Klaipėda, Lietuva (Lithuania)
The next day we were in Klaipėda, Lithuania. While most people went to visit an Amber museum I wasn't overly interested so I grabbed a map from reception and wandered around the old town of Klaipėda instead. It turned out that it was a market day with a number of the main streets turned into a market (in addition to what seemed like a regular fruit and vegetable market).The granite monument Arka ("Arch") is dedicated to the commemoration of the 85th anniversary of Tilžė Act and the 80th anniversary of the joining of Klaipėda Region with Lithuania. Previously Klaipėda, then called Memel, was part of Prussia. The smaller red granite column is the symbol of Lithuania Minor and its cultural background, whereas the larger grey part is the symbol of Lithuania Major. The gray part on top looks like part of it has been broken off and missing part stands for the Kaliningrad Oblast, currently part of the Russian Federation. The quote on the monument, by Ieva Simonaitytė, translates to "We are one nation, one land, one Lithuania".