Baltic 2016 Part 2 From Estonia

Helsinki is the farthest point from home that we will encounter on this journey. Day 19 is over half way through our allotted time but fear not dear reader, I have a cunning plan to get us home on time. 

Day 19 continued

Got up early drove to Tallinn, fuelled up and then got the last of our Estonian shopping before catching the midday ferry to Helsinki. So I can reveal part of the cunning plan which is to miss out Tallinn, Helsinki and Stockholm. We have visited them all before when on a Baltic cruise and that will save 3-5 days, and as usual its sunny again but rain is forecast in Finland.

After driving through Helsinki Doreen took over and quickly drove west on the motorway, mostly in the rain to just past Turku Abo, whereupon it cleared up and I drove the last 50km or so to our campsite near Kustavi. This is the second phase of our cunning plan, by using the motorway here and initially in Sweden, we will move quickly on to the parts we really want to visit. 

We arrived on a nicely laid out campsite and were met by a one legged man driving a huge american car. He only seemed to want 10€ for our pitch. It looks like I will be showering with the ladies tomorrow as the mens shower is locked up. Today we reached our highest latitude; 61ºN. 

Day 20

Tuesday 12th July

Good morning all. Well here we are in our 6th country. We are at the south western corner of Finland at the coast slightly above Turku Abo. We have already crossed bridges and causeways on and off islets which constitute the frayed edges of Finland. We have a bridge or two and a chain ferry to go before we get a ferry to tonight's campsite on the island of Brando. The deal with this ferry company, Ålandstrafiken, is you have to overnight at an intermediate point on your way to Åland otherwise you are deemed to have done a transit. According to the brochure (47 pages downloaded on Sunday) a transit would cost a staggering €487. So far it's costing €56 for a 40 minute crossing but according to my booking the 150 minute crossing on the following day is free. Not sure I fully believe it, they seem to have another vehicle category not mentioned in the brochure and we fit that. Oh and by the way this is the northern route they have a southern route to Åland as well. 

We had Finnish postcards to post having bought them on the Helsinki bound ferry and had noticed a post office in the village so went there first. It was a wool and craft shop as well and Doreen and the owner chatted away about various craft things and premature babies. As far as I was concerned they might as well have been talking in Finnish but actually most speak Swedish this far west. Doreen bought some more wool. 

We went across the free chain ferry and now we were definitely on an island, this one had an ingenious trafic light system to show you what lane to go in and when to move off. We had a little time in hand so explored the island a bit by turning right after the chain ferry and rustled up a coffee at a small marina.

We are still 2hrs ahead of UK so whilst I'm waiting for you to wake up thought I would show you this screen capture of the first lot of islands. We are at the top right. On the left are a group of islands that at this scale look separate but are linked by a road running North to South over bridges and causeways. The island chain is about 16km long but contains 15 named islands and several more unnamed ones. Our intended campsite is circled.

Later

Thought our boat was a bit small, until I saw the channels it had to go through. It was a squash fitting us all on the car deck though, we had to go back and forward under the direction of the crew whereas I could have backed it straight into the required corner left to our own devices. It is supposed to take 4 overheight vehicles we had 5: two long coaches, an RV a large hymer and us, someone had told porkies about their length I guess.

Looking left and right over the bow

Straight ahead

One disappointment was that the map of Åland, advertised in the ferry timetable was not available on either ferry nor aparently anywhere else apart from the tourist office in Mariehamn. Once we got off the ferry at Langö we drove to our campsite and went on a short cycle ride. They have slight hills here unlike the Estonian islands This site has a small beach and a cafe but is very basic for €18. Still trying to get used to Finnish prices. A soft drink 3€ and Finland is the cheapest of the Scandinavian countries.

 Day 21 On to Åland later

Yesterday afternoon both children and adults were swimming off the little beach, I tried it this morning and paddled in over my knees but it was freezing not helped by the air temperature being in the high 20s. Settled for a shower which we did together just to save euros, they were unisex ones. We drove then to near the bottom of the chain, the island of Torsholma where we met up again with a family of Finns who had been at the same campsite, they were waiting for a bike ferry. After chatting for a while and commenting on the oldest girl Henriikka's good command of english it was revealed that she had recently had a year as a language student in Salisbury our home. We waved them off and went for a short bike ride to a viewpoint. 

