Bicycling Aland

Aland is not really an easy place to get to, despite the 3 ferry lines which pull into port. We decided the cheapest way to go was by Viking line, which is kind of like the Silja line, but cheaper. It's a bit like comparing royal caribbean with carnival. Anyway, the catch was that the ferry arrives in Mariehamn at 4:30 am and on the return trip, leaves at 11:45 at night. Everything in Mariehamn, as we discovered, opens around 10 am and closes around 6pm. Anyway.

Boarding at the Helsinki pier was a breeze. Easy to pick up our ticket, which is also our door card, really no visible security check. The cruise over was fun. We grabbed a beer and from our high vantage point on the deck (remember most of Helsinki is only around six stories tall) enjoyeda nice view of the city and harbour as we cruised out in the late afternoon. Of course as the night ot later, the hordes of drunk Scandinavians and Russians shouted and sang in the halls well into the AM. Interestingly, I read that it is the ability of the ferry lines to sell duty free goods (read: super cheap booze) which allow the lines to operate profitably. We were woken up by the staff at 4 am and made our way to the exit door. There were about five other people getting off the boat at this early hour, so they decided it was too much trouble to extend the boat dock bridge so they took us down to the car deck and we threaded our way along the parked cars and cargo trucks in the lower deck. They dropped open the back of the boat, the massive driving hatch and we walked down and jumped out to the concrete pier.

It was pretty cool, like jumping out of the military boat or something. It was early morning light, and everything was still and blue. The other passengers dispersed, most of them had rides. I think they get many tourists disembarking this late at night/early in the morning. We walked along the empty streets for awhile. It's a small town, quiet, mostly residential. The town of Mariehamm is stretched the full width of the narrow peninsula, which is about a twenty minute walk from shore to shore. We walked towards the center of town, carrying our luggage with us. The main drag had a large median/park lined with huge shade trees and we walked along, getting odd stares from the very few cars out at that time of the morning. One of them pulled over and the guy inside asked us where we were going. I told him we were heading up to a hotel up the road. I didn't really know if they would be open or have anyone at the desk this early, so we were just killing time. He offered to give us a ride and took us up to the Hotel Arkipelag, the swanky hotel of the island.

By this point, I began to figure out that Aland was more popular with older, wealthier Scandinavians as the principal activities were sailing, yachting, and fishing. As such, the typical tourist flew into town from the airport and stayed at hotel Arkipelag. Our kind driver chatted with us a bit and suggested we wait in the "beautiful lobby" of Hotel Arkipelag, have some free coffee, and rest until the town began to wake up. He dropped us off and waited while we went to the front door of the hotel. Locked. The driver parked his car in the middle of the road and walked over to the front door. He rang the buzzer impatiently and waited for the sleepy looking night clerk to open the door. He explained in rapid Swedish our general situation (or so I assume, it could have been "let these suckers stay here, maybe they'll decide to get a room"), and then said to us in English that it was ok, we could go in. We thanked him again, this really odd guy, and he drove off. We parked ourselves on one of the couches and broke out our reading material.

The front of the lobby was all glass, and the hotel was on the coast, so we could see across to the pier. There were a small group of mostly drunk revelers milling around and giving their farewells to one another. Remember that in Europe partying until 4 am is typical, and that less than five hours ago it was friday night, so it should not be surprising. After the group dispersed, however, there was a figure who remained.

This young gentleman was fashionably dressed, and was so drunk he was basically heel-toeing it along the street in front of the hotel. Apparently he didn't have anywhere else to go either, or was too drunk to get there. It was like watching one Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks. He would take a hesitant step forward or two, and then one back, visibly trying to keep his balance. At one point, he openly relieved himself in middle of the street. (That was one of the really surprising things, when Finns get drunk, they tend to pee anywhere and everywhere).

