The long way home - the adventure in the Archipelago

I spent last week in Kustavi in a yoga retreat and browsing the surrounding area. On Friday it was time for me to leave the retreat and drive home.

When I realized that there was no one coming with me back to Helsinki I decided to follow the life advice I learned from the Camino: "Always take the scenic route". I did. Here's a rare map picture for you of my route and for comparison the route I would've taken if I was going straight home.

After I had packed up my tent and said my goodbyes, I started the engine. I was at the same time a little sad leaving all my new friends behind and excited... It was going to be a new adventure! I drove an hour from Kustavi to meet Tuomo in Naantali. He was joining me for another adventure in archipelago.

We had a nice coffee break in the old Naantali, enjoying the view and chatting. It's been a while since I last traveled with someone, so it was a welcome change to the travels I've done this year. It was raining a little, but we didn't mind. We were spending time, enjoying the conversation that seemed to flow endlessly.

We walked around old Naantali a little and started driving. We forgot the time and I must admit that we left Naantali a bit too late for my liking. We drove the lovely roads through Rymättylä, took one ferry and continued the short remaining way to Hanka. While waiting for the ferry I was a little anxious, if we missed the ferry from Hanka we'd have to give up on the archipelago. The next ferry wouldn't go for another three hours or so.

We had enough time for me to get my feet wet in the sea and joke around.

We ended up reaching Hanka just in time. We drove straight to the ferry. The second ferry of the day took us to Seili and Nauvo. We spent over an hour on the ferry, sitting on the sun deck, watching the passing islands and the sea around us - and me enviously looking at the sailboats passing by. I wanted to go sailing. Really bad. We were discussing different ways we could one day reach the island of Seili, joking about sailing there or getting kayaks and rowing there. We were really enjoying the summer day at the sea. The sun, the wind, the cold drinks...

A few minutes before Seili we even saw a seal. I was left speechless and I just pointed to a direction in the sea to get Tuomos attention to the same place. Soon after he turned his attention towards it, it dove to the depths and we didn't see it again. -- For me it was huge thing. I'm endlessly curious and interested on the marine mammals, so seeing one in the nature is always amazing. And even more so when it happens practically on my back yard (at least on the global scale).

There's no pictures because the moment passed so quickly. I was just staring at it amazed.

The ferry made a stop at Seili and we looked at the island from the deck, not leaving the ferry. It was beautiful. I must admit that I was so excited about the seal that I didn't really pay as much attention to the small harbor we just reached. It had some lovely wooden buildings and a few boats tied to the pier. Beautiful.

This is also the answer to my riddle in Facebook. The picture I posted the other day was taken in Seili.

As we had the car with us we weren't able to stay in Seili. You are not allowed to take a car there. So if you want to go, you have to leave the car to one end. We continued our way towards Nauvo with the same ferry without stepping to the island. For the rest of the trip, I was unable to take my eyes of the sea. I wanted to see more seals. At times I pointed to the islands we were passing:

"look, a deer!"

"look, there's a stork!"

"look, cormorant!"

Tuomo was admiring my ability to recognize so many different species, but I just hushed his compliments away.

In Nauvo we took a walk around the shore lines. I dipped my feet in the water only to notice that it's colder than it was in Hanka. We walked lazily around the harbor area and decided it was time to eat something.

After the week of wonderful vegan foods my body was screaming for some meat. We had our meal in a steak place and you should've seen the wide smile on my face when I had ordered my steak. Not the best steak I ever had, but after a physically heavy week like the one I had it was exactly what I needed.

We took our time (again) and when we finished the meal I realized that we would actually have to keep the pace up and not have too many stops on the way in order to get Tuomo back to Turku in timely manner. We catched yet another ferry, drove through some beautiful bridges that offer beautiful scenery. It's not safe to take photos while driving, so I have nothing to show you from those parts.

We had one last cup of coffee at Parainen and then continued our way. I dropped Tuomo off to Turku and drove back to Helsinki. I really like the road back from Turku, it's more beautiful to drive towards Helsinki than towards Turku. The sun was shining bright and the sky was blue. Music filled the car and I did enjoy the way home.

In Helsinki I made one last stop at my moms before I headed home. The last stop was a bit longer than I expected, so in the end I got home around midnight. I didn't bother doing much else than just going to sleep. Unpacking could wait.

To finish this post with a disclaimer: the archipelago is actually Swedish speaking area and many of the names are usually in Swedish as well. I prefer the Finnish versions as they sound prettier and make more sense, but google maps knows some of the places better with their Swedish names. Small translations are in order: Seili = Själö, Nauvo = Nagu, Parainen = Pargas.

#Archipelago #Finland #visitFinland #Nauvo #Nagu #Seili #Själö #Rymättylä #Naantali #rengastie