While we waited for our ferry spoke to the owner of the RV who had also been at our campsite, he confirmed that the second, much longer part of our journey, would be free. It was a squeeze again, this ferry was much smaller and many didn't leave their vehicles for the whole 2¾ hrs of the journey. We stopped at several intermediate islands and in no time had vehicles pointing both ways at both ends of the ship. One odd incident was that a couple who had a canoe with wheels, walked on when we joined the ferry. Bear in mind that our trip was free, they wanted to charge them 100€, which they didn't have, and their credit card didn't work either, in the end I think they let them travel free as well. The RV owner mentioned that he was going to wildcamp at a tourist attraction. A bit later we came across him waiting for a chain ferry and we followed him to Bomarsund castle carpark which was just on the main island of Åland. We saw no sign of the campsite we had intended to go to on the previous island.

A bit about Åland which is the name of the whole archipelago from Brändö westwards not just the main Island. It covers an area of 13,000 km² of which only 1,500 are land. "Åland is a home ruled, demilitarized and Swedish-speaking territory belonging to Finland." It joined the EU in 1995 and has its own representation in this and other bodies. Guess who has a booklet about it all! They have '.az' as their internet domain name and AZ on their cars. 

Day 22, Thursday 14th July, start of our 4th week away

Bomarsund castle was the site of a battle where a combined British and French fleet destroyed the castle before it was completed by the Russians. This was in 1854 and the castle had been started in the 1830's  Åland once belonged to Sweden but between 1809 and 1918 it was part of the Russian empire. I didn't know anything of this history before arriving here. 

Kattnäs Camping. Here for two days, off to Sweden Saturday afternoon on Viking ferries. Running a day or so ahead of schedule gained it by using motorway from Helsinki so will have had the planned number of days on the archipelago. Spent this morning walking around the ruined Bomarsund castle which was huge 4.2 km around, saw monument that was unveiled last year by Duke of Wessex to three Victoria cross holders from the battle of Bomarsund including the man whose VC was the earliest ever won. Then coffee in Mariehamn then bought ferry tickets. Note that the uk Internet company 'directferries' tried to sell me a ticket that didn't exist! Luckily I was in Viking's office at the time.

Went to Kattnäs camping in Hammarland which was a random choice except that I wanted to position ourselves between the two ferry ports to Sweden as at the time was undecided which to use. Also was considering staying here until Sunday to avoid weekend campsite problems. However I now have a clear plan and to stay another day here would make it rushed later with no slack at all. Spent the afternoon sunbathing after sorting out our tickets in Mariehamn. Mariehamn is a lovely place and if we come back will spend more time here. Had coffee and pastries outside a cafe that older folk were using. The reason might be that the cup of coffee is everlasting, free refills as often and for as long as you want. We also bought the Finnish game of Mölkky, a skittle game which is available in UK but seemed better bought here.

Our camp sites are circled red, our entry port and possible exit ports are circled blue

Day 23 Drove to Eckerö which is an island reached over a bridge and where the other ferry port to Sweden is, it also had a concentration of activities, museums and sights only matched by Mariehamn and as it was forecast to rain later gave us more options. One thing the Baltic region is famous for is maypoles and Storby near Eckerö has the tallest in the world at 28.3 metres. Each element is traditional and in some areas it is referred to instead as a midsummer pole. The photograph on this dull day doesn't do the colours justice.

Eckero has a fish museum (with a stuffed Elk) and a harbour where buildings from around the region have been re-erected. From  the 1630s and for 300 years the mail was rowed the 50km across the sea of Åland to and from Sweden It takes two hours by modern ferry, when they do re-enactment races they take between 4 and 8 hours (sails are allowed) There is a mail museum and a zoo. In the event we visited only the maypole, the harbour, fishing museum and one of the restaurants. We posted our postcards (we counted this as the 6½th country). 

The rain came in the afternoon as forecast and the Germans who we met yesterday returned very wet from their bike ride. They are doing the same as us but in the reverse direction so we were able to swap notes about campsites etc. Rain all afternoon, this is the first time rain has interfered with our holiday but it cleared up in time to have a little walk and dry out our awning. Wish we had gone to the mail museum because reading up about it afterwards it would have made a good rainy day place.

