This summer offered us a fantabulous little trip to a place that is almost abroad from Finland but not quite. In any case, in the literal sense of the word, it is overseas and in many ways feels like it. Åland is an autonomous region of Finland situated in the Baltic Sea between Turku in mainland Finland and Stockholm in Sweden. Together with O and a couple of great friends we had the opportunity to visit this intriguing little place in mid-June.
Our lovely road/boat trip was launched in the early hours of a sunny Tuesday morning, when we hit the empty roads towards Turku harbour. Once in this historic capital of Finland, we drove our car into the bowels of a Viking Line ferry (one of the companies that regularly transports cars, passengers and goods across the sea between Finland and Sweden making a short stopover in Åland) and the adventure had truly began.
From the moment we drove out of the ferry in Marienhamn, which is the capital of this archipelago province, everything seemed familiar but with a twist. Certainly the vegetation and general landscape of the place did not significantly differ from the coastal areas of Finland, but differences seemed to stare us in the face no matter where we turned. Most obviously, of course, since Åland (Ahvenanmaa in Finnish) unlike any other place in Finland is a monolingually Swedish-speaking region, there was no word of Finnish in sight. But not only where the road signs solely in Swedish, but other surprises awaited us in the traffic as well. For example, the number plates of the cars had nothing to do with their Finnish (nor Swedish for that matter) counterparts - even the shape was different. Furthermore, speed limits followed the Swedish standard and all roads were red! Only the freshly-laid asphalt on a roadworks site seemed to resemble the familiar blackish-grey, but as we later found out, even that will soon turn into the same distinctly red hue after the road dries and the red granite of the islands (used as the rock material of the asphalt) will take over.
After a thirty-kilometer drive through the lush countryside we found our way to the quaint cottage beside the sea that we had booked over the internet. I have to say that this time the place was exactly as it looked on the brochure, i.e. on the booking site Ålandsresor. The four of us shared a well-kept fully-equipped two-bedroom cottage, where we enjoyed some precious moments. Even though we did have a small electric sauna inside the cottage, we used the wood-heated more traditional one right by the sea on both nights of our stay, since it was in our free use as well. During the first evening, the Nordic weather was absolutely perfect and we enjoyed a fantastic barbeque right by the calm sea and took a little boat trip on a row-boat provided by our landlord.
On Wednesday it was time to explore the island(s) by car. We took off well before noon in search for a cafe called "Annas Shop", since previous travelers had advertised the pancakes in there as the best in the archipelago (which as a whole is famous for delicious pancakes) in the guestbook of our cottage. The place is in Vårdö-island, and not perhaps easiest to find, but absolutely most definitely worth visiting if your travels ever take you to Åland. Indeed, we found the place and got so much more than without a doubt the best pancakes we have ever tasted! Annas Shop is a cafe/handicraft shop built in old barn and run by an old soon eighty-years old sailor Kurt. Not only is place itself brilliant, pancakes otherworldly and Kurt's handcrafts impressive, the stories of this gentleman who has seen more than his fare share of the world in his day are truly captivating. For example, the man has during his lifetime learned to communicate in 14 different languages, so the chances are that you just might be greeted in your own language upon arrival even if you are not a Finnish, English, Swedish, German, Spanish, etc. speaker by birth... When we arrived, the likable owner walked from around the corner dressed in overalls (he had just been tending his fields). He gave us superbly warm welcome and when we asked if the cafe is open, he answered "No. I mean... now it is, of course!" led us to the door and went to put the coffee on. Once again, do visit Annas Shop when in Åland.
When we had left Kurt and his little shop behind, we spent the rest of the day island hopping, enjoying lunch on a high rock overlooking the picturesque archipelago, and visiting the well-preserved Kastelhom Castle and its museums as well as the ruins of the magnificent Russian fortress Bommarsund that was destroyed by the Anglo-French Navy during the Crimean War. The day drew to a beautiful close with warm sauna, good wine, great food, and fantastic company at the cottage.
On the day of our departure still had a few hours to explore the beautiful centre of Marienhamn and visit Pommern - reportedly the very last cargo carrying sailing ship in the world, that is nowadays a museum ship anchored in the harbour of Marinehamn. The ship has interesting history and visiting it gives a unique insight into the life on the seas during the first half of the twentieth century. If you love ships, you cannot miss this one, and even if you do not, it would be foolish not to see it.
To end this post, I have to thank a customer I served while working as a waiter in a hotel in Southern England in the summer of 2010. It was the words of praise that Åland received from his mouth that came to my mind when I was desperately trying to find a place that would be worth visiting during the three days that me and O had free together in June. When we had to abandon the idea of a city-break in Copenhagen, Berlin or Amsterdam due to our difficult schedule, I remembered the customer's words about Åland. And boy am I glad I did! I would not have wanted to spend those days in any other way.
I.
