October 4, 2001 Turku Finland

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Historic Turku

October 4, 2001

Dear Family and Fans,

We had decided that, after our factory tour, we should nearby and Harri our car salesman/Finish Guide had recommended Turku, the old capitol of Finland. He even recommended for us a small place in the center of Turku, The Park Hotel. He reserved the last room available. Sounded great.

And it was, sorta. The location was excellent, right downtown and backing up to a park. It had good off-street parking, something we now need to think of and the building was indeed old-world charming. When we checked in we found the price was a bit higher than our budget but what could we do? When we got to the room and discovered we had reserved the Honeymoon Suite we knew the basis of the price: waterbed, fish tank, big screen TV, whirlpool tub, mirrors and a separate living room as large as some apartments I've lived in. I have a feeling our journey will be filled with surprises when we arrive at our evening destination.

The next morning, we planned our day. A few hours looking around Turku and a few hours driving toward Lapland should fill our time. First, Turku. It was cold, damp and threatening rain. We walked along the river from one end of the harbor to the mouth of the river. The small harbor was very pleasant but probably much better in the sunshine. All the summer tour boats had closed for the winter and the harbor was very quiet. I don't think we have to worry about crowds on our tour any more.

The local power plant had a number puzzle on the smokestack. Who can give the next number in the series? (1 .. 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 5 .. 8 .. 13 .. 21 .. 34 .. 55) Who can say why they did this?

The main attraction is a castle dating from 700 or 800 years ago. By European standards, this isn't very old but, after all, we're from California where the 1920's prompt historical reenactments. Finland has not spent a lot of time as an independent country and this castle has been part of the story. It was built and maintained as either a stronghold of the Swedish empire from across the Gulf of Bothnia or a fortress against their invasion. Even today, Finland generally uses two languages - Finish and Swedish. The city we are in is called Turku in Finish and Abo in Swedish and both names appear on highway signs.

The castle was last destroyed in the early 1940's by Russian bombing. Finland has had an unsettled relationship with that empire over the years as well. Sometimes friend, sometimes foe but always large, powerful and demanding attention. Six years after the fire from the bombing, the Turku castle was rebuilt and today it can be toured throughout. In fact, we discovered that once admitted it was difficult to not tour everything. Every room had one in and one out and guides would gently remind us of the required path. Maybe a holdover from the "almost Soviet" days?

The main attraction exhibition in Turku Castle traces the introduction of the Renaissance into Finland. One docent stopped us and gave us a 10-minute history of how the Polish queen of the Swedish governor brought the fineries of the Italian Renaissance to Turku, the provincial capital. She revealed the not-so-hidden theme in the displays which was that women were forces behind many of the developments of the time but history favors the male side of any joint teams. Interesting and a theme with which our Road Tour team certainly agrees!

After an hour of old walls and old rooms old staircases and a few old carvings we were ready to leave. We ducked out just before another guide caught us and sent us along the final rooms. After all, we had to get going if we were to make any headway this day.

Out in the street we grabbed a bus back to the other end of town. We wanted to squeeze in one art museum before we left Turku and the descriptions of the Modern Art Museum had been intriguing. Unfortunately, the displays were pretty ordinary. There was a contrast with the old castle but the 90 minutes spent finding the place, touring and getting back to our car put us a bit behind our mid-day plan for hitting the road.

Not a problem, we're travelling without plans and schedules so it's all OK. Almost.

Next: the trip to the Arctic Circle

Take care. Avoid empires.

John and Marianne.

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Created 7 October, 2001

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