Day 24 Saturday 16th July to Sweden

We are off to Sweden today and because of alI the Swedish speakers in Finland we were wondering how big the Swedish empire was. It was quite big, all of what is now Finland and Estonia and some parts of Russia (around where St Petersburg is now) Latvia (down as far as Riga) Germany Poland. The map is from Wiki.

Left site early to have a half day exploring before we get the ferry to Sweden and found this perfect place to have breakfast.

Then we drove through Marienamn down to the coast looked around and drove back to the harbour where we parked up looked at their maypole and the four masted sailing ship built in Scotland in 1903 which is part of the museum. Then walked some more before getting on the ferry to Sweden.

The ferry was quite full and people were rushing to get tables in the eating places, we looked around the ship first and watched our departure from the open deck. We found that there was an all you can eat and drink buffet in the restaurant for 248 SEK (£27) each, which we made our main meal of the day. Wow, did those trippers dig in to it, then they went mad in the various tax free booze outlets on board. Wine was available from a tap in the restaurant and whilst Doreen had one glass of red I abstained because of the driving but we could see many didn't and some of them had to be drivers. Strange given the penalties for drink driving and the low limits. 

Got off the ferry at Kappellskar and shortly after joined the motorway for a quick dash to, through and under Stockholm. We swapped over near Jarna and Doreen drove as far as Nörrköping. Where we did a loo and waste dump for free at a petrol station. Then on to Söderköping where the parking place was full, as was the nearby campsite, Saturday again!. So on we drove down the E22 looking for suitable wild camping spots until we gave up and headed for the lakeside campsite, Yxningen, near Gusum. 

We didn't want to go further south as we had a date with a Wallander story at the coast nearby. I'll talk about Wallander tomorrow.

Good morning all. Now that the end of the Baltic adventure is almost in sight we have to consider how best to spend the last nine days. How much in Sweden how much in Denmark? Do we cross from Rødbyhavn (Denmark) to Puttgarden (Germany), which is expensive at 93€ for 45 minutes or go the long way around in Denmark, extra 180km and come down into Germany on the E7 under the Elbe at Hamburg.. Think we will do the former. The trip from Åland was an eye opener no one seemed interested in the scenery, lots of islands at each end of the trip, instead they were just eating drinking and buying booze.

I am helped in this by a spreadsheet, slowly developed over the holiday, in which the daily mileage and other facts are recorded and which enables me to try out 'what ifs', like 'can we afford another day here', if we only drive 100km tomorrow what will be the effect , can we break the journey? 

Sunday 17th, Windy, Warm and Wallander

I thought everyone knew Wallander (pronounced something like Val-lander) he is a Swedish detective based at Ystad in the south of the country. In one of the strories he tracks a disturbed young woman to an island off Gryt but she is murdered there. We followed his path through Gryt and to Fyrudden where he caught a boat. 

Fyrudden

It was a bit of an out and back but we did find where many of the motorhomes had gone overnight, the harbour at Vaidemarsvik just off the E22. Wallander has appeared in three guises on TV in UK, two different series with different actors in Swedish with subtitles and a BBC series with Kenneth Branagh in the title role. 

My remarks about Wallander seem to fall on deaf ears are there any other fans? We prefer the Swedish versions with English subtitles as you are sure to catch the subtle plot twists especially if you watch on catchup where you can pause and rewatch. We find Kenneth Branagh's Wallander too ponderous and slow although it's fine acting all the same.

We went then to Gamleby which was disappointing, then on to a Lidl at Vastervik before getting to our night stop of Oskarshamn harbour, There are ten marked places but they are a long way from the 'facilities' which are by the marina. (Lidls are good because the layout is more or less the same wherever you go and you can whizz around.)

