Friday 12 August 2016

Land of islands

The summer cottage we rented is located on an island although you might not realise that as it is only separated from, practically, downtown Turku by a bridge across a river-like strait. Moreover, every piece of land we can see from there – both with the naked eye and through binoculars – is also an island.







A labyrinth of some 40,000 islands and islets stretches out from the southwestern corner of the country extending all the way to the autonomous Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea half way between Finland and Sweden. A helicopter of the Coast Guard patrolling over the Archipelago Sea flies over ‘our’ place almost daily. The other day we happened to see a rescue exercise over a nearby bay.





 We can’t get enough of the sea views, especially those to the Loistokari islet with the little cottage that used to be a lightkeeper’s home. The islet now serves as a dinner venue for cruises made on board a steamship five nights a week all through the summer season. Last August, we attended one. A post will follow one of these days, I hope.







Hubby could spend all day observing the sea. Even I often find it hard to enter into anything else. The changing seascape, the ships on the busy seaways to the ports of Turku and Naantali, the boats, the birds. (Yes, I am planning posts on those.) There is even the marina of a yacht club on the neighbouring island. What could be more spellbinding at a place like this than to keep your eyes glued towards the sea?







7 comments:

  1. More marvellous photos. I would be like you, taking pictures all the time in different lights and changes in activities. Love the little island with the lightkeepers house. Such a beautiful part of the world. Hope the good weather stays for you a while longer. B X

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    1. The weather has turned quite changeable but we are not letting that disturb us too much, yet.

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  2. You did find such a wonderful place to rent, those views are amazing! I too would just sit there and gaze all day. There seems so much going on and the light on the sea always changes constantly. Looking forward to the other posts you have mentioned when you have time to write them! Sarah x

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    1. We found the place on the internet. The photos in the ad were taken in March and didn't reveal much of the potential of the place, which I believe to be the reason why they hadn't found a tenant earlier. Lucky for us!

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    2. Yes you were so lucky! Sarah x

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  3. Overwhelmed by the amazing beauty of the whole area.Really uplifting!

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    1. There is some speculation whether the most beautiful archipelago in the world is that of Greece or Croatia or whether it is the Finnish Archipelago Sea. As much as I appreciate the first two I'd have to vote for the last one. It is magnificent, especially when you sail a bit further away from the mainland. I do hope to have some photos to show one of these days.

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