Naantali, Finland

 There are a few ways of getting to Naantali from Turku. One is by boat, they'll take you in through the port and take you back. The cheapest way is to take the bus from Turku city center, costs only 3 euros one way. Its a pretty little place, very adorable. It must be nice to retire and live there because nothing goes on at all. Imagine, no stress, the blood pressure will stay even keel all the time.

 A market was in full swing. Even then it was a very slow slow market. I'm feeling sleepy as I write this.

 They talk of their strawberries like its the greatest in the world. The only thing is their growing season is so short that if you should blink it's gone. We have the best strawberries in California. Nothing beats our strawberries.

Its a really really sleepy seaside town. zzzzzzzz!

Turku, Finland

 Today is Sunday and its hot. Nothing is opened and everyone is laying around sunning themselves. There is a river that splits the city of Turku into two and ships and boats of all kinds are docked here on both sides.

 There is a museum of old ships here near the port. I arrived last night by ferry cuise ship from Mariehamn. I was overwhelmed, the throngs of people on the ferry. Viking (pronounced veeking) lines is very clever. They have these new cruise ships, one starts out from Stockholm for Turku, stops halfway at Mariehamn. The other starts from Turku for Stockholm and also stops halfway at Mariehamn. They time them to arrive at Mariehamn at the same time. The Stockholm people goes to Mariehamn and changes ships to return to Stockholm. The Turku people goes to Mariehamn, changes ships and returns to Turku. None of them ever steps onto land. The idea is to get on board with their family, spend the day at sea and brings home a ton of alcohol. There are duty free shops on board. So I was among the throng of Finns who were on board buying alcohol. I was overwhelmed. I got to talk to this girl who works in Stockholm and was coming back to see her folks. She said she'll show me how to take the bus to downtown. Bus number 1, remember that, it goes from the port to the centre of town and then to the airport. So today I was on my own and I took bus number 1 a few times. The hostel was full on Saturday and I had to get an expensive hotel downtown. So today I moved into the hostel.

This is my hostel and will be my port for the rest of the week. My room is a ship's cabin. Its noisy with all the wires knocking around and I think the ship is moving too! I hope I don't get seasick.

There's always room for dessert

 They sold out a few and then they placed this new one in the case. I knew I had to have a slice of this 'sommar torta'. I asked the server not to slice it yet till I got my picture. Another customer behind me wanted a picture too.

 Then she sliced it to give me my piece.

 My slice of heaven. It was not only pretty but very good.

 Another customer liked it so much, she bought a whole cake to take with her. She laughed as I took these pictures while the shop people carefully packed the cake into a box.

 Isn't this absolutely delectable?

There's still more if you want some.

Bagasturgan cafe, Mariehamn

 I noticed this place when I first arrived in Mariehamn but they were only opened for lunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only. I made it a point to be around today for lunch, my last day. It is an old house and tables are set out throughout the house and even outside on the patio. Its like waiting in your grandmother's house. Its so cute.

 I sat here.

Here is my Greek salad. The menu was not so extensive, just very simple things but in great surroundings. The dessert, on the other hand, is a very different matter.

Kastelholms slott, Aland

I took the bus out to Kastelholms slot, a medieval castle built by the Swedish. Next to it is an open air museum of old Finnish life and culture. Aland is truly a beautiful place. Today is my last day here. Tomorrow I take a ferry to Turku on the mainland Finland. Aland was fought over by the Swedes and the Russian. Even today Aland is an autonomous region belonging to Finland. Finland was under the Russian for a while. Mariehamn was named for a Russian empress, Empress Marie.

Geta and Soltuna

 I took the bus this morning to Geta in the north of Aland. There wasn't anything here to see at all. I was ready to return with the bus without even leaving it. The bus driver persuaded me to walk up the hill to Soltuna and have coffee. So I walked and walked which seemed like for hours but it was only 20 minutes to this restaurant. It did have a great view.

 I had lunch and decided to leave and wait for my bus. I saw a few cyclists coming up the hill.

I made a mistake regarding the bus schedule. I thought it was coming at 3pm so I waited for 2 hours then realized I made an error. It was coming at 5pm and I waited 2 more hours. Four hours later I was crying and I was cursing everyone and everything. There were a few bright spots, this church with a lovely cemetery and there was a constant stream of people coming to tend the plots. An old Finnish man waited with me. I waved him goodbye as I boarded the bus. This is really a beautiful corner of the world, lots of apple orchards. This is the apple growing area of Finland and I can imagine in the fall the place would be all red with ripening apples. Come back in Fall? I don't mind visiting places like this if I know I can leave it.

Mariehamn, Aland

Its hotter than in Sweden. Here the lupines are at the end of its season. People are strange here. They look at me strangely. I guess there are few minorities here and I stick out like a sore thumb. I've never felt so lost in all my travels. The cruise ship coming here was very comfortable. The people on both sides, Finland and Sweden travel on these ships because there is duty free shopping and they do it to make their alcohol and tobacco run. They started drinking at 9am as soon as the bar is opened and don't stop until the ship docks. I swear, as soon as the ship docks, they are on another ship making the trip home! I've always assumed that people here this much north are all tall and beautiful. But I've seen some really short, fat and ugly ones.