Mariehamn, Finland

 Mariehamn, Finland                       Day 159 of 196                                              Saturday, May 28, 2022

              Now we begin our ports on islands rather than on the shore of a mainland.  The Scandinavian countries are sprinkled out into the Baltic Sea and other waterways with more islands than can be counted.  Well, almost.  There may be more bridges than people in some areas and just about everyone owns a boat.  And a sauna.  Their favorite activity in Finland is to dip in the sea—any time of the year, run to the sauna, and often repeat.  One suggestion was to take a cold beer into the sauna, trickle some over the hot coals, and get drunk by fumes.  Huh.

               Today we also began a series of days of all the stages of early spring rain.  About 50 degrees F. We wear layers and carry an umbrella to share. 

               Our ship docked at Mariehamn which is the capital of the Finnish island of Aland.  In the Finnish language, picture a small circle above the first “A.”   This changes the pronunciation to an “ow” sound.  If you have a map, this island is between Sweden and Finland on the biggest archipelago in the world, more than 1000 islands, of which about 200 are inhabited.  They have their own newspaper, TV station, island government and boast that most of their leaders are women.  Mariehamn is a sea resort with many beaches—I saw lots of volleyball courts, restaurants, museums, and shops.  For centuries, the main trade route across the Swedish empire passed through Aland.  When the Russians were in power, they offered the locals a full salary to join their army.  Nobody applied.

               After driving through the city, we bused to the countryside.  Jerry and I said over and over that this entire area looks just like northern Minnesota.  Mostly flat, green with trees and flatland, water everywhere, rugged and serene.  Similar granite rock formations.  Even the wildlife is similar, except one may see a reindeer here.  Nope, we didn’t.  Our first destination was on the island district of Sund, to a medieval church that dates to 1280! With the traditional hanging ship, pews that were gated and numbered, an old and a new organ, and a large cemetery right outside.  Our guide for today said, “For me, churches here are cozy, mystical places with all those stones, the acoustics are really good for concerts.”  Hmmm.

The large gravestones are for the ship captains.

               Next stop was the remnant of a Russian fortification that never was fully built and was defeated by the French before it could even defend itself. Called Huvudfastet, it was a Russian’s military nightmare.  The locals never want to rebuild it, but I think it’s their way of visiting and laughing out loud.  It is said that it took 22 years to build and 22 days to destroy.

What they intended it to be.... ^^

What it is...vv

               Our last stop was to the Finnish version of the Living History Farms outside of Des Moines.  It is named Jan Karlsgarten (literally, the farm of Jan Karl).  Most of the structures are from the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Look at thickness of thatched roof on boat house.  We are told good thatch can last 100 years.

               On the way back to our ship, we slowed to enjoy the look of The Pommern, an open-air maritime museum that is a 3-mast sailing vessel and it was parked directly in front of our ship.

               Back to the room to peel off the wet layers and warm up.