A short stay in Finland

And so our time in Sweden came to an end. We parked up for the night in the carpark at the ferry terminal ready for the eight and a half hour crossing from Kapellskär to Naantali. Summary of Sweden? Trees, lots and lots of trees. It is normally our policy to avoid the motorways because from the motorways of the world you usually see nothing. We prefer to use the smaller roads and see the towns and villages. In Sweden it makes no difference. In both situations, between places there are trees and the places are far apart and small so motorways ended up being the prefered option in Sweden. Nice place though and glad we visited. Next adventure - Finland.

The carpark slowly filled a bit with some pretty big neighbours. My advice to you is if one of these chaps wants to go before you, let him, he'll likely win the fight. The roads in Scandinavia are relatively quiet but the trucks that are there are generally big doublers like this one.

Last glimpse of Sweden as we said goodbye

On an eight and a half hour crossing you normally wouldn't expect to see much from the windows of the boat except sea and the occasional passing ferry but the crossing from Kapellskär to Naantali is no ordinary crossing. Only for a very short time are you far from land. Most of the journey is a slow weave between islands and islets. Navigation in this area must have been bordering on suicide back in the days when waters were uncharted. I suppose the good news would be that you could easily swim to land. The bad news, that land was probably little more than the desert island you see in cartoons.

Typical view from the window of our cabin.

The crossing was smooth and uneventful. We relaxed in our cabin, walked around the decks, relaxed in the lounge, did a bit of reading and watch the islands float by, much as I imagine icebergs would look. There was a stop for an hour at an island to let some people get off and others get on then we were on our way again.

After a lazy day we were soon disembarking in Finland our eleventh different country of the trip. The sun was shining and it was late evening. I was a little anxious about where we would get a spot to stay overnight. There were dozens of motorhomes on the ferry and I somehow felt that at that time of the evening most would be heading for the nearby motorhome spot where spaces would be at a premium. As it turned out I needn't have worried. the place was almost empty when arrived and still the same when we eventually lay our heads down for the night. It was a beautiful evening so we had a wander around yet another marina. There was a large gathering of people at some kind of event and they were crowding round the BBQ where there was a rather large quantity of sausages almost ready to be scoffed. There were other people in various hot tubs and saunas after which they jumped into the water of the lake. We might try that some day. But not today thank you very much for the offer.

There were two huge cruisers in the distance. One is still under construction and the other, presumably in for some kind of repair. It is due to go into the service of Royal Carribean Cruises next month. It is called the Star of the Seas. Here is what I researched on your behalf:

Seven swimming pools, over 40 eating and drinking establishments. 5600 passengers, 2800 guest rooms, 385 metres long (quater of a mile, give or take). Your floating theme park. Fancy a fortnight?

Star of the seas

Next day we woke up to rain. It had rained on and off during the night but now it was more on than off. And it has been like that ever since. As I type this on Tuesday morning it is raining. It is fair to say that it has eased off a little and is now a steady downpour. Thoroughly miserable. Dreicher than dreich I can tell you. Fingers crossed for some better weather on Thursday when we are due to visit Helsinki for the last of our Scaninavian capital city visits.

Meantime we visited Turku the biggish city right next Naantali. We were lucky and managed to fit our walk around town in between the showers

Turku Castle

Inside Turku Castle

Turku Caste from the other side

There is water everywhere you look in Finland. I recommend you take a close look. Zoom in on the Finland map and try to count the lakes and while you are at it zoom in on the coastline and count the islands. Good luck with that task!

This boat is the Suomen Joutsen (The Swan of Finland). Here is what I found out for you. I am getting too kind with all this researching going on.

Built in 1902 at Chantiers de Penhoët, Saint‑Nazaire, France, under the name Laënnec. A 96 m steel-hulled, three-masted, square-rigged frigate—now the last of its kind in Finland. It traded internationally for France and Germany under names Laënnec and Oldenburg before purchase by Finland in 1930. As Suomen Joutsen, it completed eight major training voyages (1931–1939), reaching ports from Europe to South America, crossing the Equator, and rounding Cape Horn. From 1961 to 1988, functioned as a stationary maritime vocational school moored in Turku

Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland)

In an effort to see a little of the countrywe have moved inland to Hämeenlinna but do not think we are far from water because, as previously indicated, everywhere is by the water here. It has rained and rained but between showers we again managed to capture a little of the flavour of the town. Glad we did this yesterday because today I do not think there is going the be a "between the showers" opportunity.

We followed the track along the shore line and came across two guys sailing remote controlled sail boats. They had no engines. The remote control is controlling only the position of the sails so it is completely wind power. They were following a course expertly. Sheila noticed that they had writing on their jackets that indicated they might be part of the Finland national team. We spoke to them and they said they were heading to Inverness, Scotland later this year although it is not entirely clear if they are sailing their boats there or just visiting.

Remote control yachts

As we continued our walk we could see a large castle type building in the distance so we followed our noses and eventually arrived at Häme Castle.  

Häme Castle from afar

Close up of Häme Castle

This was a prison beside the castle

Our ramble continued back into the town where we found another POP for you. This is Jean Sibelius who, I am sure you know, was a famous composer, particularly of orchestral music and the famous Finnlandia tone poem (whatever that may be). He was born here in Hämeenlinna

Jean Sibelius

Hämeenlinna town square

“Sota ja rakkaus” (“War and Love”), a striking stainless-steel sculpture by Tiina Torkkeli (2017), installed in Hämeenlinna's Library Park near Kumppanuustalo in June 2019

That just about wraps up where we are right now. Heading down to Helsinki for a visit on Thursday and then we are off again to another new country. We'll see you in Helsinki.

Take care

D, S and MJ

xxx