Oskarshamn harbour

Baby Swallow waiting for mum

Day 26 Monday 18th July. Cycled up to the town centre hoping for breakfast but apparently Sweden does not get going until 10am. Found a kiosk open which had a deal for the over 60's knocking 5 SEK off the price of the coffee. We bought and sent our Swedish postcards. When we went to Norway Doreen brought home a troll and an elk keyring for Adam and Alix. They squabbled over who was to get the elk. So eager not to make the same mistake again we bought two elk keyrings at the kiosk for Toby and Sam even though at 75 SEK (£8.25) each they seemed expensive. Actually how expensive we were to discover later. 

Oskarhamn is a really nice place and well worth a visit they also have the best bicycle shop I have ever been to, Husqvarna which I didn't realise did bicycles as well as motor bikes and garden mowers. We now have better lubricated chains. 

We spent the night here in the harbour. This is the main port for people visiting Gotland; the large Swedish island lying about 200km due south of Stockholm. We are intending to go to Öland today which is the long narrow island right next to the mainland and connected to it by a bridge and causeway.

Another hot day we drove, still on the E22 to Kalmar castle where we spent three hours. If you have kids and only visit one castle with them, then this is the one to come to. I have never seen a place so well orientated to kids needs. Two sizes of artificial jousting horses, your kids can fight a 'real' knight, they have guided tours just for kids and even a kids shop. I was reunited with Pippi Longstocking and Emil whose stories I can remember reading to Rhiannon when she was small. Unlike other castles in the area at some point they reversed the russian style renovations and so much of the castle is original albeit much later than its original form. There is free car parking with a special area for motorhomes, a pensioner's rate and the illustrated guide book is only 89p. 

We then crossed the causeway and bridge to the island of Öland where we went to Vickleby which wasn't quite as quaint as the guide book implied but pleasant enough and we enjoyed riding our bikes around it. We then crossed to the other side of the island following a tractor for ages to reconnect with the Baltic at a tiny harbour near Gärdby. It was then back towards the mainland and turning off on to the island of Swino where there is free motorhome parking near the bridge. It wasn't as noisy as you might imagine. A slight amount of rain in the early evening made us glad that we didn't park actually under the bridge as the run off is just allowed to fall from short drains on to any vehicles below. 

Our pitch for the night, its not in the middle of the water as google would have you believe but on a little island under the bridge. It's free has toilet, drinking water chemical disposal and is packed but vans not unreasonably close together.  We spent the afternoon at Kalmar castle then went for a little drive and cycle on Ōland where coffee and a roll each was twice the price of breakfast.

Day 27 Tuesday 19th July. In full sun, as usual, drove to Karlskrona and stopped outside ... a wool shop, but Doreen was strong and didn't go in We walked around a flea market (upmarket swedish fleas probably) went to what is said to be the largest square in northern europe and sat down for a coffee. Whereupon a crow landed on the table and took a swig out of Doreen's coffee, then instead of spitting it out or whatever it is that crows do went and had some more, it was at that moment too hot for Doreen to drink! 

Then we went on to the marina at Horvik but all nine pitches were full at 2pm. We did manage to squeeze in at the nearby harbour but felt uncomfortable so went on to Norgorsund just a few kilometres away on the same headland. Did some short cycle rides and settled down for an excellent sunset and moon rise across the water.

Day 28 

Wednesday 20th July Good morning all, watched the moon rise last evening and watching it set now with the sun coming up in red skies, but clear sunny skies and 22 degrees forecast. Today we are heading for Simrishamn and Ystad. For non-Henning Mankell readers/viewers Ystad is where Wallander is based.

This was the last day we used this page of our europe map for planning it shows most of the southern Baltic and amongst other places Ystad at the bottom left and Kaliningrad at the bottom right. 

Doreen shared the driving on the road to Simrishavn. We left the E22 and we went through a big event at Kivik, found out later that it was Sweden's biggest fair and it lasts three days. It's also mentioned in a Wallander novel. Went to the tourist office at Simrishavn and got some stuff about Skåne, the area that features most in Wallander novels. Walked around the harbour, had apple pie for lunch. Doreen now not feeling well, so after we found a spot to stay in Ystad harbour for the next two days she went to sleep whilst I did the first recce of Wallander's home. Got a Wallander guide to the town. Lots of tours on offer but with this book we could do our own and be rather more selective. 

