August 17-19, 2014, Mariehamn, Aland Islands
The trip is almost over. AlteCocker is exhausted. Her 59th home exchange has ended and she is off to another destination? Yup. She should have her head examined.
AlteCocker has been to Scandinavia 3 times now. Her first home exchange was in Lahti, Finland, an hour north of Helsinki in 2007. During her stay, she drove to Turku in Southwest Finland and took a day trip on the Silja Line to Mariehamn in the Aland Islands and back. AlteCocker describes the Silja Line as the poor man's cruise book. Basically the boats are ferries taking locals all over the Baltic. In 2009, when AlteCocker did the cruise to Mariehamn, she went on one boat to Mariehamn. When you do the day cruise, you change boats in Mariehamn because the boat you are on continues to Stockholm. This time she decided to go to Mariehamn from Stockholm and stay two days. The Aland Islands have a peculiar status: They belong to Finland but everyone in Aland speaks Swedish. They also have a sort of independent status with their own flag (blue with a red cross), so AlteCocker was just curious to find out the skivvy on these islands.
Arriving on the Silja Line and trying to get to her hotel, she found that her Swedish phone just didn't work to call a taxi. Unlike every other place AlteCocker has been in Europe where there are always taxis when there are tourists, not in Mariehamn. Then she discovered she had reserved a hotel way out of town. Without a car in Mariehamn it is very difficult. The islands are all spread out and buses outside of Mariehamn are very infrequent. The first hotel, the Strandnas, was very nice about it and rebooked AlteCocker at the Park Alandia Hotel (more central and more money, but what choice did AlteCocker have?).
Ah, it was Sunday. There is one main shopping street in Mariehamn, and, except for the restaurants, everything was closed. Why didn't AlteCocker think about it being Sunday? Dumb da dumb da dumb! Dinner was at Dino's Bar and Grill. They have music on some nights, but, of course, on Sunday, it's deadsville. The hamburger AlteCocker ate was excellent.
The next day was Monday. The morning was spent walking around Mariehamn. A small necklace charm with a piece of pink granite in it was bought as a souvenir. It is something that is traditionally sold in the islands; it also did not cost much. If there is one thing that can make a trip expensive, it is shopping. AlteCocker is not a great shopper--especially when she thinks about the schlepping end of things. To walk from the West harbor to the East harbor in Mariehamn is about a 20 minute walk as the town is on a narrow neck of land. From the main street (3 ATMs so no problem getting money--especially now that AlteCocker had a spanking new ATM card; AlteCocker used 5 different currencies on this trip, as Aland uses euros) AlteCocker made a right turn and then walked left along the East harbor. There she came upon a store called Salt Konsthantverk where everything sold was from local craftspeople. She watched Ilse Berg, a weaver, making a rug. AlteCocker thought about it, but, again, the schlep factor kicked in--and, after all, she did not buy a rug in Turkey.
Having been informed that the main site the islands was a castle, AlteCocker determined to see it. That involved an encounter with a very limited bus system. No problem getting the bus out to Kastelholm, but the bus back was another story. Buses are more frequent during the summer, but AlteCocker was in Mariehamn after the kids in Scandinavia were back in school. During the summer the bus goes right up to the castle, but, well, AlteCocker had a long hike in. Nevertheless, AlteCocker arrived and toured the castle. The day she was there there was a guy dressed up in armor. It's very difficult to move when you are wearing armor. No way AlteCocker would do that. The castle is connected with Gustav Vasa, a very big gun in the list of Swedish kings. While a ruin, Kastelholm is very well explained and they have done a lot of excavation. There are explanations in English (hooray!).
Then AlteCocker had to get back. Unfortunately, the lady at the castle gave AlteCocker directions to a shortcut but she left out some information. AlteCocker should have just returned the way she went in, but, no, she had to have an adventure. She had been told the bus stop was at the end of this road. The road ended, you had to go right or left and she went in both directions and could not find the bus stop. The salient information was to go right and walk down another road, but that piece of information was lacking, so there was much confusion. Finally, AlteCocker flagged down a car and asked the driver about the bus stop. He showed her where it was but took her to another bus stop where there were two choices of buses to choose from. The nice man was named Eric Ericson. You can't get more Swedish than that even if you live in some islands that give you a Finnish passport. AlteCocker did, by the way, end up on the same bus she would have taken anyway. The bus driver did a detour and dropped her off right at the hotel! Nice guy!
Dinner was at the hotel. It was nothing to rave about, but AlteCocker had had enough adventures for the day and was happy to just sit and eat at "home".
On the following day, AlteCocker just had the morning. The boat back to Stockholm was leaving at 1:45pm, so AlteCocker decided to visit the Maritime Museum in the harbor adjacent to where the Silja Line boats dock. Actually, she never got to see the Maritime Museum. She spent all her time (a little over an hour) on the Pommern, a huge 4 masted clipper ship permanently docked in the harbor. It is the largest clipper ship AlteCocker has ever seen. There was so much there that AlteCocker could have spent more time looking at the marvelous photos and explanations of life aboard the ship when it made runs to Australia in the old days, but it was time to get to get to the ferry back to Stockholm.
The Silja Line cruise was uneventful and AlteCocker made a beeline for her home exchange apartment to pick up her suitcase. That took just a few minutes and then it was a taxi to the airport bus. She stayed at a hotel near the airport and flew back on Icelandair (beating that erupting volcano) on August 20, 2014.
