The wind has quietened to a zephyr, probably because it knows I’m getting the 00:45 boat to Stockholm. It’s a beautiful warm late afternoon. I’m sitting in a wood typing this with just the sound of seagulls. For the last three days I’ve been doing the cycling version of slow food. Not travelling far but stopping frequently and sampling the local fair, be it museums, food and attractions or whatever.
My lunch spot
There was a delightful little museum displaying the paintings of a artists colony from the early to mid 1900s – it reminded me of the paintings in Mogs flat!
Art Colony Museum
Then I spend the better part of 2 hours at a small café run called Lumparby Ollas by Peter. By my reckoning it was out of the way, by his reckoning it was close to town, of course he had a car. It was only open in the summer and in the winter, he runs his sled dogs as a hobby. Apparently when the sea freezes, you can get to to the Finnish mainland in about 8 hours by dog sled.
Lumparby Ollas Cafe
The harbour where I catch the boat is Långnas. It’s about 30 kilometres from Mariehamn and only used because of Alcohol. To explain, the EU banned duty free between member countries. This slashed the revenue that the ferry companies made. But because Åland is a self governing body it was declared an exception so all ferries stop there and people travelling between Sweden and Finland or Estonia can load up on Booze.