By the time it got to early evening Doreen was feeling better so we walked around some of the locations in the town centre. The first TV series took the stories straight off the page covering the first nine books in nine episodes. One location that was changed throughout was the police station. The real one is slightly out of town and in the books of course there is no need to change its location. When it comes to filming though other requirements emerge, with the result that several buildings are used for the outside shots. There is an ATM central to the storyline in one novel which in the TV versions is always in the main square whereas in reality its some distance away. Its all very confusing seeing familiar settings which are in terms of the book in the wrong place. What I got most out of walking, and later riding around was the relative locations of the action in the books.

Lots of movements in the harbour with three ferry companies working. Most going between here and Poland. There are also sail training vessels and, for a while, a small tanker.

Day 29 Cycled around Ystad. This time going to the 'Polis' station and the above mentioned ATM machine as well as a graveyard where Wallander sometimes goes to 'commune' with a dead former colleague.  Went to Fridolf's cafe, where Wallander often goes for a cinnamon bun, and also to the tourist office. The self same elk keyrings that were 75 SEK in Oskarhamn were 40 SEK here. Resisted other tourist 'bargains'. I don't have many Henning Mankell books, just three, and when I saw english translations in the main square bookshop (where Wallander often order's books and sometimes forgets that he has) decided that that would be my one souvenir. However I made the mistake of buying one that I already had, Doh. 

Whilst on the subject of books, as I edit this back in UK I have just received a hardback copy of Racundra's first cruise to replace the paperback version which I lost on an Estonian ferry (see part 1).

Made a poor decison to take an late afternoon highspeed ride to Bornholm and back, a Danish island in the Baltic that rather defines its western edge. It was a rip off especially in the conversion SEK to DKK, we should have paid in euros or DKK. The money would have been better spent on a slap up meal in Ystad.

Day 30 Friday 22nd July. Leaving Sweden. First of all to Svart, where the deserted beaches feature in many of the later TV programs after Wallander moves there. From there hugging the coast to the port of Trelleborg and then in a change of authors to the Øresund bridge connecting Sweden (Malmo) to Denmark (Copenhagen).  Read what wiki has to say: The Øresund/Öresund Bridge (Danish: Øresundsbroen [ˈøːɐsɔnˀsˈb̥ɔn̩], Swedish: Öresundsbron [œːrəˈsɵnːdsˈbruːn], hybrid name: Ø̈resundsbron) is a combined railway and motorway bridge across the Øresundstrait between Sweden and Denmark. The bridge runs nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the Swedish coast to the artificial island Peberholm in the middle of the strait. The crossing is completed by the 4 km (2.5-mile) Drogden Tunnel from Peberholm to the Danish island of Amager. Its certainly a great engineering feat and is a plot device in the noir  swedish/danish crime programme of the same name. The lead character the frankly unsettling Saga Norén (played by Sofie Helin) who's interpersonal skills especially are in the autistic spectrum. She turns Edinburgh's Rebus into a cuddly outgoing character by comparison. I was a little disappointed that the bridge didn't actually start in Malmo and was hardly near Copenhagen either as when watching the TV the journey between the two principal police stations on each side just seems to consist of the bridge. 

Not stopping at Copenhagen (been there too) even if its the setting for "The Killing" with  the jumper wearing DI Sara Lund (played by Sofie Gråbøl). Got fuel on the Danish side went to a Lidl at Ølby near Køge and headed to the marina at Præstø Havn where we spent the next two nights as its a weekend again. Went for a short bike ride and discovered the beach and the main street. Had a couple of beers at the Bar Pak on the harbour front. They have a nice tradition here, a lone (and rather ancient) trumpeter plays the last post as the flag is lowered at the hotel. Then he entertains with other pieces for half an hour or so.

Day 31 Præstø We knew that there was to be a market but when we arrived it seemed to be made up of extra stalls put out by shop holders and looked as if it was slowly packing up. Doreen bought a dress in a charity shop and I was pressed into buying two shirts. Both are checked, one is camouflaged, camouflaged that is, if I ever wander into a gingham tablecloth factory. We had ruinously expensive icecream and by now the market area is very busy again, mostly people having outdoor lunch. 

