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Around 9h
we started our excursions of the day. A
huge group of active passengers went out for a four hour bicycle tour. The
weather was sunny but cold and windy. So the guest had really to be sportive to
stay with the group. Congratulations to all bikers.
Most passengers
chose a more comfortable tour in a bus. One group visited an old brewery. The
building belonged in former times to the royal farm house of Grelsby out of the
14th century.
The other
group went on a very interesting historical tour. The first stop was done at
the old fortress of Bomarsund; build by the Russians as a powerful symbol for
the Russian Tsar´s authority in the middle of the 19th century. The
fort was originally a huge building with 246 bedrooms for 2500 soldiers. Today
you can find only the rest of the fundament and of course some walls,
constructed out of the red Ȧland Granit.
The second
stop we had in an outdoor-museum called “Jan Karlsgarden” next to the ruins of “Castle
Kastelholm”, which was built in the 1380s. The old houses in the museum gave us
a good overview over the way of live in the 19th century.
The political background of the Ȧland Islands is very interesting and
also a little bit funny, so that we want to let you know about it. As the
islands came together with Finland to the Russian Empire in 1809 they stayed
with Finland after the Russian period in 1918. But, and there is always a but,
as the Ȧland Islands belonged before the Russian period
to Sweden, and that for a very long time, the culture is more affected by the
Swedish culture. That is the reason why the people of the Ȧland Islands speak Swedish as their mother language and not Finnish. Evan
the Islands belong to Finland they have their own autonomy. So they have their
own parliament, their own stamps ….The children learn at school first Swedish,
than in the 3rd class they have to learn English, first in the 5th
class they can learn Finish, but there is no must for it. That is the reason
why many inhabitants of the Ȧland Islands cannot speak Finnish even
they are Finnish.
We cannot
finish the blog without speaking about the wonderful nature of the Ȧland Islands. The small islands are all eroded by the ice during the
last ice age. The old stones, most of them Granites, look nearly polished. Most
islands are covered with the wonderful Boreal Forest. Only some of the
deciduous trees just got their new leaves. The whole vegetation looks very
fresh. On the ground you can find now all the different flowers, which are
typical for springtime. Everything looks colorful - especially in the nice
sunshine we have had today.
At 15.30h
we left the Ȧland Islands. As soon as we reached
the open waters the sea became a little bit rough. But it was not too bad, so
that we could listen to the very informative lectures.
After
dinner many guests went to the Panorama Lounge to meet with their new friends
and to listen to Ralph our Piano player.
