While this Eastern European city may be the country’s third in terms of size and population many residents would actually place it in second. Capital city and first place holder is said to have the kind of ambiguity and diversity of influences that keep it from feeling anything like Russia, Germany, or Scandinavia and has its own kind of earthiness and charm. Most who have traveled Eastern Europe a great extent will fall in love with this city over say, Tallin or Riga. The third place city is far more cosmopolitan than the actual second place holder and hosts a pretty wicked Sea Festival each year due to its thriving port. Hotels tend to book up pretty fast during this time and when they do your closest and best bet is to turn to the coast in Palanga some 25km away. So where are we? Klaipëda, Lithuania.
Today’s word is a Lithuanian word used in Lithuania:
Viesbutis – Hotel
I don’t suppose many of you have plans to go to Lithuania or learn the language, but I’m putting out there just in case. I know little of the country, but after searching for online resources I uncovered quite a few interesting details. First and foremost the best guide to the Baltics seems to be City Paper. They were the only ones who even offered a small list of commonly used Lithuanian words. The paper states you’ll be okay if you know a little Russian and the Lithuanian lingo is closely related to the now extinct Old Prussian. Otherwise finding resources on this one were pretty hard and um, weird. This afoto site lets you learn the parts of the face and hair by clicking on a picture of a young girl. Something about this felt awkward, but it works, I guess. Ominglot has their usual written language guide and Orbislingua has a few audio and reading recommendations. To purchase talking dictionaries click here.