We spend our rest day on the Åland Islands cycling more than a hundred kilometers from island to island through the beautiful archipelago. A visit to the capital Mariehamn is a must.
Afterwards, we are disappointed. The town is not different from other towns with 11,000 inhabitants: a library, a pedestrian zone. It is Saturday evening and most of the stores are closed.
Island hopping is the order of the day. Cycling, waiting for the ferry, ferry trip, cycling, waiting for the boat, boat trip. Our destination after ten hours we reach the Finnish mainland. We are pretty excited: a new, unknown country. A few touring cyclists with us. We have already seen a few of them at the campsite. We try to guess their nationality. Actually, there are only Swedes, Germans or Finns. The further we get to Finland, there are only Finns.
We meet Topi from Espoo who spontaneously invites us to his summer house halfway along the route. And two women from Helsinki, one of whom has been spending the winter in Lapland for three years. We learn so much, get tips and talk about the different cultures. Very entertaining, very exciting. The last ferry trip flies by.
At the supermarket we meet a couple from Estonia who now live in Finland. They are famished, as there are hardly any shopping opportunities on Sundays in Åland. And so are we. Before they finish their cycling weekend, we get a few tips for our onward journey. As it is already six o’clock, we decide on the nearest campsite. A golden opportunity! The sauna is still open for half an hour, we are told at the reception. We quickly put up the tent and rush into the sauna. View of the lake. A great start! The last time we had been in the sauna was thirty years ago. We will go again tomorrow morning at eight.
In the evening, the reception turns into a pub, soccer TV and a beer. Rolf gets to know a few sauna buddies and after a few hours at the campsite, everyone knows us: the cyclists.
In the morning, we head to Turku, the former capital of Finland.
At the tourist information office we get information, tips and maps for our entire stay in Finland.
We walk along the harbor basin. Everything is being set up for the ‘Tall Ship Races 2024’ which start the day after tomorrow. So it is not so crowded and we can see everything.
In the evening, full of wonderful impressions, we return to Mervi’s paradise and report back. The next morning, she accompanies us for another ten kilometers to make sure we find the right way out of the city.
It is eternal spring in Scandinavia, at least while we are here. The flowers are in bloom, the grass is fresh green.
There are wild strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and chanterelles in abundance. In the fields there are strawberries, later carrots, peas, cucumbers, cabbage, many types of grain, sweet cherries and apples. The locals say it is the length of daylight in summer that does it.
We head southwest. We are looking for our ferry invitation, Topi and his summer house, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Thanks to a good description and GPS, we find Topi and his wife Pia without any hurdles. The sauna is already heated up. Topi quickly takes the boat to the shore opposite, twelve minutes away. He has an appointment and returns with a borrowed handbag for his daughter.
It would have taken three times as long by bicycle or car. The people here in the Finnish archipelago are world champions when it comes to logistics. We get a guided tour of the guest house followed by a barbecue in the main house.
We are speechless, but still talk a lot. It is an entertaining evening. After breakfast together, we say goodbye to our friends and continue the journey with Topi’s cycling map of south-western Finland and Finnish bread in our panniers.
Happy Finns share their happiness with us.
Via Mathilda, one of the many tips, we cycle along the EuroVelo 10 – ‘Baltic Sea Coast Cycle Route’ where there are Finns only.
Peppe passes us in his car and invites us through the side window for coffee in his house a kilometer away. What a funny fellow! In one hour he tells so many anecdotes from his life that we will remember him for a long time to come.
Our wild camping site just outside Helsinki is the next surprise. Accompanied by some deers, we reach our destination for today at nine in the evening.
The barbecue area with toilet and running water is still occupied by a group of people with roots in Turkey. Before they leave, we are given homemade marble cake and about 1.5 kilograms of peanuts, walnuts and cashews, so that we have enough energy to cycle. Turkish hospitality, just like we experienced last year. We camp here and cook a very late dinner.
A dream start in Finland.
