of Russians who love their slow wandering through the melancholy forest, taking time to pick mushrooms and rowan berries.<\/p>\n
The other striking aspect of Nida is the public space\u00a0 – in the US it would be largely privatized. \u00a0 Here, it speaks of the old seaside resort that Soviets had to organize for their population to enjoy during the summer, with an EU upgrade under German tutelage to make it work.\u00a0 The public promenade which runs along the bay is full all day with bikes and people walking, clear gleaming light until 10:30 at night.\u00a0 The bay is flat and placid, animated by a metallic gleam that pulls the sea towards the sky until they meet and seem to merge. No wonder Thomas Mann built his house on a (magic) mountain (hillside) with a spectacular sea view.<\/p>\n
For other Lithuanians, the dream might be a tidy little chalet with cut-out shutters and geraniums, at woods\u2019 edge, with a big white BMW parked in the driveway. \u00a0Certain men seem to like muscles bulging on their back, muscle cars and women whose hair shines salt white. \u00a0 Teenager boys prefer their own man-buns. \u00a0 It depends what your dream is. I\u2019ve wandered into a beach dream of Lithuania.\u00a0 Here in Nida, on a lovely spit of land not unlike Cape Cod, the small country fantasizes of forgetting its very complicated history. \u00a0 Dreams are on display.\u00a0 From its Prussian … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"