Life on Åland

We are still in Mariehamn. That's due to a combination of factors. Firstly, the weather has not really been playing ball the last week: best described as 'winter' for most of us. It has been really cold, most days below 10C as a maximum. The sun has shown itself regularly, one day with lots of rain but otherwise not bad. The main problem has been the wind, often over 20 knots (6 Bft) and yesterday and today gusts up to 30 knots. So we are patiently waiting, the heater works well so it is comfortable and we have enough to to, both on and off the boat.

Off the boat, we went to a special art exhibition of a group of Finnish painters who - around the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century- came to Åland to paint the landscapes. The exhibition was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Finnish state, this year.

This picture shows the Western Harbour, where we currently are, around that time:





I walked up to that point earlier and this is the view now:





We also revisited the Mariehamn in miniature exhibition. This shows Mariehamn in the 1920's and is very nice. We were struck by this building:





Which still exists today:





It's the restaurant of the ÅSS, the sailing club where we are moored (the restaurant is 20 m away from us).

Last night we went to the Jazz evening at one of the local hotels. Thanks to our association with our local friend Ralph, people are getting to know us and talk to us even when Ralph is not with us. It's a small and closely knit community!

Tomorrow, the wind is expected to drop and we hope we can do a bit more exploring in this fascinating archipelago.

I end with a picture of the 'rush hour' we see daily in the harbour at 2pm when 2 ferries leave and 2 arrive all together.

Location:Sjöpromenaden,Mariehamn,Åland Islands