The 2014 European haj was over. Planning for 2015 has begun!
AlteCocker has been to Scandinavia 3 times now. Her first home exchange was in Lahti, Finland, an hour north of Helsinki in 2007. During her stay, she drove to Turku in Southwest Finland and took a day trip on the Silja Line to Mariehamn in the Aland Islands and back. AlteCocker describes the Silja Line as the poor man's cruise book. Basically the boats are ferries taking locals all over the Baltic. In 2009, when AlteCocker did the cruise to Mariehamn, she went on one boat to Mariehamn. When you do the day cruise, you change boats in Mariehamn because the boat you are on continues to Stockholm. This time she decided to go to Mariehamn from Stockholm and stay two days. The Aland Islands have a peculiar status: They belong to Finland but everyone in Aland speaks Swedish. They also have a sort of independent status with their own flag (blue with a red cross), so AlteCocker was just curious to find out the skivvy on these islands.
Arriving on the Silja Line and trying to get to her hotel, she found that her Swedish phone just didn't work to call a taxi. Unlike every other place AlteCocker has been in Europe where there are always taxis when there are tourists, not in Mariehamn. Then she discovered she had reserved a hotel way out of town. Without a car in Mariehamn it is very difficult. The islands are all spread out and buses outside of Mariehamn are very infrequent. The first hotel, the Strandnas, was very nice about it and rebooked AlteCocker at the Park Alandia Hotel (more central and more money, but what choice did AlteCocker have?).
Ah, it was Sunday. There is one main shopping street in Mariehamn, and, except for the restaurants, everything was closed. Why didn't AlteCocker think about it being Sunday? Dumb da dumb da dumb! Dinner was at Dino's Bar and Grill. They have music on some nights, but, of course, on Sunday, it's deadsville. The hamburger AlteCocker ate was excellent.
The next day was Monday. The morning was spent walking around Mariehamn. A small necklace charm with a piece of pink granite in it was bought as a souvenir. It is something that is traditionally sold in the islands; it also did not cost much. If there is one thing that can make a trip expensive, it is shopping. AlteCocker is not a great shopper--especially when she thinks about the schlepping end of things. To walk from the West harbor to the East harbor in Mariehamn is about a 20 minute walk as the town is on a narrow neck of land. From the main street (3 ATMs so no problem getting money--especially now that AlteCocker had a spanking new ATM card; AlteCocker used 5 different currencies on this trip, as Aland uses euros) AlteCocker made a right turn and then walked left along the East harbor. There she came upon a store called Salt Konsthantverk where everything sold was from local craftspeople. She watched Ilse Berg, a weaver, making a rug. AlteCocker thought about it, but, again, the schlep factor kicked in--and, after all, she did not buy a rug in Turkey.
Having been informed that the main site the islands was a castle, AlteCocker determined to see it. That involved an encounter with a very limited bus system. No problem getting the bus out to Kastelholm, but the bus back was another story. Buses are more frequent during the summer, but AlteCocker was in Mariehamn after the kids in Scandinavia were back in school. During the summer the bus goes right up to the castle, but, well, AlteCocker had a long hike in. Nevertheless, AlteCocker arrived and toured the castle. The day she was there there was a guy dressed up in armor. It's very difficult to move when you are wearing armor. No way AlteCocker would do that. The castle is connected with Gustav Vasa, a very big gun in the list of Swedish kings. While a ruin, Kastelholm is very well explained and they have done a lot of excavation. There are explanations in English (hooray!).
Then AlteCocker had to get back. Unfortunately, the lady at the castle gave AlteCocker directions to a shortcut but she left out some information. AlteCocker should have just returned the way she went in, but, no, she had to have an adventure. She had been told the bus stop was at the end of this road. The road ended, you had to go right or left and she went in both directions and could not find the bus stop. The salient information was to go right and walk down another road, but that piece of information was lacking, so there was much confusion. Finally, AlteCocker flagged down a car and asked the driver about the bus stop. He showed her where it was but took her to another bus stop where there were two choices of buses to choose from. The nice man was named Eric Ericson. You can't get more Swedish than that even if you live in some islands that give you a Finnish passport. AlteCocker did, by the way, end up on the same bus she would have taken anyway. The bus driver did a detour and dropped her off right at the hotel! Nice guy!
Dinner was at the hotel. It was nothing to rave about, but AlteCocker had had enough adventures for the day and was happy to just sit and eat at "home".
On the following day, AlteCocker just had the morning. The boat back to Stockholm was leaving at 1:45pm, so AlteCocker decided to visit the Maritime Museum in the harbor adjacent to where the Silja Line boats dock. Actually, she never got to see the Maritime Museum. She spent all her time (a little over an hour) on the Pommern, a huge 4 masted clipper ship permanently docked in the harbor. It is the largest clipper ship AlteCocker has ever seen. There was so much there that AlteCocker could have spent more time looking at the marvelous photos and explanations of life aboard the ship when it made runs to Australia in the old days, but it was time to get to get to the ferry back to Stockholm.
The Silja Line cruise was uneventful and AlteCocker made a beeline for her home exchange apartment to pick up her suitcase. That took just a few minutes and then it was a taxi to the airport bus. She stayed at a hotel near the airport and flew back on Icelandair (beating that erupting volcano) on August 20, 2014.
The 2014 European haj was over. Planning for 2015 has begun!