Close by the spa town of Druskininkai, Lithuania, is the strange but compelling museum Gruto Parkas Grutas (www.grutoparkas.lt). The brainchild of Viliumas Malinauskas, this fabulous sculpture park is littered with several “Stalins” and “Lenins.” You can gaze upon row after row of Communist sculptures from all over Lithuania.

Near the entrance is an exhibition in memory of Lithuanians deported to Siberia under the Soviets, including some of the original freight cars that carried thousands of them to their deaths. (Most of my relatives died in Siberia.)

An eye-opening information center is filled with exhibits, from “Young Pioneer” coloring books to large black-and-white photographs of Lithuanian freedom fighters. A path evokes what it must have felt like to live surrounded by barbed wire and observation posts.

You can make the 130-kilometer trip from Vilnius to the museum/park in about 90 minutes by taking the No. 31 bus from the bus station. We found it easier to get there by rental car. (Adult admission price in 2006, LT10, or about $3.70.)

TERRY LOEF
Pacific Palisades, CA