We then got on the bikes and rode for 18km out and back around the bay, as we neared Præstø Havn there was a stall by a farmhouse selling fruit. We stopped to buy cherries. The man selling them said that we should try them first as it would be a waste of our money if we didn't like them. I jokingly said that with that deal it was a pity he didn't sell beer. He went away to get our change and came back with two cold beers which he gave us. We then chatted to his wife for a while about their forthcoming trip to the Edinburgh festival. When we got back we cycled straight to the beach and went in for a Baltic swim.

It's a pretty little harbour 10 minutes from the E47 route from Rødby (ferry port) to Kobenhavn (Copenhagen). Last night a lone trumpeter played for us in the square by the centre of the Marina. This was mentioned in a review of the camping spot. I chose this because out of eleven reviews on camper connect there wasn't one bitch. The marked pitches have been reduced to five and there is room to have your chairs out by your side with a BBQ or as we have done our awning. We have the showers and toilets just by the pitch and they are excellent. Back to European standards. They were a little odd in Scandinavia and the Baltic states. We had a moment ot two of nudity whilst we got into our bathers at the beach after our 18km bike ride.

That evening we had a meal in a harbourside restaurant. Unfortunately we were presented with the wrong meal. We had to wait quite a while whilst what we ordered was prepared but Doreen was given a free wine whilst we waited and we enjoyed 'people watching' whilst we waited. Truth to tell it was an easy mistake to make we ordered the 'fish plate' and we were originally served up 'roast plaice' both sound similar in English.  We enjoyed the antics of children playing in a water feature with programmed fountains which were also designed to react to the presence of people by turning off any part that you approached. The kids were trying to get wet by beating the reaction time of the fountain. The trumpeter was an hour later tonight so we watched the flag ceremony and heard the first couple of tunes before walking around the corner to our pitch.

Day 32 Back to Germany. Drove to the Ferry via Mon, Falster and Lolland in the SE corner of Denmark and caught our short, but expensive ferry crossing to Germany, £79 There was just time for a bratwurst and a walk around the deck before getting back to the van, only to be last off as a van had broken down in front of us and all the ones behind us were reversed and put into a different lane.

We stopped at Burg and walked around a market before having a lunchtime coffee. As we moved off in Burg we met a complete arse of a driver. He rushed up the side of us on a two lane, one way street, only to have to come to a halt behind a broken down vehicle, which was I was in the other lane. Then as I moved back, he again tried to pass us on that side, then he passed on the other side and brake tested me as he cut in, he then slowed to a crawl in front of me before rushing away. As I passed him at the side of the road a minute later he was taking a photo. Wonder if anything will happen about it? Glad I have my good old dash cam. 

Then on to our night stop Doreen doing most of the driving. We thought of staying in a park platz but moved on to an Aral truck stop SW of Hamburg, 5€ which includes 5€ of vouchers for the shower and the american style diner plus free wifi. There are several other businesses on the site including a McDonalds and facing it a 24hr sex shop and cinema. 

Day 33 In to the Netherlands. We had decided to take an extra day crossing from the Baltic to our ferry than we had taken in the opposite direction. We had breakfast in Lara's diner and it was very good. Then autobahn in full sun again to near Cloppenburg where we took to my favoured route the E233 towards Emmen. We crossed the border into The Netherlands and back on the motorway A37/A28 to a nightstop at Hattem marina. This was a pretty little town with a nice marina about 100km from the ferry, handy for an early afternoon crossing to Harwich. We may make use of it again. We satisfied ourselves on this occasion with a walk around the town and a beer.

Day 34. Home. A leisurely start and a nice dry and sunny drive past Rotterdam with a refuel and last minute european shopping in Hoek. There was a holdup getting on the ferry ideally if we had been 10cm shorter we could have gone beneath the rising car deck but I wasn't going to risk my solar panel so I had added 10cm to what Chausson gave as a height . It might have been Ok the deck clearance might have had a safety factor as well. As it was we had to wait just off the ship until there were no more late comers so we were nearly last on and stopped before the deck. I opened the vent and had a look but I don't think we would have made it. Of course at Harwich it meant that all the cars had to leave that deck before they raised it for us and a few trucks to get off. Nearly the last through border controls but made it home before midnight. 

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