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1336--Trip to Mariehamn, Åland21 Jul, 2009 | Posted by: person63

The trip to Åland started with me almost missing my ferry. I need to take two buses in order to get from my apartment to the ferry terminal. However the first bus did not show up, so I was panicking for about 45 minutes as I was waiting for the next bus. Fortunately I had made it with just enough time, so I didn't have to wait 12 hours and then take the ferry that would arrive at Åland at 2AM. These ferry rides are always interesting, although the one there went without any major events.


I met Anne-Leena's nephew at the Mariehamn ferry terminal, and from there I went to Pommern during his first training session. The Pommern is a museum ship that is also the best preserved cargo sailing ship. I was extremely impressed with this because I easily spent over an hour here (I think close to two) and I could have spent even more. Åland's economy depends on shipping, so this museum went into details not only on the ship, but also on shipping in general and a little into how it affects Åland. There was also a museum of shipping next door that was very small and had many artifacts. It was to the point of being overwhelming, but this illustrated the importance of shipping on the economy.

From there we went to a Reggae night at a club, which has drunk Finnish people (of course). Åland is small enough that I was told that the same people go out so everyone kind of knows everyone. Right now during tourist season there are some tourists who will go clubbing as well, though. However I woke up early that day so the clubbing was not the highest priority.

The next morning Kim took me to see Bomarsund Fortress Ruins and Kastelholm Castle. Bomarsund ruins were built by Russia in 1832 (during Russian occupation—remember Finland was occupied by Sweden and Russia during most of its history) and were destroyed in the Crimean War in 1854. The ruins were mostly destroyed so Russia could rebuild and then take over the fort again, but the ruins are in pretty good shape, considering that. There were also extremely heavy cannons at this site as well, although now they are there for people to look at rather than for shooting. Kastelholm castle is much bigger than I expected and we had to breeze through it so that Kim would make his next training. But it was also very well restored and there were a lot of items there, so one could spend a long time there looking at everything.

We then went out on a boat trip to one of the other islands. The one we went to had excellent smoked salmon and chocolate cake. People could swim, hike, or just hang out (on the boats or on the ground) and we made it a leisurely afternoon. Of course going on the Baltic is always fun, and even more fun when going by small boat. When the weather is good in Finland, then one should just go and be lazy in the sun and relax.

After dinner we went to the Maritime quarter to see what was going on there. They had some sort of polka dancing—think Helen, GA's Bierhalle during the tourist months—so we decided to go adventure golfing. I need to say that this adventure golfing course was very difficult, more so than ones in the United States that I have been to. It was also cool because it had a pub/cafe part added onto the golfing part so that one could have a beer and sandwich or even a full dinner before or after golfing. Although people were even going to this place to have dinner or a beer and not golf. Just a cool concept.

The next day was a rest day before work started again. On the Vikingline boat I took my third practice GRE (more on that probably in a later entry) and read my book. Some Finnish grandmas decided to sit next to me. Despite their ability to only say “speak English not good,” they were determined to teach me some Finnish words. So I learned “lippo” (island) “laive” (boat) and “vasa” (water). They were nice and it was an entertaining way to spend about 2 hours of a 6 hour journey.

My coworkers told me that I would have a very peaceful weekend on Åland; although they were partially teasing because Mariehamn and Åland are small and have low populations. However I enjoyed the peaceful weekend because it was a break from other possible hectic travels. The weather was good and I got to enjoy the warmth, but I also was able to relax a bit at Åland too, since these next few weeks will be much more hectic.

//614

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