The True Spirit of Scandinavia - An Elderhostel Trip

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Day 18 - Thursday, June 18, 2009 - Turku, Finland
After breakfast in the school dining room we embarked on an all day excursion. As we passed through the edge of Turku (pronouced tour-kooo) with the emphasis (as for all Finnish words) always on the first syllable) the "r" is rolled, and they they strecth out the vowels. Everyone is the area seems so proud of their city; they speak of it so lovingly. We passed an immense shipyard where the largest cruise ship in the world is being built! We could see it from the highway and the ship appeared enormous. Ship building has been a major industry in Turku since the middle ages.
Our first destination was a small, well preserved medieval town town called Naantali which developed around a convent in the late 15th century. The name means "Valley of Mercy" as the settlement was originally called in Latin. The guide, Nan, spoke American sounding English. When we asked her later she admitted she now lives 9 months a year in Roswell, NM and in the summer comes to Naantali to visit her 96 year old mother and also work as a tour guide. She told us that Finland is comprised of more than 40,000 islands, the most islands for any country in the world. Indonnesia has fewer islands but has a greater area. (An interesting side note: we purchased a CD of Finnish music with an included booklet that says Finland is made up of 179,584 islands! So perhaps only 40,000 are inhabited?)
Naantali is located on the third largest harbor in Finland which is claimed to be protected by the archipelage and thus offers open access even in the winter. The town has a large spa nearby and is known as the sunshine town for its abundance of sunny days. Another claim to fame is the nearby estate of Kultaranta where the official summer residence of the President of Finland is located. Tarja Halonen, a woman, is president! She is presently in her second 6 year term and oddly enough is said to look like Conan O'Brien! He has even been invited to Finland to meet her.
Our Elderhostel group was able to tour the gardens even though the flag was flying indicating that she was in residence. I was hoping she might come out to greet us or even ask us in for tea but we didn't see her or any of the security people at all. The gardens were especially beautiful with a ruby garden, a purple garden, a yellow garden and a blue and white garden (the colors of Finland). There was a red granite fountain set in a blue tiled pool and a tall dramatic, double fountain set in a large rectangular pool with a greek style temple in the background. The gardens were located below the residence which stood on a hill overlooking an inlet to the sea.
Our lunch was in the Cafe Restaurant Daphne located in the Forum Marinum (a Maritime Activities Centre and the National Special Museum of merchant shipping and Finnish naval history) in Turku. The restaurant was named for the ketch Daphne which the Finnish author Goran Schildt purchased in 1947 and sailed via the North Sea and the rivers of France to the Mediterranean. Between 1949- 1984 he published eight books about Daphne's travels, immortalising the ketch both in Europe and the U.S. The actual wooden sailboat was displayed in a tall glass section at the corner of the large room we ate in!
After lunch we had a guided tour of Turku given by Mr. Jouni Elonaa our lecturer from last night who had told us all about the Kalevala, the National Epic of Finland. He took us to the the Turku Cathedral which is still in constant use as a church and for musical events. The stone church was completed on the site of the former wooden parish church at the end of the 13th century! It has been added to many times over the years. In 1827 there was a great fire which burned most of the town along with both the tower and the interior of the Cathedral. The present tower constructed after the great fire is 101 metres (328 feet) tall. Of course, it started out as a Catholic church and is now the mother church of the Luthern Church of Finland, and the country's national shrine.
We drove by an immense old castle which started out as a military fortress in 1280 and became a residental Swedish castle in the 14th century. During the Renaissance there were many social events and fancy balls held there. Today the castle is a museum but we didn't go inside. Turku also has a large town square the site of a famous medieval market on June 25th, and Christmas markets in November and December. (Brrrr!)
Our last stop in Turku was an open air museum named the Luostarinmaki Handicrafts Museum. It is located in 18 old wooden houses that stand on their original location on a hill where they were built 200 years ago. Their hillside location saved them from the disasterous fire oin 1827. Turku was the centre for crafts in Finland during the time of the guilds so the buildings were preserved and restored and the Handicrafts Museum was opended in 1940. Up to thirty handicrafts workshops show the visitor what life and work were like prior to the Industrial Revolution. Many of the craft people speak English and seem pleased to expain what they are doing. The mission of the museum is to preserve and transfer skills and knowledge of traditional crafts into the future.
Turku has three universities, the first one was established in 1640. They have many international students and there are classes given in Swedish and English in addition to Finnish. The population of Turku is 180,000.
After this wonderful day we returned to the school in time for some free time to pack or relax before our evening program of entertainment and dinner upstairs in the glass greenhouse. A Finnish group of seniors who have just arrived and are also staying at the folk school resort were there with us to watch Finnish folk dancing and to eat dinner. Soon a group of young people in colorful native dress came in and performend folk dances on a large wooden dance floor. They were quite energetic and they twirled and whirled and danced with great enthusiam. It was very a enjoyable and memorable performance.
After the dance performance our group was asked to go first in the buffet line. The food presentation was very festive with cod fish, lamb and vegetables, salaads. We had our choice of red or white wine and for dessert a lovely blue berry cake and blueberry ice cream. It was a full day of sightseeing of unforgetable sights, and wonderful meals, and folk dancing and meeting Finnish people. Tomorrow we leave for Helsinki. So we will bid you good night from southwest Finland.

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