01/10/2010

Ferry point

Old Russian fortications

Sheep totally tangled up in the briar and in a very vulnerable position.

It's lucky Simon isn't Welsh!

One very relieved sheep. It was very hungry and started eating as soon as it was free.

I like this very simple style of fencing

Midsummer Pole

The picture above and the ones following are of the Jan Karlsgarden open air museum

The museum displays old rural culture of the Aland Islands

Kastelholm Castle on the island of Sund.

The baths at Mariehamn

The small beach seen from the swimming pool

Infinity pool overlooking the small beach

We are back in Mariehamn today.Went to the baths for a swim and a sauna. The guy in the coffee shop there suggested the bar at the Park Hotel would be a good place to go this evening. We took his advice and paid it a visit. Almost everyone in the place was already drunk or well on their way to alcoholic delerium. After a beer we went to another bar named Dino's. It was the same here! The Finns don't do half measures! I guess they make the most of what they have.There are also an awful lot of tattoed "ladies" here in Mariehamn. I think Dino is responsible.He has a tattoo parlour as well as the pub. Is Dino Finnish?
The chap I met in the library last evening told me that Mariehamn was the only place on the archepelego that had any pubs, there being no pubs on any of the other islands. The total population of the islands is 27,000, 12,000 of whom live in Mariehamn. That leaves 15,000 people whose only bar is the refridgerator in the kitchen.