Anyway, we had some vending machine coffee, and finally around 7 am we wandered out. We spent about two hours wandering around. The hotel we were supposed to stay at looked frankly abandoned. No one answered doors, and the lobby looked like it was being renovated. I called them with my cell phone a few times before I finally got connected. It's a bit complicated- there are several hotels on the island owned by the same group, and apparently the hotel I booked gets combined with the other hotel for certain months of the year. The website, however, did not mention this fact, nor did the hotel booking staff I spoke to on the phone. The hotel I thought we were staying at would not open for another month. Thank God I had my phone.

We spent about an hour in front of a famous church in the middle of the town, sitting on a park bench, napping and watching the birds fight in the bird bath. Finally, we found the hotel, about a five minute walk from where we got off the boat in the first place about five hours prior. Tired and hungry, we ate a huge breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

They were open all night. They felt bad, so they gave us an upgraded room with a view of the harbor. It was a nice seaside hotel. Thick red drapes to keep out the sunlight, Scandinavian design. Lots of motorcycles and middle age Europeans. That's the other thing people do here, they bring their motorcycles and tool around the scenic roads around the archipelago.

We walked to the bike rental shop, stopping for a quick visit by the tourist information center. We wanted to do some bicycling, which was highly recommended in the guide book, and they suggested some places nearby we could bicycle. Easy trips, in other words. We went on to the bike rental place, Ro-No, and picked up two bikes for about 15 bucks a day each. We talked to the rental guy, a young guy who probably did this as a summer job. We asked him about biking up to the ruins of Kastelholm castle, and he said it was very possible to make it there and back in a single day. That sounded pretty cool, so we set out, Saori leading.

Biking in Aland is incredibly easy, there are well-marked biking trails, its relatively flat riding, and incredibly beautiful. We happened to be there at just the right time as all the wildflowers were in bloom, and they were blooming everywhere. We alternated riding through forests of pine and birch, and meadows of grasses of wildflowers. The weather was beautiful and sunny. We stopped at an old church and took some photos before passing on. Saori's bike tire was flat, so we stopped at sporting goods shop and the shopkeeper generously let me use their bathroom and then helped Saori fill up her tires with air from her car's compressor pump. She recommended we fill up at the gas station at the tiny village up ahead which had some gas stations and a large general store like a kmart. We biked on. We stopped for snacks and water at the store, which was kind of fun to poke through. One of the only stores in that part of the archipelago, it was basically a wal-mart. What they sold told of a hard lifestyle, especially in the wintertime. After about four hours of riding and breaks we finally crested the hill and saw the ruined castle.

The historic ruins were pictureesque against the stream and water around it, and there was a small group of people lunching in the green park in front of it. We spent about an hour exploring the ruins and resting. It was not that exciting, and the renovation work made the experience much more Disneyland. It was beautiful and pastoral, however, and the journey made the trip well worth it.

It was just amazing and wonderful bicycling, the island flying by around you, the wind in your hair, sun on your back, and surrounded by picture perfect pastoral nordic landscape. Playing tag with Saori on our bikes, and signaling to each other with our cheerful bike bells. Bicycling in Aland was the standout highlight of my time in Finland. On the way back, we stopped at a cafe on top of rock knob overlooking one of the narrow straits and inlets between the islands. Absolutely amazing view, great little cafe, we got a piece of cake and split it, sitting outside in the sun, high above the archipelago which spread out far below us. We got back to Mariehamm too late to return the bikes. So we pedaled our way to the hotel and locked our bikes up there.

The bike locks are very interesting. They are small locks that basically prevent the rear wheel from turning by putting a piece of metal between the spokes. And that's it. There's really nothing but propriety from preventing people from picking up the bike and stealing it. But it's convention, just like people used to leave their cars and houses unlocked. Anyway, we were both absolutely beat from our marathon ride. We were on bike for probably six hours, and I was chafing like a motherf***er. My knees were in bad shape too, so we opted to walk to dinner. By then, most of the restaurants had either closed or were closing, (by the way, Aland's hours pretty much are 9am to 6pm, good luck finding anything open at any other time) but we were able to get a takeout pizza and calzone which ended up being pretty good. (and pretty expensive; other than the bikes, everything was spendy). After dinner we went back to the hotel and passed out from exhaustion.